We were in Orlando Florida this past week. We went to Disney Land, Universal and Animal Kingdom. I didn’t want to do an entire post about it- but I did want to talk a little about taking Family Pictures while on vacation and getting good ones with a stranger taking them! It was an issue for us the very first photo then I learned from my mistake and the rest were much better! I will say one thing- Universal was awesome! Harry Potter World was impressive and we were able to do a lot more rides than we did at Disney because of the long lines. The vote was Ella (9 almost 10 year old) and Kevin and I loved Universal and Lola (7 year old) and Finn (almost 2) loved Disney!
Right away I asked someone to take our picture when we got to the park. I immediately remembered how bad they can be when you just approach a random person and quickly say “Can you take our picture?” then hand them your phone and walk off. Kevin thinks I am a photo snob. But I think it is ok, we all want at least one good picture! And I think we all can get it!
My goal for family pictures on the vacation was to not take a million pictures. Rather to get JUST ONE PICTURE each day of all of us. Then take a couple candid shots when I felt moved it. That one photo, I wanted to be good.
They got much better after I changed a couple of things!
Below is what I did to get good Family Pictures on our Vacation-
FIND THE RIGHT PERSON-Observe those around you as they are taking their pictures. Look for the person who taking a picture of someone else- see what they do. Are they standing two feet away from the people they are shooting? Are they getting the scenery and feet in the shot? Ask that person! But compliment them first- tell them what you noticed! Look at my photo below- the first lady I asked at 9 am as soon as we got to Disney was a nice lady but she moved in like 3 feet and took it of just half of our body, she did get the castle behind us. The next photo I tried again, but I made sure that the first lady was long gone (I didn’t want to hurt her feelings).
The second time- I looked around as others were snapping pictures and noticed two girls taking pictures of each other- the photographer was crouched down and was telling her friend what to do. I knew I found my girl! I walked up and said “I saw you taking photos and you look like you know what you are doing! You didn’t cut off feet or any of the fun background. Do you mind taking our photo?” (I pointed out what I wanted her to do in our picture!) She smiled and said thanks! It turned out great….see for yourself below!
HAVE THE SUN AT YOUR BACK- You don’t want squinty eyes or blaring sun on your face that will wash you out. Notice the photo above is a good picture but the sun was coming up and shinning on our face, it wasn’t too bright yet, but enough to wash us out and cast weird shadows. Look at the picture below- the sun was still facing us, but hidden by the buildings (you can see the sun coming out on Kevin’s head) and that picture cracks me up- it looks like I am pinching Ella in a weird spot, and Finn looks like a male model.
OFFER TO TAKE SOMEONES PICTURE! I offered to take a family photo all day at the parks if I noticed they were struggling to take a selfie or the mom or dad was taking it and not in the photo. I did this even if I did’t want our picture taken. I always think that is so nice when someone does that for us. And what goes around comes around!
Other Family Picture Tips-
- I don’t bring my nice camera, I don’t want it to get damaged because I use it so much for my blog. And I don’t want to lug it around. BUT having your nice camera is a good way to get an even better photo. You can set the focus to be centered on your family so the person taking the photo just has to “keep the box around your husbands face” that keeps them from moving around or not getting feet in the shot.
- If you are using your phone make sure to TAP the screen on your families faces- that way a yellow box does appear on your phone and you can set the focus too!
- Set your phone on a self timer!! Don’t know how? It is EASY! Open up your camera to take a picture- you will see a icon that looks like a clock. Hit that and it will let you choose how long you have to hit the shoot button and run to your family. I forget to use this- but it can be harder in a busy area and finding the right spot to prop your phone- purses are typically a good spot. (remember to flip the screen over to a “Selfie”)
Hope that helps next time you are on vacation!
A couple more Favorite Things from the week-
- Light bulbs– Before we left on vacation I ordered new light bulbs for the front and back door porch lights. I can’t even tell you how happy they made me!! They sense when it is dusk and dawn and come on automatically (you have to make sure your light switch is on). They last a really long time. And are a great security feature! Find them HERE.
- Glass Jar– I get asked all the time where I found the glass jars with wood lids, I have had them for awhile and couldn’t find them anymore. Until… now! They are even better then mine. Find them HERE
- Book- For bookclub in February I am hosting. I think you might want to read it too, because you know I will be doing a review on it! “The Little Book of Hygge”.
- Sunglasses– I got a lot of questions on my Instagram about my sunglasses, they are a favorite! Find them HERE
- Target– I am working on my friends front room and decorating her fireplace. Excited because a couple things came up that I am going to blog about and talk about in our Facebook Group- window treatments and how to decorate a mantle. We did go to Target and everyone loved THESE ottomans I shared (we didn’t end up using them) we went with THIS one because it has more of all of the colors in the room.
- Shirt– I am really loving THIS shirt, has me excited for Spring- it looks good with a layered cardigan too! And I marked my calendar for THIS one to come out!
- Plant– Yes, all I have a real house plants but some have asked for a recommendation on a faux fiddle leaf fig tree, I have seen THIS one in person and it does look great. Just make sure to spread out the leaves to look more natural.
- Garland- is a new favorite thing! Lola was sad that I was taking down all the “fun stuff” when I took down the Christmas garland in here. So I found her THIS and she agreed it was fun!
I will be back next week to share how to DIY that shiplap wall we did in the nursery, a Paleo dinner recipe I have been making lately, my friends before and after of her mantle and answering your design questions! I hope you have a great weekend!
Your family photos are perfect-even the imperfect ones. I hope you all had a fun trip and safe return. Thank you for the tip on the light bulbs. I had no idea these existed and they seriously got me excited. Not hesitating-ordering them today.
Thanks Clarissa!! YES! Best Light-bulb!
This advice is probably coming too late, but maybe it will be helpful for any future trips: You can actually ask any Disney photographer to take your family’s picture with your own camera or phone! My husband and I did this throughout the parks and brought my big DSLR Pentax and the pictures were great! And we weren’t required to take an official picture with their equipment or have to pay for it in any way. It’s just one of Disney’s many great services! While Universal doesn’t have as many photographers standing around, I did manage to have success asking their photographers to take our picture as well.
Oh very smart! Thanks for the tip!!
Would you consider doing a post on visiting Harry Potter world? I would like to take my children, but would prefer to skip Disney.
I am not certain where to stay or how to purchase tickets, etc.
We loved Harry Potter world! Much prefer it over Disney. They have a family waiting room at each line- so you can easily swap with your spouse while they wait and walk in the line with you.
We bought the universal tickets at our hotel- it was cheaper than buying them at the park!
All good tips! I wish I had known, I wouldāve recommend that you stay in our newly renovated Airbnb. We are just 35 minutes from the parks, in the historic district of a cute town. My husband and I picked up a very dilapidated 1906 home and together we singlehandedly gave it life https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/22445548?location=Clermont%2C%20FL%2C%20United%20States&s=mG7-iVhK. Love your blog, and keep warm!
Oh how awesome!! Next time we will have to do this! Love the home!
Your pictures look great. Thank you for sharing your favorites. I had no idea those kind of light bulbs existed! I love the pillow on your daughter’s bed…the dog one with the pom pom collar. SO CUTE!
Thank you! The dog pillow is from Anthropolgie!
Love this advice and it’s right on time too! We are taking a quick weekend trip to Kosovo tomorrow and I would love to start taking better photos of our travels! I have never managed to get great photos with young kids on vacations, which stinks because my husband and I have great ones when it was just us (man so much easier before kids ;-)) Thanks for the tips, and it looked like your whole family had fun!
What an amazing trip you have coming up!! I sure hope it helped!! Just plan for that one good spot and you will get it!!