You are packing for summer vacation or planning a family outing and you are faced with the typical dilemma. Do you pack that big bulky DSLR that you have to lug around, but get the yummiest images out of? Or do you rely on that much more compact and accessible mobile phone camera and miss out on that portrait look? Heels or flats? The chicken or the egg? The struggle is real, friends.

While I’m sure it is obvious, I do still bring my DSLR for most things, but not everything.The biggest thing to think about is what really works best for you. Some of us love the DSLR camera and would never think about using anything else. And that is fine. And then there are some of us who really don’t want to carry around the added weight and bulk especially when trying to chase and keep track of little ones. And that is fine as well.

Let me walk you through how I approach which equipment I bring and for what in order to document my family’s summer memories in the best way possible.

The DSLR

I love the images I know I can get with my DSLR despite hating the amount of space it takes up and how heavy it is to lug around. It’s one thing when I am on the job – that comes with the territory, but hauling it around while also juggling little ones and actually enjoying myself? I’m not always in the mood. This is why I choose specific events or activities that I use it for.

Example: If I know we are headed to the beach or an equally beautiful scenic spot, my DSLR will definitely be the one I make sure to bring along and use the most. I know we will be sitting, relaxing and hanging out which means I am not having to lug it around, but it also means that I can get the beautiful images I am wanting to see of my family.

Here are a few photographs I shot when we were vacationing in Newport Beach in the summer of 2010.

Even with upset kids, the pictures are pretty fantastic with the depth of field and quality. And definitely a lot more enjoyable to document with my bigger equipment when I have a spot to park all of our belongings, sit and enjoy the view.

If you will be using your DLSR this summer, make sure to keep your images safe! It is so important to back up the images you take with your DSLR daily, especially if you are on vacation. No one wants to accidentally lose a day’s worth of memories because of lost, damaged or stolen equipment. Each night when you get home or to your hotel, be sure and upload your images to your laptop using a memory card reader. Once they are downloaded onto your computer, back up a second time by uploading them to DropBox – the best cloud storage system! You can never be too safe and I am speaking from experience after losing a large amount of our family photos years ago. A story for another time, but I cannot stress this enough. Download, download, download. Backup, backup, backup.

The Mobile Phone Camera

When it comes to activities that are at crowded places or where we are going to be doing a lot of walking, I leave my DSLR at home. I gladly give up the more artistic look to make sure that I can enjoy myself with my family and snap away as much as I would like at the same time.

Example: Last Fall I was at Disneyland with my two older kids and I had decided long before that I would not be lugging my camera around so I relied on my small, but mighty iPhone. The pictures I was able to get were still just as fun, but I didn’t have to worry about my expensive equipment being lost, stolen or damaged. Or the added weight of carrying it all around the park. And I had more room in my bag for important purchases. Like Peanut Brittle. Lots of Peanut Brittle.

While the images are not as great in quality as I would have gotten with my DSLR (especially at night), they are still capturing that moment and that is all that matters to me.

Teacups and snow on Main Street. Yes, please.

 (both of these images were taken with the iPhone 5S and edited using AfterLight app)

Quick tip! I can only speak to iPhone users since that is what I have experience with, but be sure and change your HDR Auto option within your camera to ON when taking a photo. It will give you a larger, higher quality image to work with then what the standard output is.

The best thing with using your mobile camera is that you can download theDropBox app and sync your phone to it. This means that every image you take while on vacation or at an event is automatically being backed up to your DropBox cloud storage. Heaven forbid your phone drowns in the ocean or is stolen by the Pirates of the Caribbean, you can go to sleep knowing that your snapshots have been backed up, safely stored in your DropBox account and waiting for you. In case you missed it, check out this post to get the instructions on how to get it setup on your mobile device.

Bottom line is, whatever you decide to pack or bring be sure that it fits your needs best and allows you to enjoy your summer fun. Taking any kind of photo to document the moment or story is better than no photo whether that be with a DSLR or a mobile camera. And if you are the natural documenter, don’t forget to include yourself in the photo opps. Selfies are a mother’s best friend!

Happy summer, friends!