How To Take Family Photos At An Amusement Park (or anywhere!)

How to Take your own Family Photos at an Amusement Park or ANYWHERE

Let’s rewind to the summer of 2018.
I was pregnant with Leander that summer and we went on a trip to Virginia with some of my family (you can go back & see photos & read all about that trip here!)
(Also, can we just talk about what life was like with only one little munchkin?! And how tiny that little munchkin was?! Omigoodness – I hardly remember what being a “family of 3” was like!)
But, moving on.

I remember some very specific things from that trip (like how incredibly hot it was & how swollen my ankles got) but there is one MAJOR thing that sticks out in my mind when I think of that vacation:

We only have ONE photo of our family.
(And that one photo is the only photo I appear in over that entire trip.)

Now – this is a common problem, right? I mean – you go somewhere with your family: maybe it’s a big vacation or maybe you just go to the pumpkin patch or the local amusement park. While you’re there, who is going to take a photo of your group?

There seems to be only 2 answers, right?
Either:
A – someone is left out of the group photo (because that person is taking the photo – this is usually Mom)
B – you awkwardly ask a passing stranger if they can take a photo for you (and you pray they don’t run off & steal your phone)

If you ask me: neither of these options are acceptable.

Listen: I’m a naturally shy, introverted person – asking a stranger to take my picture is like volunteering to babysit someone’s pet snake. I’m just NOT going to do it.
And, do you know how many photos I have of my husband + kids? TONS. Where is Mom? Answer: she’s always the one behind the camera.

Guess what though? I’ve finally cracked the code & found the most AMAZING answer to this problem!!

Ready?

The solution is super simple – it involves your phone (which I guarantee you have) and a phone tripod.

Now, before you check out – HEAR ME OUT.

There is a good possibility you already have a phone tripod somewhere in your house. (After all: they are a super easy gift to give!) But if you don’t have one, you want to buy one with bendy legs.

THIS IS THE EXACT ONE THAT I HAVE: UBeesize Phone Tripod
(It comes with a remote, but it’s super small & I tend to lose it – so don’t stress out about keeping tabs on the remote. You don’t need it anyway.)

That is all you need: a phone tripod & your phone.

If you have those two things – it’s as simple as putting your phone into the tripod, setting the tripod up somewhere (more on this in a second), setting your phone on the “self-timer mode” (I like the 10-second option), pushing the button, joining your family, saying: “CHEESE” and just like that – you have proof that your entire family (or group) was together at that specific location!!

Go about your day, being the amazing person you are.

A few more tips & tricks:

I prefer the phone tripod with the bendy legs – that way, I can bend the legs around an object, making my phone much more stable.
My favorite place to put my phone tripod is around the handle of our stroller! Sometimes (for example, if you’re out in the middle of the beach), it can be really hard to find an option you can set your tripod up on. Well, we almost always have our stroller with us – so wrapping those legs around the handle of our stroller has proved to be the PERFECT spot 95% of the time!
(Otherwise, I’ve utilized walls, signs, picnic tables – trust me, once you start looking, you’ll see tons of spots you could put your phone!)
Please do not place your phone anywhere precarious!! If a stray gust of wind or a random stranger could push your phone over – find a new location. Especially if your phone could fall somewhere that you could not retrieve it (like, into the ocean or off a cliff) – DO NOT put your phone there!! Trust me, you can find a better & safer spot!
I like using the 10-second self timer option. Most phones have a 2-second & a 10-second option and unless you’re a cheetah (or standing super close to the camera) – you definitely need those extra seconds to get yourself into into the frame & situated before the camera takes the photo.
On an iPhone (which is what I have), the self-timer option actually takes a burst of 10 photos. This is incredibly helpful as most of the time – I only need to take “one” shot & I know I’ve got a good one somewhere in that burst!

If you’d like to see me talk about how I make this happen, you can jump specifically to THIS SPOT in our Adventuring Abbey Vlog covering our trip to Dorney Park, Sesame Place, and Playland’s Castaway Cove. I talk about the tripod I have & show how I attach it to our stroller handle.

Here are just a few of the photos we have taken using this method!! These are ALL from our travels in 2021!
(And, geez, now I’m getting all emotional thinking of how – if I hadn’t stumbled across this “trick”, that I wouldn’t have all of these precious photos of our family on our adventures! We all actually exist – TOGETHER – having visited each of these places!!)