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As scrapbookers, I think it’s safe to say that taking photos is a majority of our job. Without photos, you have no scrapbooks, or not much of one anyway. Holidays are a great time to snap photos that guide your memory keeping and journaling. Check out these 8 Thanksgiving photos you should take to help document the big day!
1. The Food
Outside of being together with friends and family, the food is probably one of the main reasons you gather, yet I personally forget to get a picture of it so often. There is a comfort and even vivid memories that comes back when you can remember things like how delicious Grandma’s homemade pie was, and one of the best tasting turkeys we ever had.
Even more, if you can document special recipes and people making the food, that adds a new element to the mix for your scrapbook. Not only will you remember the food itself, but you would also remember the time spent making it and why it is so special. The food and the story behind it would be some great Thanksgiving photos to take for your book!
2. Around the Table
It is nice to remember who you sat by. I think a lot of families fall into the routine and traditional places to sit, but ours gets mixed up a lot from year to year. Aside from the food, other important Thanksgiving photos would probably fall here.
There isn’t much nicer than spending time with your family, especially if it’s family you never get to see, around a lovely table, filled with beautiful food, visiting together. It is another sneaky way to get a candid family picture and documents who was there.
3. The Kids’ Table
Want fun Thanksgiving photos? Take some of the kids’ table! For one, you’ll never know what you’ll get from kids, and that’s why it is so fun to take pictures involving them. And you’ll remember them at that age.
Just as with adults, it’s fun to remember which cousin liked playing with which one, and the one kid who would eat nothing but rolls and dessert for dinner. I have a niece who insists on eating the turkey leg each year and claims that part before dinner even starts. She was doing that since a very young age.
A photo of the kids’ table will add a fun element to your Thanksgiving layout for sure!
4. The Weather
I’m sure there are places that the weather is pretty status quo for Thanksgiving year to year, but in Michigan, we have more white Thanksgivings than Christmases at times. Documenting wacky weather Thanksgiving photos are a great way to add to the story you are creating in your layouts.
A snowy Thanksgiving may remind you of the crazy car ride to Grandma’s house that caused most of the family to be late, but it created an even cozier time together when you all arrived safely. On a beautiful day, maybe you got to go out in the yard and play some football, rather than just watching it that day. (Be sure to take photos of that action too!)
The weather plays a huge part in your Thanksgiving story sometimes, so be sure to include it in your collection of Thanksgiving photos.
5. Relationships
Find ways to remember the dynamics between people. Capture generational pictures, uncles being silly, cousins together playing, grandparents playing with grandchildren, etc. Thanksgiving is probably one of those rare times you see certain family members during the year, so be sure to heed the opportunities to document those relationships.
I personally love to capture the ones with our daughter and her grandparents and great grandparents. Those are memories she will want one day when she wants to remember them. There are also ones with her and her goofy uncles that she adores.
Make it a point to capture candid Thanksgiving photos of how your family and/or friends hang out together. These will be gold one day when you are looking back through the books!
6. The Unique Times
I think 2020 was enough to tell us that there are times that holidays aren’t always conventional. I remember needing to get used to the idea of not having the traditional Thanksgiving then, but we ended up having a very special day with just the three of us.
Because I took lots of photos that day, I was able to remember all of the different things we did that made that year special. Things like not having a turkey defrosted to eat, so we had ham with all the things we had in our garden for sides, since things were still hard to get.
We also took advantage of the beautiful day it was and headed to our state park for a walk and to have something to do. Our Thanksgiving photos may have looked different that year, but we remember all of the little pieces that made it special because we took the pictures.
7. Special Traditions
At one of our family gatherings, it has become tradition to play games after dinner, while munching on dessert. It is always a blast and the kids, and fun uncles, love it.
Maybe you have some quirky thing you do with your family that deserves a place in the Thanksgiving layout. That is an excellent thing to journal about too. It doesn’t matter how small it is, as long as it is meaningful to you and your family. Those are things that are fun to pass down and share with future generations too!
8. What You’re Thankful For
This is a set of photos that I think will come naturally as you snap them throughout the day. Not only taking photos of what you’re thankful for, but journaling about it is a great way to add to your Thanksgiving layouts.
It can be something different each year that pertains to that specific year even. Maybe you are thankful for health after a health scare that year. You may be thankful for your degree after finally completing all the classes you needed to earn it that year.
If you can get it in photo form, even better, but journaling has it’s place in documentation too.
What kinds of photos do you insist on taking each year at Thanksgiving? Share in the comments to help others get ideas!
Print Those Thanksgiving Photos!
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