We’re finally back and settled in (for a little while anyway) from our big adventure up and down the East Coast. Our days of spending all of our time at the beach or lounging by the pool have come to an end, but we had the absolute best time.

Our first stop was at Hilton Head, SC. My family has been vacationing in Hilton Head every summer since I was born. But in the last 10 years, life has gotten in the way and we haven’t had a trip there with all of my family. This summer we managed to not only get all of us out there, but also my kids and our husbands!

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This was our first summer vacation as a family of five and the kids are at such fun ages now that the week was full of fun and so many smiles.

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My brothers and sister took time out of school and work to get the four of us back together.

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My youngest brother is off to college this fall, so this was the last vacation before my parents become empty nesters!

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Our first stop in Hilton Head was the Salty Dog Cafe. It’s worth the wait and has great views. Avery was so tired from staying up late the night before, that she slept for a little bit before dinner.

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Most of our days were either spent in the pool or on the beach.

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Macks couldn’t get enough of the warm ocean water. Such a big difference than the water we are used to here in Connecticut.

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Avery just wanted to dig herself a “pool” the entire time. It was a little bit less intimidating than the ocean.

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Harlan stayed in the water nearly the entire day and was determined to get the boogie boarding thing down before she left. This girl loves the water.

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Our nights were spent hanging outside as a family and enjoying dinner and music. One of my favorite memories of Hilton Head is visiting Shannon Tanner and then watching the fireworks. It’s crazy that I can now bring my kids to what I experienced as a child.

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Our last night in Hilton Head was spent on a boat to look for dolphins. Unfortunately we didn’t spot any dolphins, but the kids did get a chance to drive the boat, which made for the perfect ending to a perfect family vacation.

Before we left for vacation, I made a goal for myself to take more photos and to really try to improve my skills so that we could have pieces of this vactation that would last forever. Canon was nice enough to lend a Canon EOS 6D Camera to me and I immediately fell in love with it (so much so that I purchased one of my own as soon as I returned.) I set up a phone call with a Canon expert that gave me a quick tutorial and some great photo tips to have for my vacation. The tips were so good that I wanted to share them with you. Especially since I used them on my trip and was so happy with the outcome of my photos!

BABY IN MOTION
From crawling to walking to full-on sprinting. Use these tips to get great photos of your budding explorer.

Tip 1: Use Continuous Shooting Mode to keep your baby in focus no matter how fast they’re moving.

Tip 2: Shoot in Shutter Priority (Tv) mode and make sure you use a high shutter speed to avoid any unwanted blurring.

Tip 3: Get low at ground level and simply touch the LCD screen to keep your on-the-move baby in focus.

OUT AND ABOUT
Here are tips for taking great outdoor portraits while the fam is on the move.

Tip 1: Set your camera to Aperture Priority (Av) mode to allow more light.

Tip 2: Select the lowest F-stop (example f/2.8) to blur any unwanted backgrounds.

Tip 3: Shooting later in the afternoon on a warm sunny day can give a wonderful warm glow to images.

BABY BIRTHDAYS
Before they blow out the candles, prepare to blow them away. Check out these tips for great candid photos and videos for any birthday party.

Tip 1: Capture a close up video of your child with an f/2.8 or faster portrait lens for better low light images.

Tip 2: Get up close to your child so you can capture the fun of the moment.

Tip 3: Increasethe ISO in low light situations to avoid dark images.

PLAY TIME
Pick a costume, any costume. And then bring it. Here are real-life tips to capture the kids in all their make-believe glory.

Tip 1: Use continuous shooting to capture all the excitement of playtime.

Tip 2: Get in close to capture the essence of innocence and have the cutest holiday card next season.

{Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this post. As mentioned, Canon let me borrow the camera for my vacation to capture wonderful memories! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.}

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