(MCT)—Smile: It’s a family photo. Here are ideas for adding photographic interest to your vacation and some contact info for finding destinations.
1. People pictures. Including people in your shot adds tremendous interest. Encourage family members to be the focal point of landscape images, providing context and great memories. Capture the faces of those who live in the places you visit to add human interest to monuments, scenes or cityscapes.
Contact: moabphototours.com
2. Capture color. Markets, festivals and parades often provide an array of colorful subjects and unique experiences that will help tell the story of your family adventure. At the market, for example, be on the lookout for brightly colored vegetables, fruits, meat or fish unlike those in your local grocery store. Stoke your children’s natural curiosity by asking the vendor to explain the origin of items.
Contact: pikeplacemarket.org
3. Give animal photos a shot. Whether at the zoo, in the countryside, on safari or within a national park, snapping photos of critters can be an enriching experience. Will you get the shot when the lion roars, the giraffe reaches upward or the monkey swings from the branch? Remember that animals in the wild are just that: wild. Keep a proper distance.
Contact: thomsonsafaris.com; nps.gov
4. Get in on the action. It’s fun to capture the movement and the exhilaration of the adventure — whether it’s wild rides at the theme park, bike or running races or rafts in the rapids.
You don’t need a fancy camera to create fun shots that tell the story. Try clicking the shutter while moving your body at the same pace as the action you want to record.
Compare notes and consider experimentation part of the family experience.
Contact: dvorakexpeditions.com
5. Use your camera to take notes. Snap a photo of your parking space, your hotel address and room number, restaurants that make your favorite list and the designated family meeting spot.
When you are visiting a new environment or feel like you’re dragging after a full day of traveling, it can be difficult to remember life’s more mundane details.
Lynn O’Rourke Hayes is the editor of FamilyTravel.com.
©2014 The Dallas Morning News
Distributed by MCT Information Services
