Better Vacation Photos 101
Everyone today is a photographer, thanks largely to cell phones that take better pictures than some expensive cameras. So now you have the ability to snap that great vacation picture at your fingertips, but with a little forethought they can be fantastic pictures.
Know what you’re capable of.
Know how to operate your camera and know what it can do, be it an expensive digital type or the camera on your cell phone. I discovered recently that my cell phone camera can operate in “burst mode,” which means that in six seconds it can take 20 continuous photos. I discovered this quite by accident while shopping, and consequently ended up with 20 pictures of a box of waffles and a bag of dog food in my shopping cart at Walmart. This feature would have been great to utilize when my son was learning to surf, documenting in a series of photos that first triumphant moment when he stood up on his surfboard and then subsequently fell off, rather than documenting my buying habits. However, I’ll know for next time. I came home and looked up information about my phone's camera online to find out what else I was missing and I was amazed at its capabilities.
Take a lot of pictures. And then some.
My family teases me because I don’t just take one picture of my subject. I take lots. And then a few more. I move around my subject and shoot from different angles. If taking pictures of people, I move them around. With only taking one picture and then moving on, you run the risk of catching someone mid-blink or with a dorky look on their face (and them subsequently getting ticked at you for posting that unflattering picture on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.). Also, taking pictures from different angles and perspectives can completely change the mood of the shot. And unlike the film days, it’s very easy to just delete those pics that you don’t want. Taking multiples gives you lots to choose from. Which leads me to….
Make like a Boy Scout and be prepared.
Nothing is more frustrating than just knowing that shot of a lifetime is coming up and you get that “low battery” symbol. Or you have no more room on your memory card and you furiously try to delete other pictures hastily so you can catch your 74-year-old mother-in-law ziplining in Jamaica. (Not that this has ever happened to me… ) Don’t forget your chargers, memory cards, and extra batteries.
Smile – you’re on candid camera.
Everyone has that picture of the fam posing in front of ____________ (insert name of famous landmark here). And there’s nothing wrong with that. But some of the best shots happen when nobody’s looking. Capture that moment of everyone just having fun and not being posed. One of my favorite pictures is of my daughter and her cousin when they were about 5 years old, holding hands and walking down Main Street, USA in Disney World. They were walking away from me so you can’t even see their faces, but you can just feel their joy. Sweetest. Picture. Ever.