Your plane has landed, you’ve unpacked your bags, and you can finally begin to think past the fog of jet lag. Just because your vacation is over doesn’t mean you forget about the magic of your recent travels. Whether or not you regularly take photos of life’s everyday moments, chances are you DO take travel photos while on vacation.
And what you need are creative ways to share and display your travel photos so you can revisit those special moments… and maybe Instagram captions for travel photos too!
Discover Creative Ways to Share and Display Your Travel Photos
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When you return from a trip, are you the kind who keeps all of your photos on your phone to scroll through as you wait in line at the drive-thru? Are you a photographer extraordinaire yet still have over 2000 photos from a recent trip on your SD card and your phone? How about a stash of photos from your previous travels?
My favorite photographer, Audrey Ann at LiveSnapLove.com, shares a few tips on how to upload and organize your travel photos if you are at a loss or new to travel photography.
PS. She offers some FREE cheat sheets and some pretty great courses too!
- Free Manual Mode Cheat Sheet
- Free Lightroom Starter Kit
- Free Aperture Cheat Sheet
- Free 90-Day Starter Kit
- Launch into Lightroom Course
- Auto to Awesome Course
Read on to be inspired with creative ways to share and display your photos and keep your travel memories alive.
>>Related: 5 Best Travel Photography Courses for Beginners
1. Create a Travel Photo Album
Over the past ten years, I have created travel photo albums specifically focused on a travel destination or a “year in review” that featured family vacations and epic destinations. My girls often pull out these books on a rainy afternoon. They make a perfect memento or gift for kids and grandparents at Christmas too.
TIP * Make books for each of your travel destinations as a way to journal your travels. If you have never made one, I think you would be surprised to find out just how quick and easy it is.
Online Options:
- SmugMug
- Shutterfly
- Picaboo
- MixBooks
- Snapfish
2. Create Wall Art
Are you wondering how to display your favorite travel photos?
My husband surprised me with a Christmas gift one year of one of my favorite prints of all time. I captured the photo in Lourmarin, France as he and I explored the South of France together. The metal print now hangs in a niche in my front entry and regularly receives comments such as, “Wow, what an amazing photo?” or “Where did you get that?”
- Metal Prints
- Framed Prints
- Canvas Art
- Turn Your Photos Into a Painting
- Wall Tiles
>> Related: 5 Spectacular Days in the South of France
3. Design a Gallery Wall
Sometimes our most favorite photos and memories are nicely catalogued and filed on our computers but could be used to decorate a room or a wall. The cost of printing your photos is relatively inexpensive and you can often have them in less than an hour.
Keep your travel memories alive in your home to inspire you to reminisce or to plan your next trip.
Photo Tours You Will LOVE!
4. Upload to a Photo Sharing Site
There are a variety of sites that will allow you to store and share your photos:
5. Create Gifts for Family and Friends
Beyond the photo books, many companies feature additional products that allow you to use your own photos to create works of art or mementos that you use daily. You can have your face immortalized on:
- Drink Coasters
- Ornaments
- Travel Photo Mug
- Photo Panels
- Blankets
- T-Shirts
- Notebook
- Canvas Bag
- Luggage Tags
6. Design a Calendar
Each year I create and share a printed calendar using the Picaboo website. The calendar is a great way to showcase your travel memories and perhaps inspire others to visit destinations that you have loved.
7. Create Postcards to Send
Send an actual postcard by mail. What? That’s so 1990. But who doesn’t love to receive a personalized note in the mail? Better yet, who doesn’t love to receive a personalized letter in the mail with a beautiful picture that YOU took?
Astound your friends (and the delivery person) with your talent.
Photo Tours You Will LOVE!
8. Use Your Photos as Screen Savers
- Stream photos as a Digital Screensaver on your TV – Many TVs come with streaming options and instructions on how to access your photos
- Use your travel photos as your Lock Screen and Home Screen on your phone
- Purchase a Digital Photo Frame for your home or to send photos to grandparents
- Display photos on your Amazon Alexa Echo
>> Related: 15+ FREE Gorgeous Photos: Wallpaper for Your iPhone to Inspire Travel
9. Create a Personal Blog to Share Your Travel Photos
You can create a personal, diary-style blog to share your travel photos and everyday snapshots with family and friends. WordPress.com or blogger.com make this easy to set up.
I started on Blogger for my personal blog and found it easy as a newbie to use and personalize. Not only do my girls have a written record of their life, but they also have corresponding pictures from the time they were infants.
Tip * Want to know my best piece of advice to couples starting a new life together? Keep a blog of your life as your family grows. I promise, someday your kids will thank you.
10. Create a Professional Travel Website
A blog is a fantastic medium for journaling your travel memories (or parenting or recipes or whatever), adding your travel photos, and beginning to share itineraries, tips, and practical advice with would-be travelers.
Search for Photo Tours
11. Post Your Travel Photos on Social Media
- Upload Photos to YouTube – Upload to your YouTube channel (set to private if you wish), and you have a virtual album of your trip you can watch on the big screen or send to Grandma.
- Create a Travel Instagram Site – Share your pictures with family and friends or work to create a following to grow your brand. Learn some of the Best Selfie Poses for awesome shots.
- Share on Twitter
- Add Photos to your Facebook feed
- Save photos on Pinterest
- Are you TikTok-er?
>> Related: Inspiring Instagram Captions for Travel Photos
Captions for Travel Photos
If you are looking for Instagram captions for travel photos, check out all of the these posts:
- 109 Beach Captions for Instagram
- 101 Best Travel Quotes for Instagram to Inspire Wanderlust
- 103 Romantic Instagram Quotes for Couples Who Love to Travel
- 100 Inspiring Instagram Travel Captions
- 300+ Instagram Content and Travel Caption Ideas for Bloggers
12. Sell Your Travel Photos
I have not had any experience selling my photos to stock photography websites or online marketplaces. You can learn more about that through research or online tutorials.
I do sell my photos on Just Wander More. Contact me if you are interested.
13. Create a Scrapbook Using Your Travel Photos
Are you an avid scrapbooker? I was always too busy blogging to add one more medium to my efforts to journal my travels, but many of my friends love the scrapbooks they have created over the years.
You will want to collect and save memorabilia from your trip such as ticket stubs, vouchers, a napkin, postcards, and receipts. And the hardcopy scrapbooks will give you a great excuse to print your photos and then look back through the pages.
Travel Photography Tips
Whether you are a traveler extraordinaire who hopes to take better travel photos, you want to explore the world of posting on social media, you are a mom who snaps pictures of her family wherever you go, OR you want to UP your photography game, learning a few of the basics will help to improve the quality of your photographs.
These tips will get you started.
- Plan your shots
- Edit photos and be willing to delete travel photos (sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do)
- Avoid visiting popular sites at popular times
- Avoid crowds and tour groups if possible
- Be patient
- Have your camera settings dialed in and act fast
- Have your phone ready to go as a back up
- Stand so people in the background are hidden from view
- Take day trips to lesser known destinations
- Simply ask people to move
- Use the crowd in your shot
>> Related: Tips to Take Better Travel Photos
Permission Granted to Delete Travel Photos!
<GASP>
Did I really just suggest that you should DELETE some of your travel photos? Yes. Yes, I did. In case YOU need to hear this today, I am giving you permission to delete travel photos. Yes! You.
Why? You need to get rid of your photo clutter too.
Pictures to Delete:
- So the burst of pictures you took of the Eiffel Tower? You only need ONE from that angle.
- Your photo is blurred or badly composed.
- Unflattering photos of you or your family members (unless you need them for future blackmail opportunities!)
- Screenshots – Are you snapping a quick pic of your train ticket so you won’t forget your seat number? Delete it now that you are home.
- Selfies – Only keep the ones that are really great. All those forehead shots are NOT keepers!
- Reminders – I often take pictures of restaurant names, city names, etc. as I travel. These pics are NOT my best work. They are informational. You don’t need to keep them once you have retrieved the information you need
- Super short video clips.
- Memes, recipes, kids’ school work that you sent to grandma. Delete it or create a file for them and download it.
- Unintentional Photos or Videos – How many videos or photos did you snap that you didn’t even realize you took? You don’t need that shot of your left leg. Delete it.
Photography Composition Quick Tips
- Consider the light and your light sources
- Use the rule of thirds
- Try to not have objects sprouting out of your subject’s head
- Use natural frames
- Find leading lines as you compose your photo
- Shoot from a creative angle
- Try to capture a reflection
- Focus on the eyes
- Make sure your focus is spot on
And don’t forget to STRAIGHTEN YOUR PHOTOS PEOPLE! This happens to be a pet peeve of mine.
I am insanely talented at taking photos that are not straight, ie., the horizon slants horribly to the right. When I get home and look at the wonkiness of the horizon or the leaning tower of anything in my travel photos, I wonder how I could have taken such a crooked photo!
If this is you as well, not to worry: photo editing programs allow you to crop and straighten the horizon or buildings or whatever on all of your photos.
I go more in depth on composition in my post Tips to Take Better Travel Photos. Check it out!
- Photography Composition
- Taking Vacation Photos
- How to Improve Your Photography Skills
- Camera Equipment
- Tips for Looking Awesome to Take Better Travel Photos of YOU
Travel Photography Gear
I take photos everyday and everywhere. Sometimes I quickly grab my phone before the opportunity is gone, and sometimes I use my DSLR for a well-composed quality shot.
And…sometimes when I travel, I have both my phone and my camera ready to go (I look like such a tourist!)
You may encounter people who are passionate about their brand of camera. There has long been a debate about which camera brand is the best—Sony, Canon, Nikon, etc. The answer? Whatever camera you have with you!!!
Here are a few ideas for your photography travel gear options:
- Point and Shoot Camera
- Underwater Camera
- Mid-range DSLR
- DSLR
- Canon EF-S 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens
- Nifty Fifty
- Phone
Just remember, you don’t have to travel with ALL of your photography equipment. Pack lightly. Take only the essentials. That may mean your camera body, one or two versatile lenses, and a few accessories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some more creative ways to share and display your photos?
Photo coasters
Shadow box
Collage and letterboard frames
Coffee table books
Cork map bulletin board
Are there photo sharing apps?
Yes. You are probably already using some of them: DropBox, Flickr, Amazon Photos, Facebook, Instagram, eFamily, Google Drive, Google Photos…to name a few.
What does it mean to “upload” a photo?
You “upload” a photo to transfer it from your phone (or camera) to your computer, your tablet, another device, or the internet.
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Final Thoughts on 13 Creative Ways To Easily Share and Display Travel Photos
Travel and photography go hand in hand.
If you have been wondering what to do with all of your amazing travel memories and photos, I hope you have some ideas now. You DO NOT have to be a professional photographer!
It is such a convenience to snap digital photos as you travel and to take as many as you wish. So, after you have spent all that time lining up the perfect shot, taking time to find the right angle, and waiting for the best light, find ways to enjoy your photos and relive your travel memories once you return home.
P.S. They make great Christmas gifts too!
You may also love…
- 30 Travel Photography Tips: Take Better Travel Photos (and Look Good in Them Too!)
- 27 Instagram Worthy Insanely Colorful Destinations Around the World
- Amazing Amazon Deals for Travelers on Prime Day
- 15 Popular Travel Photography Gadgets
- Family Photography: 10 Super Reasons to Plan a Family Photoshoot on Vacation
- 50 Clues for a Fun Photo Scavenger Hunt: Road Trips, Travels and Adventures
- 9 Best Day Trips in Italy for Photographers
- 65 Awesome Travel Quotes for Instagram
- 5 Best Travel Photography Courses for Beginners
Love all these ideas! Now I just gotta do it!
I love photography. Great tips! And the photos in this post are beautiful.
I love all of these ideas, I love looking at the pictures on the walls they bring back wonderful memories…
Awesome tips! Uploading them to a site like Pinterest is a great tip! I LOVE seeing travel shots on Pinterest and will often re-share.
So many great ways to display travel photos.
Great ideas! It is sooo much better when you actually manage to use your photos! I normally blog and create travel albums… but I love the idea of making postcards!
p.s. lol i appreciate the permission to delete some too!
This was so fun! Thank you for these fun ideas, I definitely want to start a trip photo album. Also thank you for the permission to delete some photos! Lord knows I need to do that too!
These are great ideas! I love creating photo albums and photo scrapbooks with my travel photos. I also love sharing them on social media. Thanks for all the additional tips!
You listed some of my favorite camera gear – and the lenses last forever too. Great article!
Your Lourmarin, France is gorgeous! It has never occurred to me to make postcards. That is a fantastic idea. Getting snail mail that isn’t junk mail is a special treat. I share most of my stuff on facebook but I do have special family and friends that aren’t on facebook. SOMEDAY I’ll have time to scrapbook…I hope!
Thank you so much for giving me permission to delete some of my travel photos! ?I so needed to hear that! Great ideas on how to display travel photos…I do all of them.
Fantastic article, I love taking photos all around the world and I am motivated to do better and better! Reading this was inspiring!
I love all these tips. I try to make a photo book each year that has all my pictures so I can look back and easily see the pictures!
Love all these ideas! I always make a scrapbook for each of my big trips, which is fun. I love the postcard idea though too, I’ll need to try that!
This is such a helpful post, I have so many travel photos at this point that I don’t know what to do with them! Deleting them would probably be the best idea for me 😀
These are great tips! I find it difficult to keep up with all the photos and organize them. They get dumped into a folder by location and date. I’m sure there is a lot of wasted space and I should delete before moving them from my camera. Thanks for all the ideas!
Thanks for your great post. Especially I love your permission to delete some of my photos! So far I just add more of hard disc space and delete just really bad unusable photos. I definitely have to use your permission much more often.
Great ideas for share travel photos! I’ve been thinking of printing a few for the walls, but selecting the right ones is difficult.
Great suggestions! I usually scrapbook, but I have been a bit too busy lately!
We have created photo books for gifts and they were always hugely appreciated. But I must admit we don’t have any of our great photos as art on the walls. I always have an online photo gallery when we travel and share it with friends and family to travel with us. And we stream our photos to our Apple TV and enjoy them over and over again. But I sure which my hubby would get better at deleting photos so he can get his to me quicker for the blog so it is not just my photos.
So many great things to do with your travel photos! I used them as a screensaver and share them in social media!
I really loved this blog, always have these things in my mind too. but the way you have written about different ways to display travel pics are just easy to remember and use. I would definitely try something out of this. Thankyou