When we travel, we tend to take hundreds of photos a day, especially when we go to incredible destinations like the Lofoten Islands or our safari in Namibia. We photograph everything from breathtaking landscapes to scenes of everyday life. And even more so now that we’re traveling with the kids.
So, to avoid leaving all those photos in a folder on our phone when we get home, we like to create a slideshow. Afterwards, we take great pleasure in reviewing them as a family, often by the fireside, recalling the highlights, the anecdotes, the unexpected… and all those memories that make each trip unique.
The good news is that today, there are simple, accessible solutions that make it easy to create a slideshow, even when you’re not at all comfortable with the technique.
In this article, we’ll be sharing our tips on how to sort your photos while you’re traveling, and how to create a slideshow once you’re back home, simply and efficiently, to prolong the pleasure of your trip for a long time to come.
Choosing the right software to create a slideshow
Before taking the plunge, the most important thing is to choose a tool suited to your needs and level of proficiency. When you’re looking for software to create a slideshow, there are three main things to look for:
- ease of use, so you can create a slideshow without having to struggle with the technical side;
- the time needed to create the slide, especially when you’ve just returned from a trip with lots of photos;
- features such as built-in slideshow templates, animations, transitions and the ability to easily add music.
There’s no need to get too complicated if the aim is simply to review and share memories.
For something very basic, the tools already built into your computer may suffice. On Windows and Mac, for example, the Photos application lets you quickly create a simple slideshow from a selection of images. It’s effective for quick viewing, but the options remain limited: no integrated music, few effects, and fairly limited customization.
When you want a more elaborate rendering, with a real atmosphere, well-integrated music and more polished transitions, then you need to turn to dedicated software.
👉 For our part, we tested the software SmartSHOW 3D. It allows you to create much more immersive slideshows, while remaining accessible even to those who are not technically inclined. We’ve clearly gained in visual impact, without spending hours on it.
Choosing the right photos for a successful travel slideshow
How do you sort your photos during your trip?
💡 To save time, we’ve developed a habit during our travels: creating a folder directly on our phone. Every evening, we save our favorite photos of the day there. This little ritual avoids having to re-sort everything when we get home.
We also use this method for our blog. We already start to pick out the most striking images and note the most important features of the places we visit. As there is often several months between the trip and the writing of the articles, this upstream organization is invaluable.
Once back home, we systematically transfer all photos to an external hard drive. Even if they’re also backed up on Google Drive during the trip, we prefer to multiply the copies. In the event of breakage, theft of the phone or transfer problems, memories remain safe.
How do you organize your photos in a slideshow?
Sorting without keeping everything is essential. The idea is not to show everything, but to tell a story. We prefer images that evoke an emotion, a particular moment, an atmosphere. Better a few well-chosen photos than an endless succession of similar ones.
To keep a good rhythm, we alternate points of view. Large landscapes give scale, details bring intimacy, and life scenes make the slideshow more human and lively.
👉 Chronology is often the simplest and most effective solution. Following the thread of the journey naturally guides the eye.
Our tips for creating your slideshow
To ensure that your slideshow is a pleasure to look at and really brings your trip to life, a few simple choices can make all the difference.
🎵 Choosing the right music: we prefer a piece that matches the mood of the trip, accompanying the images without overpowering them. The volume should remain balanced so as not to overwhelm the memories. You can try Pixabay to download royalty-free music.
🔄 Careful transitions: simple, coherent transitions ensure a fluid sequence of photos, without busy effects that distract attention.
📝 Add text sparingly: a place, a date or a short sentence is enough to set the context and reinforce the narrative.
🎬 Think about the pace of the slideshow: neither too fast, nor too slow, to allow time for each image to be appreciated.
Why create a slideshow from your travel photos?
We particularly like this format for several reasons:
- it’s another way to travel a second time, a bit like when we write our blog posts several months after visiting a place;
- to prevent photos from being stored in our phones and never seen again (we’ve all been there);
- It’s a particularly pleasant format for sharing memories, much more fluid than scrolling through dozens of photos on a screen;
When and how to use your travel slideshow
Slideshows are a natural part of everyday life. It can be viewed at a memory party, shared with family, given as a gift for an important event, or kept as a digital album to be brought out years later.
Creating a slideshow from your travel photos is another way of prolonging the experience. The trip is over, but the memories live on, ready to be told again and again. For our part, we’re off to create a slideshow of our stay in Stockholm.
