Family Photo Traditions: Keeping the Memories Alive

Family Photo Traditions: Keeping Memories Alive | GoodLifePhotoSolutions.com

It’s a big couple of weeks here in our house. Our oldest child, our first child, our only daughter is finishing her last day of high school and next week we will celebrate her graduation. It seems like just yesterday that she was putting on her cute little backpack and toddling off to preschool. Now she’s an honor graduate headed off to college. Sigh…

Time passes so quickly, but one way we can slow downtime is to capture those moments on film, as it were. Events that happen over and over again in our lives become traditions and often we capture those traditions with our cameras.

In our household, we have several photo traditions, the kids in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning in their new holiday pajamas, all the kids who go to the beach with us every year lined up on the surf’s edge in order of height, and the first and last day of school.

Do you have a family photo tradition? One particular pose that you capture year after year, one group of loved ones who get together every so often and capture the moment. Family photo traditions are a fabulous way to tell your life’s story.

Family Photo Traditions: The Kids and The Old Man

The first and last day of school tradition started when our daughter went off to preschool. But it really fell into a pattern when she started first grade. We lived in the small town of Ridgway, PA where every winter the Ridgway Rendezvous Chainsaw Carving Festival was held. At the 2006 festival, we purchased a 4 ½ foot tall carving who we affectionately named The Old Man and placed on our front porch. When the fall came and our daughter started 1st grade, it seemed as good of a place as any to take the ubiquitous first day of school photo. And a family photo tradition was born.

Family Photo Traditions: Keeping Memories Alive | GoodLifePhotoSolutions.com
The first and the last of a tradition.

Now both kids are in high school, but every first (and last) day of school they grudgingly stand next to The Old Man to have their photos taken. In fact, I just took my daughter’s final last day of high school photo. (Excuse me while I go find some tissues). I have told them that until they are done with college we will take their picture there. It’s our family photo tradition.

Family Photo Traditions: Keeping Memories Alive | GoodLifePhotoSolutions.com
Capturing the first day of school for 14 years.

Benefits of Family Photo Traditions

Creating a family photo tradition can be as simple as a photo of the kids by the Christmas tree every year or as complex as recreating the same picture in the same poses over many years. Regardless of how you do it, having these traditions can benefit your family in many ways.

  • It captures a series of moments in time.
  • It gives you a sense of family history.
  • It gives you something to look forward to and to look back on.
  • It gives you something to smile and laugh at as time goes on.
  • It helps you remember your loved ones who are no longer with you.

Create a family photo tradition to tell the stories of your life. #makememoriesClick To Tweet

Start a Family Photo Tradition

Don’t really have a family photo tradition? It’s never too late to start.  Consider taking a family picture at every holiday in a certain place in your home or on a family favorite outing. Or just build on a photo you’ve already taken.

Recreate an old photo.  That is what my cousins and I have done. In 1988 my 3 cousins, my sister, and I took a photo on our beach vacation. At this time we were in early college, high school, and elementary school and it was the first vacation where we were all together. 

Flash forward until 1998 and we recreated the pose. That year for Christmas we reprinted the original picture, printed the new photo, and had them both framed then presented them to our Grandmother.  

Family Photo Traditions: Keeping Memories Alive | GoodLifePhotoSolutions.com
The cousins in 1988 and 2015

Flash forward again to 2015 and we were once again at our family’s annual beach vacation. By now we are all adults with children of our own. Much to the chagrin of said children, we again recreated the photo, awkward pose and all. It is such a treasured family tradition that I bet the next time all 5 of us are together at the beach we’ll do it again.

What are your family photo traditions? I’d love to see your pictures!


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*This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you purchase from a link, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business. See my disclosure policy for full details.

Check out my favorite photo organizing tools in my Amazon shop.

Connect with Good Life Photo Solutions

InstagramGood Life Photo Solutions

FacebookGood Life Photo Solutions

PinterestGood Life Photo Solutions

Sign up for our newsletter

Email us. I’d love your feedback and questions! [email protected]

Want to Know More?

If you want to work with a photo organizer near you to help you organize and preserve your photos, contact us or visit The Photo Managers to find one in your area.

*This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you purchase from a link, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business. See my disclosure policy for full details.


Family Photo Traditions: Keeping Memories Alive | GoodLifePhotoSolutions.com

2 Comments

  1. Seana Turner on May 22, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    I love this advice and I wish, wish, wish I had done this! It is so fun to see the progression and change over time. I mean, I did keep the school photos, but I never got into a cool location or anything like that. I’ve seen others do this in recent years and I love the idea:)

  2. […] the mess. That’s why it is so important for you to organizing and safely preserve your photos and the stories behind them. It’s truly a gift to the next generation. (If you are struggling to get this done, […]

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