How to Style Fall Family Photos
Riley’s Bow / My hat Full outfit details below!
Getting ready for fall family photos is hard work! I know it because I have been on either side of the camera and let me tell you- being in front of the camera is much harder than taking the pictures! In my opinion, anyway! If you are like, no way, Keri, I’ve tried taking my own family photos and it’s impossible, click here to get my free guide- 99 ways to take better photos! Anyway, back to the topic at hand- preparing for your family photos. First, I’ll share the steps I go through when I am planning out our family pictures. Next I’ll go through each one in more detail for you.
Riley’s Outfit: Overall Dress, Shirt, Boots, Headband
Family Photo Preparation Checklist
- Hire a photographer
- Pick a date & time
- Decide on a location
- Choose a color scheme
- Buy outfits
- Gather accessories
Now let’s get into each step in more detail.
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Hire a Photographer
For our photographer, we chose my friend, second shooter and 2022 Bride, Jenna of Home Acres Creative. She’s an amazing photographer and so great with kids. I also love doing family photos, so definitely reach out if you are interested!
2. Pick a Date and Time
We shot these photos on Nov. 14th at 3 o’clock. Usually by November, the leaves would all be gone, but this year was a warm year and we got lucky! I would typically recommend for fall foliage to shoot in late October but I wanted to wait until after I shot my last wedding of the year which was November 5th to shoot our family photos.
Best time of day to take fall pictures
I always recommend shooting during golden hour which is the hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise. Most people don’t want to shoot at sunrise (especially during the fall when its cold!) so sunset it is! On November 14 the sunset at 4:41, but I knew the location we chose got dark early so we started at 3 and the lighting was perfect. We started a little before official golden hour for this shoot, but I would consider almost all of these photos golden hour pictures.
What is a Golden hour photo
During golden hour the light is soft and glowy. The sun is lower in the sky because its setting (or rising). When the sun is really high in the sky, it shines down on us like a strong ball of light, so strong you can’t look directly at it. As it goes down, it gets softer and more spread out. There are less harsh shadows and no squinty eyes because it’s not as strong.
3. Decide on a Location
I knew I wanted a fall vibe this year’s photos. I loved our field photos from last year, you can see them here, but we shot them in September when it was still quite green. So this year, I decided on field photos again, but I chose a different field- Cross Estate Gardens and waited until it was more golden. Another great field location, if you are local to New Jersey is Central Park of Morris Plains, and it’s where we took our family photos last year. You can see more of that location here.
4. Choose a Color Scheme
I like to choose a color scheme that 1- Matches or compliments the location and 2- compliments the coloring in my house. For this reason, I love neutral locations like a field, beach or architectural building, although in the spring and summer parks and gardens also work really well. For our family photo outfits this year I chose mostly neutrals to complement the neutral field setting, added some contrast with the black in my husband’s sweater then tied that in with my hat and Riley’s bow & boots. I kept the patterns mostly solid, but added some interest with my floral skirt that matched Lucas’ sweater. Finally, I tied Riley’s overall dress to Lucas’ solid khaki pant. I love how the outfits work well all together but also worked when we did break out sessions (Just me and Riley, just Dan and Lucas, me and both kids, etc.) No matter who we were paired with, the outfits complemented each other. I always aim to complement, NOT match. I generally, don’t like looks that are too matchy match!
Best colors to wear for family pictures
I love earthy colors for fall family photos, so I chose browns, creams, gray, black and rust for a bit of a pop. Of course there are many other color schemes that would work for fall family pictures, but again I wanted to complement the location. Basically, I chose fall leaf colors and I love how it turned out!
4. Buy outfits
The next step is to buy outfits. This can be the most fun part or the hardest part, depending! Please keep in mind that you may not have your full color scheme mapped out before you start buying. Sometimes, I’ll have an idea of the colors I want- fall leaf colors, for example, then start with one outfit (Riley’s) then build from there. Typically, I buy new outfits for me and Riley first. Then I raid the boy’s closet for some neutral staples and maybe pick up an accessory or two to add in. See next step!
5. Gather accessories
The final step is to gather accessories. I love layering in accessories for family pictures. As you can see, I chose an oversize bow for Riley, boots that you can clearly see and a hat for me. I love to layer the boys in shirts and sweaters and sometimes I give my son, Lucas, a belt or suspenders. I add in earrings, a gold Kendra Scott heart ring and a necklace for me, which you can’t really see but is there! And my husband is also wearing a belt. Sometimes I purchase one or two extra accessories, but many times I just use things we already have for this part.
So there you have it! That is how I prepare my family to take our pictures. Its hard work but totally worth it and I hope these tips help you.
How do you take family fall pictures?
I have been getting a few questions about how to actually photograph family photos, so I will address a few of those here, but it may warrant a separate post at some point!
Best Camera Settings for Fall Photos
To photograph family photos, here are the settings I generally use.
Again, if you don’t know what this means, but want to- make sure you sign up for my freebie- 99 ways to take better photos.
Aperture: I typically keep my aperture between 3.2-5.6
Shutter Speed: I never go lower than 1/200. For moving family with kids, I would increase my shutter speed, therefore, making it faster. So likely something around 1/500 or even 1/100.
ISO: To calculate my ISO, I first set my aperture where I want it. Then I take into account my shutter speed. The final piece of the exposure triangle, (for me) is the ISO. So I adjust my ISO as needed to get an even exposure reading (your camera will show you this). Then I take a trial picture. I like my photos pretty bright, so this is typically a bit underexposed for me. So I may raise it a bit after seeing how the trial photo looks.
How to Shoot Fall Portraits
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to play around with your settings to get them just right. Also, don’t be upset if they are not perfect. You can always make adjustments later in Lightroom. Oh the joys of digital photography!
My final tip is to shoot your session during golden hour, where you don’t have to worry about finding good light. You can just focus on getting your camera settings right! I hope this helps. Don’t be afraid to email me with questions.
If you like this post on how to style your fall family photos, check out this post for family picture outfit ideas for summer. And if you are looking for more fall photo outfit inspiration, check out these fall engagement picture outfit ideas.
Finally, here’s a sneak peak of our 2021 Christmas Card! I always order from Minted 🙂
*Photos by Jenna of Home Acres Creative.
