We are all familiar with the phrase, "Say cheese!" which is meant to get everyone to smile. Another common issue when taking an otherwise perfect picture is discovering that someone's eyes were closed. You can eliminate that problem by having everyone close their eyes when you are about to snap the picture. Then call out, "Open!" and at the same time everyone will open their eyes, giving you the perfect opportunity to snap the picture.

When taking family pictures on vacations, it is easy to put the focus on the location or scenery, when the focus should be on the people. Location shots are separate pictures to be taken. If you want to focus on your family, make the scenery or location a backdrop. Make sure you zoom in close to your family, instead of zooming out where they become nothing more than specs in the picture.

Create Fun, Active Photographs

Active photos can be created by having family interacting with one another. They can do this a number of ways:

• Talking;
• Playing;
• Building;
• Hugging;
• Tickling; and
• Walking.

The possibilities are really endless. Interactions are moments that you want to be able to capture when snapping the perfect family picture.