While the chances of returning from a family holiday with an award-winning portfolio are slim, you can still pack in plenty of satisfying photography – of your travels and your family – if you know the right buttons to press. Here are 7 top tips…

1. Be realistic

Scale down your expectations – dragging everyone around all day and keeping them waiting for hours will end in tears. Remember that it’s their holiday as much as yours, so be flexible. For instance, don’t expect to shoot every sunset – do one or two, but then just enjoy the rest with your family.

2. Get up early

You’re supposed to be relaxing, but set your alarm early and head out at dawn at least one day. Not only will your family still be asleep, but you’ll catch the best light and be able to shoot deserted locations. A few hours later, you can join your family for breakfast.

3. Get the kids involved

Children love taking pictures – more so than posing for them! So give them a compact camera to play with and offer prizes for the best photos of the holiday. And no, you’re not allowed to enter your own…

4. Find the moment

Give everyone a chance to indulge in something they want to do and the favour will be returned. If your family are tired after a busy day, suggest they relax back at the hotel while you head out with your DSLR.

5. Don’t forget the snapshots

Adopt a more casual approach to your photography while you’re out and about. Leave the tripod back at the hotel and just sling your camera over your shoulder once in a while. It’s important not to miss those family memories because you were too busy setting up.

6. Be prepared

When you do take pictures of your family, don’t turn it into a lengthy event otherwise they’ll lose interest. Think about one or two fun shots you would like to take before saying anything so you can set them up and take them quickly.

7. Have fun

A family holiday gives you the perfect opportunity to let your hair down and try something truly creative, so why not ditch the DSLR and see if  a compact offers you more freedom? What about looking at waterproof protection for your camera to get those action-packed shots at the beach or on a boat?

Travel Photography Tips: 8 ways to avoid ‘postcard shots’

Pyramid photo from Shutterstock

Travel Photography Tips: 1 Get the ‘classic’ view in the bag early
There’s nothing wrong with a simple visual reminder that says ‘I was here’, but finding your own personal take could give you greater satisfaction, not to mention some more interesting pictures to look back on. We’d recommend getting the classic/cliché shot out of your system as soon as you arrive at a well-known location, otherwise it can have a tendency to block you from more creative images.

Travel Photography Tips: 2 Go the extra mile

Getting up in the small hours, skipping meals, putting up with extreme temperatures, long-distance trekking – it’s all in a day’s work for the dedicated travel photographer. There will be very few instances when you can simply roll up beside your subject in an air-conditioned taxi and shoot a truly knockout view. As the saying goes, you never get a great shot from the car park! 
If you want to capture truly memorable pictures you need to be prepared to pound a few streets. It might be possible to reach a historic landmark quickly on foot, but finding the most impressive view might involve a little more legwork.

Travel Photography Tips: 3 Find a new viewpoint

When confronted with a famous landmark, move around it and look for ways to show it in a different context – such as framing it through an archway or using a slow shutter speed to render moving elements as a blur. A variety of lens focal lengths can be invaluable here. If the classic shot’s taken with a wide-angle, for example, move further away and switch to a telephoto for a tighter composition – or vice versa. Shoot from a more adventurous viewpoint by lying on the ground or looking for a high vantage point.

Travel Photography Tips: 4 Set yourself a holiday project
Sometimes the sheer number and variety of potential photographic opportunities on a trip can leave you feeling overwhelmed rather than inspired. To avoid coming home empty handed, try setting yourself a mini photography project.

This is a great way to focus your mind’s eye and to help you prioritise what to point your lens at. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel here; your project could be something as simple as doors, shadows or kids, or something more ambitious like religion. Anything goes, as long as it fires your imagination. Once you’ve got a few shots under your belt there’ll be no stopping you…

Travel Photography Tips: 5 Stay alert and ready
Interesting events, characters or compositions have a habit of presenting themselves just when you least expect them 
to, so make sure your camera is always out of your camera bag and switched on. To give yourself the best chance of nailing those unique opportunistic shots, set your camera up in advance and get used to changing your exposure settings on the fly – particularly how to dial-in positive or negative exposure compensation quickly.

Travel Photography Tips: 6 Make yourself look past the obvious
It can be tempting to rely 
on the new, colourful and exotic quality of subjects you encounter on your travels to carry your shots. But work with the light to create something more dramatic. Try shooting a few frames facing towards the sun, for instance, and using fill-flash to illuminate a shadowed subject against the bright background. This is a great technique for people, animals and road signs, which glow under flash illumination.

Travel Photography Tips: 7 Try bracketing
In difficult lighting, it makes sense to bracket your shots, taking the picture at different exposure settings to ensure you come away with at least one usable image. This idea can be applied to composition, too, especially if you plan to 
sell your photos. Shoot vertical and horizontal images of an interesting subject. Get in close and pull out wide. Give yourself options when you’re editing back at home – the mood will change subtly between frames.

Travel Photography Tips: 8 Zoom in on detail

Wide, all-encompassing views are great for setting the scene, but small details can be more telling when it comes to painting vivid pictures of people or places. Switch to a macro or telephoto lens and think architectural flourishes, signs and traditional foods. Pick out strong, graphical colours and shapes. With people, try zeroing in on features like hands, tattoos or even possessions that hint at a way of life.