10 Tips for Taking Great Vacation Photos in Florida

By Janice and Donald Jones
 

Why do we want great vacation photos?

To preserve precious memories, to relive feelings we enjoyed at that special time and to remember and share people, culture, and experiences.

What better souvenir than photos of your favorite moments and places?

Here are our 10 tips for taking great vacation photos…

#1 Be A Storyteller

To bring home the most moving photo souvenirs, try being more mindful when you’re taking photos. It's not always about the most beautiful scenes. It's about capturing a moment - the light, composition, your unique angle. It’s an opportunity to be a storyteller. Telling stories provides opportunities to make connections, which create memories.

Look for places and scenes with opportunities to capture the things you really want to remember about your vacation.  Ask yourself what you’re drawn to, what you’re curious about? How can I capture this in a way that is more meaningful?

When you’re visiting a new place, you walk around and explore. Interesting things catch your eye. Try to consider these “subjects” at different angles. This may involve moving your body or getting into different positions. Just go for it! Set the phone on the ground to look up at a tall building. Walk to the other side of a sculpture for a unique angle. Sit down in the grass next to your dog to see from his vantage point.

Think about how to convey activity and elicit emotion in your photos. A posed family photo is nice, but wouldn’t a picture of the kids laughing and splashing each other bring you back to that moment more dramatically? You’re going to want to remember how it felt to vacation, not just what it looked like from the balcony.

Tip #2 Light is Queen

Every good photo starts with good lighting. While vacationing, your best option is to use Florida’s sunshine wisely. On a very sunny day, try to avoid the sunlight of midday, which can create harsh shadows. Unless you’re purposefully looking to capture a silhouette, the sun or light source is best placed on the front of your subject. So as a photographer, you’d put your back to the sun.

Soft light or a shaded area (no shadows) work well for close ups. No one in the family wants to have to look directly into the sun for a picture. Have them step under a tree, then tap on your screen to adjust the camera’s exposure, and voila, you have nicer, more relaxed smiles. And of course, the soft light of the “Golden Hour” in the morning and evening can create a memorable look for your best-vacation-ever images.

Showing off landscapes and portraits requires more light. As do food photos. If you can’t take your tuna poke bowl near the window to show off its best colors and you really want to capture your travel cuisine in the most photogenic way possible, consider a small added light. (Find some suggestions here.)

If light is queen, then… #3 Composition is King

If you train your eye to see things differently, then you’ll begin to see things others miss.

Start with what's interesting to you.

The definition of Composition is "the nature of something's ingredients - the way in which a mixture is made up."

Think about what makes up the scene - are there people? is there movement? How could it look if you positioned yourself at a different angle? Get lower or higher, or on subject level- and play with angles and light. Create layers in your photograph by placing something in the foreground and background.

Placing your subject in the exact middle isn't always the most interesting… or comfortable way to go. Use the built-in gridlines on your phone’s camera (you can turn on those gridlines in your phone’s settings) to compose pictures that are naturally pleasing to the eye.

The “Rule of Thirds” suggests placing the subject along the gridlines or better yet, at one of the intersections of the lines for a more pleasing balance.

#4 Familiarize yourself with your phone camera settings.

This means look at them and play with them, test them out. Here are the ones you should get good at using: focus, exposure, aspect ratio, and zoom.

Focus

For the best focus, remember to always tap on the screen, on the point where you want the camera to focus. This tells the camera to adjust everything to make that spot the best image it can be.

Exposure

Exposures is how much light is allowed into the frame. Just as you would when focusing, tap on the screen in the area you want to adjust the light or darkness. In the iPhone default, you can drag to adjust the exposure. It’s similar for Android - tap and use the slider to adjust and balance the amount of light in the photo.

Aspect Ratio

Experiment with your phone’s aspect ratio, which adjusts the dimension of your pictures.

Use 16:9 to capture a wider view of scenery shots.

Use 4x3, the traditional camera dimension, to include a little more of the view on the top and bottom of the frame.

The square, or 1x1, might be useful for food shots and is the native post size for Instagram - for all those folks following along on your vacation adventures.

Keep in mind you’re stuck with the dimension you choose to begin with. So, you might shoot a particular subject in multiple dimensions to experiment. And you can also always crop a larger dimension to your liking.

Macro / Zoom

Good macro, or zoom photos require three things: Getting in close, a steady hand (or something to hold the camera) and ample light. Remember that if you're using zoom to get in closer, this is a digital zoom, which does degrade the image, so your quality is not as great.

#5 Make a point with portrait mode

Portrait pictures speak to us. They draw us in and can create a sense of intimacy.

Portrait mode creates a depth-of-field effect in your camera, which means that the subject of the image is in focus and the background is slightly blurred.

Try it for great shots of food, or your favorite faces. This mode works best when your subject is far away from the background. And, as always, lighting is important. iPhone's portrait mode, for example, offers options, like “studio” lighting, which brightens facial features.

#6 Use your camera's live mode

Live mode records what happens 1.5 seconds before and after you take the photo.

After you’ve taken the photo, you can choose the moment you want to keep as the “key” photo. This is great for catching the best moment of something that moves, or to ensure you catch a moment when someone’s not blinking in your best group photo! Consider the amount of space you have on your phone, as the file size is about twice as big. As a bonus, live photos act as brief video clips when you use them in Instagram reels.

#7 Know when to burst

Burst is a continuous shooting mode. Use Burst mode to capture a moving subject - like that dolphin jumping next to your boat! - or when you want to take multiple high-speed photos so that you have a range of photos to choose from.

#8 Look at pano differently

Side to side and Top to Bottom.

You can create unique vertical shots by turning your phone horizontally and moving from the bottom to the top of the frame you're looking to capture.

#9 Filter your use of filters

Not everything is black and white... and, not everything looks good in black in white.

Use filters with a purpose. Remember, you’re being a storyteller. Be sure you have a story to support it. We recommend thinking about filters in the editing process after you’ve taken the photos.

#10 Edit your photos on the spot

Get to know your post-production options. Experiment with Exposure, Brilliance, Shadows, Highlights, and Warmth (or color temperature of the scene.)

After you snap a photo, immediately go into the settings, and play around with the editing options because you might want to tweak the scene and take more photos depending on how your first image came out. Look at your angle, consider cropping to adjust size, and framing.

Here are our Key Takeaways for capturing your best vacation photos ever:

• Look for the LIGHT
• Remember COMPOSITION
• Be a STORYTELLER (create connections to your memories)

CycleHere Media is a Florida Certified Woman-Owned Business providing video marketing consulting and production services throughout the Sunshine State.