Creating the Perfect Family Vacation Photo Book

1. Let your kids be the photographers

We’re sure you’re a great photographer and know how to take brilliant travel pictures, but the perception kids have of their surroundings is very different from ours. Therefore, a way to ensure you end up with some amazing pictures is to hand your camera over to your children and let them go wild with it. Although there’ll be some random pictures, the hidden gems you’ll find are going to easily outweigh the unusable photos. Besides, you can then later proudly say that your 5-year-old took the main picture of your album – how cool is that?

2. Plan beforehand

You shouldn’t plan your trip around the photo book you’re going to design. Photos should be taken organically throughout your vacation, as this will be the best representation of your trip. The main objective of going on vacation is to relax, so enjoy! That being said, you should have a firm idea of what you want to include in your photo book first to ensure you don’t fall short of pictures afterwards.

Decide what kind of photo book you want to have. Are you going for a travel journal where you display your family vacation chronologically or separate pictures by category? How many photos would you like to have on each page? By working out these small details, you’ll ensure that you take enough shots to fill your photo book as you please.

3. Don’t overdo it

When you’re going through your camera roll selecting which photos should be included, don’t overdo it. It’s tempting to add every picture, as they were all part of your vacation. The main problem with this approach is that the photo book will become too dense and a bit boring to go through, especially for other family members or friends. Instead, select the pictures your family loves the most and go with those. Who needs four different shots of the same landscape anyway?

4. Have double-page spread shots

Still on the topic of less is more, consider having double-page spread shots throughout your album. As the name suggests, these photographs fill two pages of a photo book and, therefore, should be reserved for the best of the best. An excellent example of when to use this type of layout is when starting a new chapter. If the album is organized chronologically, the double-page spread shot can be the picture you love the most for that particular day.

5. Include text

Just because it’s a photo book, don’t be afraid of adding text here and there. You can leave the last page blank so your family can write what they liked the most about the trip, and also include inside jokes throughout the album that only you and your family will understand. Remember that funny thing your kid said when you were having ice cream at the beach? Include it near a photo you took around that place and you’ll laugh about it every time you scroll through the book.

6. Have your family help you

You should design the photo book together with your family – it’s your family vacation after all. Gather your family members around a table – kids included – and go through your camera roll to decide which photos should be included together. It’s a great activity to spend a fun afternoon recalling your family vacation.