Part 26: Family Reunion Photos and Video

With all of the planning you have put into your family reunion, wouldn’t it be a shame if you forgot to catch some of it on film? If your relatives are anything like mine, you will probably catch a few good moments that would qualify for America’s Funniest Videos if you bring a camcorder along!

If you like, you can actually hire a professional photographer to come out and take photos of your family reunion. Just like with a wedding, a professional photographer can take candid shots of the family at play as well as posed pictures of various family members together. Even better, you don’t have to worry about taking pictures and can be freed up to just mingle and to have fun.

Of course, professional photography can be expensive, so that might be outside of your budget. Nonetheless, you might want to ask around and see if anyone is available to take care of the photography for a low price. After all, these photos don’t have to be of the highest quality possible. I have a friend that only paid someone $75 to come out and take the pictures at her reunion and the pictures came out just fine. Better yet, she has full rights to the pictures so she can make as many copies as she wants.

Another option is to place disposable cameras at each table. Then, have a designated place for the cameras to be turned in when all of the film is used up. Put a note on the cameras encouraging family members to use them to take as many photos of the event as they like and include instructions for turning the camera in when it is used up.

If you have a digital camera, that is ideal for taking photos that can be later uploaded to your family website. That way, everyone can enjoy the pictures and they can download them to their own computers later. This is a great way to share the photos from the family reunion without the expense of printing multiple copies and mailing them off.

When it comes to the posed photos, you should try to get a number of different combinations. For example, you might have each individual family pose for its own picture. Then, you might take a photo of all of the women and a photo of all of the men. You might also take photos of each generation. Have fun with the different configurations and you will be sure to have more than one photo that can be cherished for a very long time to come.