The other day I asked Lucas, “what is one thing that is really important to me?” without even hesitating he said, “pictures!”
I. Love. Photos. A big part of my love for photos is because I have a poor memory and photos help me remember special moments. I’m the kind of person Pinterest made the “Psst! You already pinned this post!” feature for because I try to pin images that I’ve already pinned (even though I swear I’ve never seen them before) all the time. I do the same thing with memories and photos on my own personal hard drive.
I’m the photographer in my family so I’m not in most of our photos. For the longest time we would come home from a trip with hundreds of photos and they would all be either unattractive self-wes (what Lucas calls a selfie with more than one person in it) or Lucas solos and a handful of blurry couple shots taken by strangers. Not only do I want photos of Lucas and I together, or with a group of friends, I also would like a few solo shots of me every once in a while. I learned that if I want something done right I have to do it myself…
…so I invested in a mini tripod and a smart watch. Best purchase ever.
Absolute favorite trick for getting fun photos on the fly...
Mini Tripod • This mini tripod is by far the best $14 I’ve ever spent. I’ve used it for over 3 years now and have captured COUNTLESS priceless memories with it. Just wrap it around a tree branch or the edge of a chair or stand it upright and snap your phone in place. The tripod is small and super light weight so I often carry it around in my purse and always take it on trips. I don’t use the mini remote that comes with the tripod because my Apple watch is a camera remove and always on my wrist : ) The apple watch remote has a pretty impressive radius and offers a 3 second option so you can click the screen of your watch and have 3 seconds to lower your arm into a natural position.
Camera remotes are great for posed photos if you know exactly what you want a photo of. They are ALSO great for capturing candids – just prop up the camera and click away the remote as you (and whoever else is with you) enjoy the view (or whatever you’re doing).
Lucas surprised me with a diamond band during a long layover in Iceland and without the DSLR remote (more info on this ahead – keep reading) we would have lost this memory!
2nd favorite: yields better photos but is less ideal due to heavy camera
DSLR Remote • Before mini tripods were on my radar, I carried my heavy DLSR everywhere and used this handy DSLR remote. Before buying this $35 remote, I got an $8 and regretted it… The $8 Amazon basics camera remote works fine but the range is only about 6-8 ft… Lucas is so tall that we can barely get his whole body in the frame with that short of a distance. Lucas got the $35 remote for me for Christmas and it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received! The range is incredible! I’ve used it up to 150 ft and it can go even further.
Since the mini tripod was in my purse we were able to capitalize on this beautiful leaf pile and didn’t have to leave anyone out of the photo.
Thanks to both my mini tripod and DSLR remote, I’ve been able to take fun photos that capture the essence of a trip or experience and take photos of us in action working on our fixer upper house. Often the act of setting up the tripod and prepping for a photo makes for a fun memory…
EXTRA TIP: It is hard to come up with fun poses for pictures. That’s why most travel photos look like a person standing in front of a famous structure. Use other people’s photos as inspiration! The first image in this post was not a completely new idea – it was inspired by a blogger I follow on instagram who posted an image of her and her husband in India with a similar pose. My photo looks nothing like hers, but her photo gave me an idea to work off of. Now I have a cool photo to help Lucas and I remember the breath-taking viewpoint we stumbled upon on our drive around the São Miguel coastline in the Azores.
Selfie vs mini tripod/remote —>>> 
Here are the more frequently used, but far less effective ways of getting good couple or group photo and why they should only be used as worse-case scenario back up options…
- Ask a stranger to take the photo for you: Although strangers are usually friendly and kind enough to take a photo for you, the odds of the photo turning out well are slim. At least in my experience. I found that photos were usually blurry, cutting off someone’s head or zoomed in uncomfortably close. If you’re going to ask someone to take a photo, try taking a photo how you want it and show them and say, “Can you please take a photo just like this but with me in it?” : )
- Set your phone or camera on a ledge and use the self timer: Self timers on phones and cameras usually give you 1, 3, and 10 second options. The 10 second option is usually the only one that will give you enough time to click the button and run into place. One nice thing about self timer features is that camera usually automatically takes a rapid 10 photos once the timer goes off. So… there is more potential to get a non-blurry photo.
PIN for later...
