family fun
Photography: Family Photo Walk at Utah’s Wheeler Farm
We had a goal to come up with the perfect family outing that got us out of the house, helped unite us, was creative, and active all at the same time. What could have been more perfect than a family photo walk to a nearby farm?
Family Photo Walk at Wheeler Farm
The first thing to do when planning a family photo walk is to choose a location. We decided to go to Historic Wheeler Farm. We hopped in the car around 7:00 p.m., made the 15-minute drive, and arrived when the sun was just right for snapping pictures.
Wheeler Farm is an historic park in Midvale, Utah (about 10 minutes south of Salt Lake City) that still has lots of animals and beautiful grounds. Looks like someone's hungry!
It is free to the public and fun for families, offering birthday party packages, hay rides, and even weddings. It's also very popular for professional photography due to the location...
...the rustic feel...
...and the setting (check out our family photo taken here a couple of years back)...
How to Lead a Family Photo Walk
Photo walks can be as complex or as simple as you want them to be. Our main goal was to spend time together and do something that would create a bonding experience, so simplicity was the key for us.
Here's some steps I recommend you follow if your goal is the same:
- Make sure each camera's battery is fully charged and that everyone has their own camera.
- Depending on the time, consider taking sun glasses, sun screen, water bottles, and snacks. Hungry photographers don't snap the best pics.
- Go when there is great light. Early in the morning and closer to sunset are the best times.
- Choose a theme for your photo walk. On the ride over, we each threw out one adjective to define our theme and then voted. Troy's word was "blue." Chase wanted the theme to be "calm." Connor came up with "growing." And I threw "wild" into the ring. We all voted and wild it was!
Our Favorite Photos From Our Family Photo Walk
The purpose of having a theme was to identify things that fit our description of the word wild, whatever that may mean to us, and snap pictures of those things. We taught the kids about perspective and how people have different interpretations of the same word. To illustrate the point, I tossed out the word "sky" and asked everyone to shout out in unison the first word that popped into their head. All of us came up with something different: clouds, blue, big, beautiful. I explained that our photo walk pictures may all be different and the way that we interpret the word wild may not match, but that all our pictures would be valid and important because they would come from the way we see things.
Here's our favorite picture from each of our sets.
Troy's Interpretation of Wild
My Interpretation of Wild
Chase's Interpretation of Wild
Connor's Interpretation of Wild
Once back at home, we chose a radio station we felt fit the theme wild and watched a slide show of all of our pictures. We had a great time discussing how they represented the word wild to each of us and laughing about the funny things the animals did.
My favorite part? Watching my boys bond during our photo walk.
If you'll be in Utah this summer, be sure to check out Wheeler Farm's Farmer's Market each Saturday and their kids' day camps all summer long.
What hobby does your family share? What are your favorite things to do together?
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