How to photograph your family heirlooms like a pro

Heirlooms can be unexpected—such as the gorgeous glass doorknobs shown here: “I was born into the bedroom with the glass doorknob and I didn’t leave it until I got married at age 23,” the subject remembers; she uses the object as a jumping-off point for stories from her life in that home (she even took the doorknob with her when the house was sold—a true heirloom). This is an example of a family heirloom photograph that has been styled and arranged in an environment, used as part of a broad family history book.

Whether you have centuries’ worth of expensive heirlooms handed down through generations or a few sentimental objects from a single ancestor, you should consider photographing your heirlooms to preserve their stories and provenance.

An heirloom’s preciousness does not derive from its financial worth, but from its meaning to you. Some of my most treasured heirlooms are valuable only to me—a crocheted blanket my mom made for me, a few shells I gathered on beaches during travels with my grandmother, and a wooden spoon that they both used that I now cook with daily. And yes, I consider each of those worthy of photographing—because they hold stories and love that I want to pass on.

Styling and photographing heirlooms can be as simple or as sophisticated as you’d like, depending upon your skill set and needs. Here are some guiding questions and helpful resources to empower you to photograph your heirlooms like a pro.

Decisions that will guide your heirloom photo shoot

What heirlooms do you want to photograph?

Knowing how many and what types of objects you want to photograph is a necessary first step. Make a list of the objects (some to consider: jewelry, letters, portraits, works of art, family Bibles, furniture, kitchen gear, instruments, clothing, china, military medals or uniforms, firearms, collectibles). Which do you want to photograph?

How will you be using the photos?

The two main ways I utilize images of family heirlooms in my books are 

1. in a straightforward family history catalog, where the heirlooms are the main point of the book; or 

2. in a broad family history book with a narrative focus, where the heirlooms are just one way of revealing a family’s stories.

For a straightforward heirloom catalog, the images need to clearly identify each object, perhaps show them from different angles, and hone in on relevant details. To achieve this:

• Photograph each heirloom on the same backdrop. Using a large white foam board, available at any craft store, is an easy, clean option.

• Maintain consistent lighting—either natural light from a window (in which case I recommend you schedule your shoots at the same time each day to ensure steady shadows) or artificial lighting (such as from studio lights, a camera flash, or directional light from a lamp). Strive to make each image look like they belong together in the same catalog.

• Consider including a ruler or tape measure in some shots to clearly depict an object’s size.

I photographed this hand-turned plate, made by my client’s father, on a clean white background and from various angles, because it was being used in a catalog of family heirlooms. The lack of styling yields not only a timeless image, but a straightforward record of what the objects look like.

For images that will be included within a larger narrative book, you have many more options (and therefore, more choices—and more challenges). Consider:

• What is the tone of your book? The design aesthetic? You will want to photograph the objects in a way that complements these.

• In what context will the images be shown? This will influence how you style and shoot your heirlooms. 


  
  For example, in a recent book telling the story of a Jewish man who fought in the Red Army during World War II, I shot the subject’s military medals on clean white backgrounds, but in a stylized way—at an angle, with strong shadows, so when placed in the page layout they appear to be sitting on the book’s pages; I wanted the awards to stand on their own, visual reminders of the subject’s valor. 


  
  For another client, whose book encompassed generations’ worth of family history, I shot various heirlooms in styled settings that fit into the warmer, nostalgic tone of the book—an inherited cast-iron pan was styled with other items in their kitchen during a cooking session, capturing not only the textures of the heirloom, but its familiar use with a passed-down recipe; while a stack of letters that an ancestor had saved was tied beautifully with twine and styled with a handkerchief, floral stems, and one letter open for reading, an invitation into their intimacy.

This styled heirloom photo uses candles and flowers to add dimension and texture, natural lighting for soft shadows, and a simple wooden surface as a warm yet simple backdrop.

Where are the heirlooms?

Logistics can play a major role in how you photograph your family heirlooms. If you are the keeper of them all, then life is easy—skip this question! However, if your heirlooms are divided among various family members, or tucked away in a storage facility or bank vault, you will need a plan of attack.

• Can you arrange to have all the heirlooms brought to a central location for one or two days of shooting?

• If not, can you enlist the help of a family member at each location to make tackling multi-location shoots easier? Or ‘assign’ photo shoots to a different individual at each location?

• How will you achieve consistent lighting across various locations (or change up your visual approach based on location)?

• Have you thought of everyplace your heirlooms might be? Consider the homes of other family members; storage facilities, bank vaults or lock boxes; your own attic, basement, shed, closets; 

Bonus: heirloom photography resources and ideas

Some easy heirloom image ideas:

• Shoot a framed photograph in its environment, instead of scanning the image itself.

• Shoot an everyday heirloom (one you use often, such as your grandma’s wooden spoon or your great-uncle’s woodworking plane) while you are using it—your hands and the surroundings will bring life to the object.

• Have a collection of items such as baseball cards? Choose one or two representative items to make the center of your photo’s focus, but scatter many of the others around—you don’t need to see every item in a collection to understand its vastness or its value.

• Shoot engagement rings on the hands of the wearer or in an elegant velvet ring box.

  
  

A few keys to getting great shots:

• Remember, the subject is the focal point of the image—any props or backdrops you include should add texture and visual interest, but not distract from the main subject.

• The angle you choose to shoot from will impact how the heirloom is seen. I recommend always shooting from a few angles—you might be surprised by which one resonates in the end.

• Keep the trim size of the book in mind when shooting your heirlooms, as this may influence the orientation of your photographs.

• Go for dimension and layering, but not a cluttered feel, when arranging props and heirlooms for your shoot. A simple dishcloth or ribbon, when styled beautifully, might be enough.

• Reflective items such as mirrors and glass can be more difficult to shoot. Search YouTube for a tutorial on how to approach these objects.

• “A ‘narrative’ is a little story or subtext that gives the shot its purpose,” prop stylist Robin Zachary writes in her beautiful book, Styling Beyond Instagram. “By combining any given theme and narrative, you can create endless options to give purpose and meaning to your images.” Be creative!
  
  

A few of my favorite (affordable) styling resources:

• Foam board

• Contact paper

• Surfaces

• Acrylic cubes as risers

• Flowers or herbs

• Steamer

• Fun-tac

• Textured hand towels

Related reading:

• For tips on how to learn more about your family heirlooms, check out this piece in Family Tree Magazine.

• For more ideas about preserving the stories behind your family heirlooms, explore the posts below:

3 ways to honor the legacy of a family member on Memorial Day

Memorial Day has come to be seen as the unofficial start to summer in the United States, ushering in warmer weather (if not the actual summer season). Its meaning is often lost amidst long weekends and cookouts, but let us not forget, it is a day on which those who died in active military service are honored.

Here are three ways to honor the legacy of someone who died in service, whether or not you have a family member who served and died for their country.

1. Intentionally remember your family member who died in service.

   Set aside time to actively remember your loved one. This could mean looking through old photographs, reading letters they wrote, or sharing their story with your family. If they are buried in a military cemetery, consider visiting their grave to leave flowers or a flag. You might also take a moment of silence or raise a toast in their honor during a family gathering. Small acts of remembrance help keep their legacy alive.
   
   
   

2. Invite stories from other veterans in your family or community.

   While it may be outside your comfort zone to interact with people you’ve never met, Memorial Day presents a unique opportunity to talk with living veterans in your community. Libraries and senior centers often have intergenerational conversation groups, or consider a senior who is loosely in your circle who you’d like to know more about (the grandparent of one of your kid’s friends, for example, or a shopkeeper who you know casually). Ask them to share memories of any of their fallen comrades, or simply listen to their own experiences. Record these conversations—whether in writing, audio, or video—to preserve their stories. If they are comfortable, consider submitting them to a veterans' history project or helping them create a family archive. These firsthand accounts add richness to history and ensure that the sacrifices made are never forgotten—and moreover, they shine a light on a single individual and create sacred space for them to share stories from their life..
   
   
   

3. Visit a local cemetery and photograph headstones for the Find-a-Grave website.

   One way to contribute to the collective act of remembrance is by helping document gravesites for historical and genealogical records. The Find-a-Grave website allows users to upload photos and information about burial sites, ensuring that the names and legacies of fallen service members remain accessible to future generations. If you visit a cemetery on Memorial Day, take a few extra moments to snap photos of military headstones and upload them to the site. This simple act of digital preservation can be incredibly meaningful for families searching for information about their ancestors.

Honoring a family member who died in service doesn’t have to be limited to Memorial Day, but this holiday serves as an important reminder to pause and reflect. Whether through personal remembrance, community storytelling, or historical preservation, you can help honor a loved one’s legacy in a way that feels meaningful to you.

Become a family history detective (the fun way!)

All of genealogy can be thought of as a treasure hunt or a detective mission: You’re searching for clues to the past, one document at a time. But beyond the paper trail, there are other paths you can follow to help you understand your ancestors’ lives, to flesh out their stories, and to add texture to your family narrative.

3 ideas for going on a family research adventure

Search for treasures at home.

Have you searched your attic and basement for boxes of photos or scrapbooks or other items your parents or grandparents saved? Too often, particularly when a family elder dies, we just stash these boxes away because we are overwhelmed dealing with logistics of the loss, or too emotional to rummage through them. Check out this free guide for tips on how to navigate that process, including what to search for, where to look, and how to handle the waves of grief that may ensue.

Search for treasures at family members’ homes.

Maybe you’ve seen a photo of your extended family on the mantle at your cousin’s house for years and never thought to ask for a copy for yourself. Or maybe you know your brother inherited a separate box of Dad’s things after he passed, and you never thought to inquire as to what was within. I guarantee you that every person on your family tree has some clues to your own family history—all you need to do is ask. Consider arranging a visit: You bring the meal, and invite them to bring out those dusty boxes. You bring the questions, and invite them to share some stories. You bring your curiosity, and invite them to get excited about the past along with you. Make this particular detective mission one centered not just one fact-finding, but on building connections!

Take a fact-finding trip.

It might be as simple as driving 20 minutes to the street where your childhood home was located, or as elaborate as creating an entire itinerary and traveling out of the country to your family’s homeland. After jotting down some questions about various PLACES from your past, consider if any of them might be answered by undertaking a trip.

A few ideas:

• Perhaps an ancestor is buried in a cemetery that is not indexed on Find-a-Grave: Go there, physically, and take photos of the headstone to determine (or confirm) your ancestors’ names and birth and death dates. Are there other family members in the plot that might be new to you, too? (Why don’t you upload one—or a few—photos of other grave markers to the Find-a-Grave website while you’re at it? Someone will be grateful one day.)

• Maybe there was a diner or mall or bowling alley where you made frequent visits as a child with your family? If you want some sensory input to help you travel back in time to access your memories, putting yourself in the environment will help. (A recent trip I made to my hometown, for example, flooded me with memories in the most unexpected ways—turning on a road I had forgotten about where a close childhood friend had lived, and driving by my high school parking lot…)

• Did you determine that you are almost 100-percent Italian through a DNA test? Or uncover Ashkenazi roots you didn’t know were present in your bloodline? Consider traveling to places where your ancestors may have lived. There is now a whole industry built around heritage travel. You could hire someone to craft a custom itinerary based on your family history, or just visit a new country where you have roots to immerse yourself in the culture, hear the language, and eat the food. Make sure to prepare like the detective you are by having at least a handful of specific objectives during your travel. It might be visiting a specific address you unearthed on a genealogy document, or visiting a local archive to answer specific questions you’ve had trouble answering through online repositories. Maybe there’s a ‘lost’ recipe you’d like to recover—find a restaurant that caters to locals and might be able to help you. 

Grab a notebook, a pen, and your camera, and get ready for adventure, family history detective!

Beware of family history project creep!

You’re almost done with your latest family history project…and then a sibling drops off ANOTHER box of stuff. What do you do?

Over the years I have created an array of resources for those in my community who prefer a DIY approach to their family history and memoir projects. Some of those resources provide nitty-gritty, step-by-step directions on how to do something (such as create a tribute book, say), while others offer broader inspiration (like ideas for fun family photo books).

One thing almost all of them have in common, though, is some reference to overwhelm. Why? Because it’s the thing I hear from prospective clients and DIY’ers most—how daunting they find the project before them. How they can’t imagine ever finishing—or they don’t even know where to begin. How they start with enthusiasm, and at some point abandon the project due to burnout.

As a professional personal historian and longtime editorial project manager, this is something referred to as project creep. And, frankly, it sucks.

What is project creep?

A quick AI overview makes it clear that project creep is generally a professional term:

“Project creep, also known as scope creep, is when a project's requirements or deliverables increase beyond what was originally defined in the project plan: 

Definition: Adding features or functionality without considering the impact on time, costs, or resources 

How it happens: Often starts with small changes that build up over time

Can lead to: Decreased quality, reduced team morale, customer dissatisfaction, and project failure.” *

YOUR personal family history project has only one client and one stakeholder, and that’s you. So while you aren’t worried about some other customer’s dissatisfaction, you are concerned with your own, right?

So let’s skip the bureaucratic jargon in the AI definition, and say this: 

Project creep can happen even when you are in the driver’s seat, making decisions, and seemingly NOT adding any new requirements or aspects to your project. How?

>> Because every genealogical discovery leads to another (or to a mystery just begging to be solved). 

>> Because every time you need to learn something new (like how to export a gedcomm file from Ancestry, or where to find family history templates that meet your needs, or how to transform your family history facts into compelling stories…), you might end up going down a rabbit hole.

>> Because family photos can be distracting (in a most endearingly emotional way, but still).

>> Because there really is no “end” to your family history.

So, how do you avoid project creep in your family history project?

The following three simple steps will help you ditch the feelings of overwhelm and avoid losing focus from your family history project.

1. Set clear goals.

What are you trying to accomplish with THIS family history project? Are you aiming to create a beautifully bound family history coffee table book? If so, that large project needs to be broken down into smaller tasks to help you get there. Are you aiming to create single page synposes of all the known ancestors just on your maternal side? Then write that as your end goal, and make a list of tasks to achieve it (a list of known ancestor names; what your one-page summary will incude; whether or not you need pictures, and where to source them from; etc.).

Be clear about your end goals, and your expectations and next steps will be clear. Any time you feel project scope creeping in, ask yourself: “Is what I am doing within the scope of my original project goals?” If not, write the task down and consider revisiting it during your NEXT family history project.

2. organize your project materials.

Using the goals and resulting step-by-step approach you created, gather all the materials you think you will need to complete THIS family history project. You may prefer to work with hard copies—in which case you will need folders or a binder to organize your materials; or you may be a digital native who hates paper clutter—in which case I recommend dedicating a single external hard drive to your project (and nothing else!).

Organizational categories may include things like:

E-Book recommendation

If you want to get serious about organizing all your family history materials, I highly recommend this step-by-step guide from archivist Margot Note.

• family tree info (perhaps further broken up into maternal and paternal lines, or by couples and their children, for instance)

• family photographs (organized chronologically, perhaps, or by family member, or thematically if you plan to tell stories through your family history)

• resources (such as maps, a list of family surnames, contacts such as genealogists or family members you regularly communicate with)

• schedules or other project management info

You may also want to consider a color coding system to help you discern materials at a glance. One simple hack I have used in the past is to buy three colors of post-it notes and assign each a status—green for “ready to go,” yellow for “need more info/hold for later,” and red for “problematic/needs work.”

3. set deadlines.

If you know you must finish your project by a certain date—an upcoming family reunion, say, or a loved one’s birthday—then you know your FINAL deadline; go a step further and create interim deadlines for various aspects of your project.

Even if you have no firm end-date in mind, though, it’s crucial that you set a firm schedule if you plan to finish. Check out this post for exactly how to set a deadline for your family history project (including concrete ways to hold yourself accountable!).

—————————-

*Project creep definition and other explanatory info derives from an AI overview from Google, November 13, 2024.

Related reading

• What to do when you have too many memory-keeping ideas

• Think you’re too busy to write about your life? Think again.

• Eight things you can do to be a good steward of your own family history

What do you wish you had asked them?

Do you wish you had asked your parent certain questions before they passed away? Are your parents still living, but you know you haven’t asked them for all the stories you hope to one day hear (and pass on to your kids)?

“I wish I had asked my father about his time in the Army during the war.”

“I wish I had asked Gran about what Mom was like as a teenager.”

“I wish I had asked Mommy why she never remarried after my father left.”

“I wish I asked what the heck the ‘secret ingredient’ is in Nonno’s Sunday sauce.”

Whether it’s a seemingly small thing like how to get a favorite family recipe just right or a big thing such as why a loved one left home at the age of 16, we all have questions we wish we had asked.

I hear these laments regularly from prospective clients and from friends, from those I am coaching on their own memoirs to those who are honoring a deceased family member in a tribute book. It’s an unfortunate universal truth: We think we have unlimited time with those we love—time to do the things we want together, to share our appreciation for them, to ask them questions (about any and everything, but especially about themselves).

If there are two things I could impart to you right now—lessons learned from these repeated regrets—they would be:

1 - Ask your parents questions now.

If your parents or grandparents are still living, start asking them more meaningful questions than “How are you?” or “Do you want to meet for dinner?” Instead…

• Interview them about their family history,

• …or get your kids to interview them.

• Encourage them to write about their life by telling them how much you really DO want to hear their stories!

• Or just start having some intentional, thoughtful conversations and hit “record” on your smartphone. (Need inspiration? I am currently listening to Laura Dern and her mother, Diane Ladd, have these exact type of conversations in the audio book of Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) [Grand Central Publishing, April 2024]).

2 - Answer questions your own kids haven’t asked yet.

Be proactive. I guarantee your children will one day wonder about you. Not you, their parent, but you, the individual. Think about the questions you wished you had asked your now-gone family elder, and find a way to answer some of them. It could be by…

• writing in a journal devoted just to this purpose that you will one day pass on to them;

• creating a weekly writing practice to preserve your life stories;

• working with a personal historian like me to interview you to capture those “answers” (let’s chat!);

• simply having CONVERSATIONS over the phone or over dinner where you intentionally share memories and allow them “in” to your world in a deeper way (this is ideally done with adult children, but you can begin sharing your memories and life lessons in age-appropriate ways throughout their young lives!);

• preparing an ethical will (also known as a legacy letter), an opportunity to share your values in a way that takes much less time than writing a whole life story book, to be sure, but that may hold as much value to your descendants.

It’s natural to take our loved ones for granted. But I urge you to step off that easy path and take a turn towards intentionality: Ask questions. Answer questions. Sidestep regrets 💕

“Write Your Life” delivers weekly memory & writing prompts via email

Last year, I spent weeks researching courses for writing about your life. I found nearly a hundred of them, and even paid to enroll in a few to see what they were like.

Originally I wanted to be able to offer suggestions to people who reached out asking my advice on life writing courses. Somewhere along the line, though, I got motivated to create something different.

• Instead of a full-on memoir course, I wanted to teach how to write about your life in smaller narrative vignettes.

• Instead of focusing on the nuts and bolts of writing—grammar, character, dialogue, etc.—I wanted to cut to the chase and get students writing their memories from the outset.

• Instead of teaching writers who want to publish and sell their work, I would target regular folks who want to capture their stories for their loved ones—and for themselves.

• Instead of providing run-of-the-mill family history writing prompts like Storyworth and their slew of copycat competitors (I offer such prompts for free!), I would create thoughtful, open-ended prompts accompanied by examples, tips, and inspiration—with real value added from my years of experience as a writer and editor.

• And lastly, instead of charging hundreds of dollars for a course you might not even have the gumption to finish, I wanted to create something truly affordable and different.

I believe with all my heart that your story matters. Your mom’s and granddad’s and spouse’s stories matter. And each one of you—every one of us who is living our story—should be able to write about them.

What makes the Write Your Life courses different?

These courses are tailor made for you. They will help you write about your life, to get your stories down on paper, and to think beyond the often trite questions in those ready-made memory journals.

You’ll look forward to getting your weekly prompts, and you will actually complete your stories.

Introductory themes are CHILDHOOD MEMORIES and FOOD MEMORIES, with new themes starting every few weeks. Themes build upon one another or stand on their own, depending upon how much you want to write.

If you enroll in Write Your Life, you’ll get weekly memory prompts, writing tips, and inspired ideas that are:

encouraging

The memory prompts go above and beyond a simple directive. You’ll explore how memories resonate for YOU. Writing beyond first impressions allows you to go deeper, to discover more than you could first have imagined. Memory cues, sample explorations, and inspirational notes provide encouragement without worry (for things like “what if I can’t remember?” or “but, I am not a writer!”).

Your stories matter—and you CAN do this!

helpful

With concise, RELEVANT writing tips from a professional, you will feel supported on your journey of capturing your stories.

This is not a course to help writers polish and fine-tune their skills. It is a course for people who want to write but don’t normally consider themselves a writer—and the writing advice you receive will be helpful but not unwieldy. Our goal: To help you write stories that are engaging and enlightening—that will entertain your ancestors with anecdotes, sure, but that go further by delving into life lessons, values, and the journey to becoming you!

flexible

You choose what day of the week you would like to receive your weekly lessons. You choose which themes to explore in depth, and which to write shorter snippets about.

You may write in a journal or type on your computer.

And you have a whole week to ruminate on your memory prompts and write your stories. Enough time to let the details bubble up, to call a sibling or parent to talk about the past, or to search for an old family photo album with pictures to help jog your thoughts—but not so much time that you don’t get to it at all. Because next week, another memory prompt and writing exercise is coming!

affordable

At just $132 $99 for a WHOLE YEAR course, pretty much anyone can take advantage of this learning opportunity. There’s no recurring subscription fee or annual membership required (unlike other weekly family history Q&A prompts we know of). And since prompts are open-ended and you get a PRINTABLE page each week, you can invite a friend or family member to write along with you.

Why email? Because most of us have a phone or computer, and it’s a convenient delivery method. There’s no videos to watch or long book to read; our lessons get to the point quickly and clearly, and you get to writing all the more quickly, too.

Oh, yeah, and I don’t expect you to write while staring at a screen. Each week you’ll get a beautifully designed PDF page to print out and work from (and in the end, you’ll have a year’s worth to return to or share with others!).

Why wouldn’t you enroll?

Memory journals from your local bookstore are a nice idea, but frankly I have seen too many of them gifted and never filled out. I inherited two of them from my own mom, each with fewer than three questions filled out, some with only a few words. Disappointing, to say the least…

Subscriptions like Storyworth are great if you just need a nudge without any real writing guidance or support—and if you want a simple, “free” book at the end (though, from my experience, many people never finish the prompts, and therefore never get their book). THIS course—which I took over a year to develop and which incorporates years’ worth of my professional experience guiding life writers one-on-one—is designed to encourage you to finish…whether it’s within the initial year or later ✍🏼❤️

Consider enrolling in Write Your Life yourself, or, if you want your parents’ stories, consider gifting* them with these Write Your Life prompts—trust me, inviting your family elders to share their stories with you (and preserve them for the next generation) is one of the best gifts you could give them!

Before you gift: Writing isn’t for everyone!

Remember, this is a WRITING subscription. If you know your parent or family member loves to write (even if it’s just in a journal), this may be a wonderful option for them. If, on the other hand, they groan at having to write a short note, you might not want to “gift” them something that can feel like a burden. Consider asking them if they’d be interested first, or gift them a starter package of personal history interviews, where their stories will be RECEIVED by an engaged and generous listener…

Rather Talk about Your stories than write?

If writing still isn’t your thing but you want to preserve your stories, consider TELLING them in a personal history interview. Reach out to see how we can work together—it is my honor to listen to you (or a loved one) share stories, and preserve them in a book!

A Year of Memory & Writing Prompts

Explore our year-long “Write Your Life” email course

discover & enroll

Thanksgiving story sharing, made easy

Thanksgiving is the American holiday perhaps most associated with family, food, (and football), and lively gatherings around the table make it a prime time for sharing—and capturing—fun family stories.

I’ve written a fair amount about how to maximize the holiday from a family history standpoint; here’s a roundup of some of the most helpful and popular stories on the site to help you preserve your family stories this Thanksgiving.

Family potluck: reminiscing & recipes

Family Potluck: Reminiscing and Recipes: “Collecting family recipes is one of those things that’s on many of our ‘I want to do someday’ lists but that can easily slip through the cracks. It always seems like there will be time. But instead of saying ‘next time,’ make it a priority—as well as an enjoyable endeavor!” Here, tips for easy things you can do to get your family involved in preserving your food heritage.

4 ways to give thanks through story sharing

4 Ways to Give Thanks Through Story Sharing: “Even for families who may not share stories regularly around the dinner table, Thanksgiving lends itself to some good old-fashioned reminiscence.” Here, four unexpected ideas for giving thanks and telling tales.

Thanksgiving family history questions

Thanksgiving Family History Questions: “Don’t wait until next year or when everyone is available or any other ‘better time’—trust me when I say: Now is always the right time!” Get your free guide, 55 Questions to Spark Thanksgiving Story Sharing.

Unique holiday host(ess) gift

Unique Holiday Host(ess) Gift: Preserve your family recipes and all the precious stories they call forth with this unique recipe card set that fits in standard recipe boxes. Cards capture how-to and ingredients as well as associated memories! Check out our A Taste of the Past recipe card gift set.

Your 10-step plan for making an heirloom-worthy family cookbook

38 Questions to prompt food memories

I am grateful to you—my personal history and tribute book clients, as well as the broader Modern Heirloom Books community of memory-keepers, memoirists, and family history buffs. I hope you find something of value among these pieces, and I wish you and yours a holiday season filled with delicious food, lots of love, and scrumptious stories 🧡🦃🍁

How to ask good follow-up questions in a family history interview

Whether your family history interview is being recorded on a couch in the subject’s living room or virtually on an iPad screen, it’s important to show interest through verbal cues and follow-up questions.

You’ve decided you want to interview your parent or grandparent to capture some of their memories and add to the family history book you are creating. You’ve downloaded recommended family history questions, thematically curated the ones you want to ask, and gathered the equipment needed to ensure you record everything smoothly. You’re good to go.

But wait! Just one small thing I’d like to remind you of: Remember to be a good listener, and to ask effective follow-up questions during the interview.

Tips for effective follow-up questions

Whether you are interviewing your mother, who you obviously feel comfortable with, or a great-aunt you have just met and who you really know nothing about, think of your interview somewhat like a conversation (albeit a lopsided one 😉). Ask a question, then provide space for your partner to reply—a quiet moment for them to think, of course, and also eye contact and an open expression on your face that invites trust and conveys real interest. 

Then, when they pause and are seemingly finished with their answer, don’t automatically jump to the next question on your page. Instead, follow your conversational instincts and ask a follow-up question.

1. Be specific.

   Instead of “Can you elaborate?”, ask “What was your favorite part about that job?”

2. Use open-ended questions.

   Encourage storytelling with prompts such as, “Tell me about a time when you felt…” or “How did you react when your brother…”

3. Seek clarification.

   If something is unclear, ask for more details without interrupting the flow of the interview. If you have a question now, chances are a future listener (or reader) will, too.

4. Follow their emotions.

   If your interview subject mentions a strong feeling, explore it further. “You mentioned feeling relieved. Can you tell me more about that?” or “How did your sadness shift over time?”

5. Be an active listener.

   Pay attention to their responses and tailor your follow-ups accordingly. Trust me, you’ll get better at this the more experience you have under your belt!

The power of family history interviews lies in both the connections they foster and the richness of the stories captured. By mastering the art of follow-up questions, you become a skilled facilitator, drawing out details, emotions, and lessons that make each story unique and deeply personal. 

Remember the magic of “tell me more.” It's a simple phrase that can unlock a world of memories. It’ll also almost guarantee that both interviewer and interviewee will want to engage in yet another story sharing session—helping you create a more complete (and compelling!) family history and weave a tapestry of experiences that will resonate for generations to come.