7 Ways to Prepare for Family Photos in the Fall |
Houston Family Photographer

Autumn is one of the most popular months of the year for portrait sessions. After all, nature is doing its thing with the most beautiful, vibrant colors. And if you’re in Texas like us, you’re excited to get some cooler weather and change up your wardrobe a bit. Here are 7 ways you can prepare for your family photos in the fall.

Ways to prepare for your family photos in the fall 

1. Accessorize and Texturize.

First things first, accessorize. Accessories are the easiest way to get into the season and play up your wardrobe. For example, leather boots or booties, cable knit scarves and comfy cardigans or sweaters. We always say “accessorize and texturize” since textures add depth to your images and accessories really bring portraits to life. Tip: neutrals are a great safe color and do well against foliage.

2. Timing is everything.

Just as we mentioned in our summer prep post, timing is literally everything. Start paying attention to that shift in weather as summer melts into fall. In southeast Texas, we’re lucky if we can get up to 2 weeks of colors.

Each day leading up to daylight savings, we’ll lose a bit of light. This is especially important during falls months since time change is normally the first or second (depending on how you count it) week of November. That light makes a huge difference as golden hour will be between 4pm-5pm, when most Americans are still working.

If someone in your family works a 8/9-5 job, you’ll want to either:

a) book September to mid October, or
b) book a weekend date where you can make it to the session during golden hour.

3. Nail down your location.

Beautiful portraits can be created in the studio or outdoors on location.

If you prefer cooler weather, nature and enjoy being outside, or if you have a larger family (5+), you’ll benefit from a full session on-location. A state forest, local park with bridges, neighborhood pond, or an open field would be a beautiful background for your family photos this fall.

On the other hand, if you’d like something a bit more classic, a minimal backdrop, prefer a temperature-controlled environment, then the studio may be better.

Tip: Some locations require a fee to shoot there. Make sure you include this fee when budgeting a session for a must-have location.

4. Golden Hour family photos in the fall

Golden hour is when the light falls just right. You end up with no or minimal shadows and nice, even light. This also during the time where the sun begins to set and we can get a nice sunflare.

Plan for an early morning or early-evening session, when the light is just gorgeous. The days are shorter in the fall, so we need to plan your family photos to get that golden hour light.

*Hack: Book your session before the month of October or months in advance. Schedules are extremely tight during fall since everyone wants a fall session.

With that being said, nce we’re going to be outside, we’ll probably do lots of walking. If those boots look amazing, but kill your feet, leave them in the car, Sis…please. Or better yet, wear them a few weeks before your session to break them in.

If the scarf looks adorable on your little one, but scratches his face and makes him unhappy, it’s better to leave it off.

When you or your little ones are uncomfortable, it shows. No matter how much you may try to force those smiles and push through the pain, I promise you you’ll be able to tell in the images (and so will everyone else).

In Closing: Ways to prepare for your family photos in the fall

Finally, I hope you enjoyed the tips in preparing for your family photos in the fall.

Whenever you’re ready to book your family photos in Houston, click here to book online. 

Still have questions? Take a look around the blog posts. Shoot me an email with your name, session type, and any questions you may have.