Your life and memories deserve to be amazing! This series focuses on the 10 biggest mistakes that kill your summer family photos and how you can fix them.

MISTAKE #2 - You didn't put much effort into it

We were excited to use the camera when we first got it, but remembering to always bring it soon feels like a burden. For us, it usually goes down a little like this...

[Car is packed, kids are belted, and we just settled into our seats.]

[Wife]: "Did you get the camera?"
[Me]: "Nooo, I thought you were going to get it."
[Wife]: "But you're the one who takes all the pictures."
[Me]: "If you want me to take all the pictures, then can you go find the camera?"
[Wife]: "I don't want to go back and look for it."
[Me]: "If I have to go get it now, we are going to be late. Let's just go."
[Wife]: "I have my iPhone with me anyway."

Sometimes we are just camera lazy people. We don't feel motivated to be creative or intentional with the photos and opt for the path of least resistance. It results in thoughtless snapshots or absolutely no shots.

SOLUTION: Have a theme, make it fun

Bringing the camera is a discipline...You just have to do it. However, planing a summer photo theme is an easy way to help make it fun again. It encourages family participation toward a common photo goal. It boosts your own creative energy along the way. Best of all, the vacation photos are much more fun to share with people when there are themes to tie everything together.

Here are some theme ideas you may steal...

Take photos in a visual sequence to tell the vacation story
Make at least one campfire portrait each year
Hide a silly prop in shots as an Easter egg for other people to discover when they view photos later
Include some fun repeating element as many photos as you can
Whoever takes the funniest photo wins a prize
Look for objects in your travels that are weird/quirky to build a photo collection
Make a quick group shot at every landmark
Spot and photograph strange signs along the way
Snap a quick photo of the heritage markers then read about it in the car as you drive
Make funny forced perspective pictures at all the tourist sites
Document it every time someone gets to do something new or unusual
*My Favorite* Shoot with the intention to make a family vacation album each year