How to plan your summer photo bucket list
Jun 29, 2023
From guest blogger Emily Doukogiannis of Emily D Photography
As a portrait photographer, digital course creator and photobook maker, one of my favourite things to do is help clients tell the story of their lives. And that's why I want you to be capturing your summer memories—because the story of your life is the one you want to tell.
When figuring out which moments I want to document for my 13- and 10-year-olds—the good and often unremarkable moments of our family life—I always start with answering the four W’s: Who, What, When and Where to create the literal checklist of what I want to capture for the season.
Who: This is hands-down the most important W! For me, it's my kids and my family. Sometimes I set my kids up and take purposeful portraits (like the photos you see below of them eating ice cream or sitting shirtless), and other times, I seize the moment—the images aren't necessarily as "good," but they are representative and in the moment, like the selfie of my family.
What: These are objects or activities you want to capture, along with the places and people. As a photographer, I could happily spend all my time taking photos of beautiful objects, but these alone aren’t going to make the story I want to tell interesting. It just proves that I’m a great photographer.
Where and When: This means locations you're planning on being (so the Walt Disney sign in Florida, for example), as well as the scenery you want to take in for the season. But remember, scenery shots are boring. Taking 400 photos of the cherry blossoms you visited at High Park will never be looked at again, so you really just need one beautiful shot and can move it.
And the trick to creating your summer photoshoot bucket list? Not thinking about it too hard. Just plan on getting whatever comes to mind and live in the moment the rest of the time.
I did this very exercise last summer, and here are the photographs I captured:
- our annual trip to visit my family
- a day at our family cottage
- a camping trip
- a reunion
- visiting my beloved uncle
- group shots at Canada’s Wonderland
- a hike with my brother
- a few images of my kids as the sun was setting.
At the end of the year, I made a family calendar and an annual book, and I was able to perfectly capture what our summer was all about. That's only eight times I had to worry about getting my camera out—and it ended up being perfect. I didn't have to constantly be pulling out my phone to get a random shot here and there. It wasn't necessary.
If you're sitting on a mountain of digital photos—you know, before you learned how to capture just the essential—join my free five-day challenge so you can create some photobooks that you'll want to keep and share with family and friends. If you're really not sure where to start, you can find me on Instagram or email me at [email protected].
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Emily D Photography is a small but mighty photography studio in Toronto. Led by Emily Doukogiannis, we specialize in photographing real people at work and play AND helping you make sense of your digital photography clutter. We offer classes and services to help you get your photos off your device and into your life.
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