While living in the moment and away from distracting technology can be great for a retreat, it shouldn’t be the life motto you take when you are on a family vacation. Children grow up so fast, and having precious memories captured in a photo or video can be priceless to any parent (especially when that child finally grows up and moves out of the house). Here is how to take a picture-perfect holiday with your kids, so you can have the memories forever:
- Know the Basic Tips of Photography
You don’t need to have a thousand-dollar DSLR to take great pictures of your kids – in fact, you don’t need to have a digital camera at all. What makes a great photo is the photographer. Sure, the clearer, more capabilities the camera has, the more a great photographer has to work with. Before you head out, brush up on the basic tips of photography, and know how to use your camera to its fullest.
- Always be Ready
Whether you are using your phone camera, a digital camera, or even a disposable film camera, have it at the ready. There are precious moments to be had at any moment, and the more prepared you are to take them, the more likely you will be to capture them!
- Let Your Kids Take Pictures, Too
One of the biggest secrets to taking some of the most intimate, beautiful photos is to let your kids take them. For the youngest children, you can go old school and buy a disposable film camera so that you don’t have to worry about anything important breaking or getting lost – just make sure they are old enough to know how to use it. For the older children, you can give them old digital cameras if they don’t already have their own picture-taking device.
Tip: Let it come naturally; trying to get your family to pose too often can ruin the holiday experience.
- Save Your Photos
This step is for after your holiday! Once everyone is safe home it’s time to collate all the images into one place. Too many loving parents store their photos incorrectly, meaning images are often lost. Having avoidable damaged hard drive failure is one of the worst ways to lose your precious memories. To ensure this doesn’t happen, store your images properly by labelling them, and having them saved in multiple locations. If your memories have been lost due to your faulty storage, see if a professional can reclaim your memories for you.
- Keep them Private
It could be tempting to share your photos to the world, but for the sake of your children’s privacy and their safety – don’t. You can publish your photos online, of course, but make sure that you keep the privacy set to maximum.
Memories fade – today’s photographs don’t. Keep your memories alive and fresh by having your whole family take photographs of your trip and store them correctly so you can always find and easily retrieve them. A great, complete collection of photos that chart your lives is more precious than anything. Memories are the best keepsakes, after all.