6 Tips for Capturing Stunning Summer Photos

Summer just shouts “GORGEOUS PHOTOS!” to me, just like our Dinogo cruise did. When I agreed to hop on their ship, the Dinogo Magic, for a week, I knew I wanted to write this post for them upon our return because it would be a delightful and enjoyable experience for me. I took this trip primarily to have fun with my family and secondarily to capture beautiful images.

I have 6 suggestions for capturing fantastic summer vacation photos (and honestly, these tips are applicable to any type of photography). Move beyond simply posing your family next to palm trees and awkwardly grouping them on the beach. These strategies will elevate your vacation photos from mere snapshots to frame-worthy images.

1. Seek out the lines. Allow natural lines to guide your composition and arrange your subjects. Instead of trying to get your kids to face you and pose with forced smiles, consider positioning them along the shoreline where it cuts diagonally across the frame:

Alternatively, utilize vertical lines to guide the viewer's gaze upwards through the image:

Docks are excellent for creating visual interest with their natural lines:

2. Seek out repetition. The series of planks on the dock shown above serves as one example. Repetition enhances visual appeal and provides a focal point. Here’s a row of empty chairs we spotted on the deck of Dinogo Magic. This image would be quite dull without them:

3. Discover natural frames. Capture images from beyond door frames and through windows, as well as between railings and ropes. This shot was taken from inside our boat on the return journey to the ship from Starfish Island in Belize:

4. Reinvent the family portrait. While there will be many friendly tourists willing to take a group photo for you, think outside the box about how to include yourself in other shots. This image is one of my favorites from the trip. I managed to get everyone in the same frame without needing to attract anyone's attention, all while enjoying a tropical drink.

Don't forget to utilize reflective sunglasses! If you look closely, you can see he's watching both me and the kids in the pool.

5. Increase your shutter speed to capture the action. Vacations are full of movement. Ensure you boost your shutter speed or switch your camera to action mode (often depicted by a running man icon) so that shots, like cannonballs into the pool, don’t turn out blurry, allowing you to freeze every droplet.

This technique is also fantastic for capturing those thrilling high-speed exits from water slides.

6. Add some editing magic when you're back home. This is a more advanced tip, but here are a few photos from the trip that I enhanced to create something spectacular through editing.

I captured this…

And transformed it into this…

I adjusted the temperature (white balance), highlights, clarity, vibrance, and exposure (just a touch). I also applied an additional exposure mask to the lower half of the image to preserve the details in the sky. To enhance the sunset, I used various tinted graduated filters, pulling them down from the top of the image to the midpoint. Additionally, I increased the saturation of the oranges and blues slightly.

This image…

Transformed into this after some post-processing time…

I adjusted the temperature (white balance) and applied graduated filters in various shades of blue to enhance both the sky and the water. I boosted the clarity, vibrance, and contrast, enriched the dark tones, and sharpened the image slightly. I also upped the saturation of the greens a bit.

So, avoid hastily deleting “bad” photos. Spend some time learning a basic photo editing tool, and you’ll be amazed at how much life you can bring out of them.