Fall Family Pictures

 I've been gushing about fall for a while now, and I know I'm not alone.  It just really has all the best feels!  I've been talking with my daughters about how excited we are for cozy sweater weather, warm soups, and doing activities outside when the weather is crisp.

Today, I'm sharing family photos from one of our fall photo shoots + 3 tips to pull off an amazing fall photo shoot.  All photos were taken by Hayley Kaze.  We love her.  She's been taking our pictures forever, and I just can't say enough good things about her.
I hope you're enjoying the beginnings of fall and that these tips might help inspire some of your family pictures!

  1) Dress for the Weather

Now, is the best time to add all of those layers and textures.  Scarves, hats, boot socks, or your favorite shawl.  This really adds so much dimension to the pictures and completes the look for fall.  Plus, all those cozy, warm layers suggest fall, in the best way.  And it's practical, which always reads well in design.  Just think of a person in high heels, taking pictures on the beach; not practical.

The catch here is to just not over do it.  Too much of a good thing, can just be too much sometimes.  So stick to a few specific pieces to incorporate, and then call it good.  Keep it fresh, simple, and authentic; like our scarves for this shoot were authentically needed, and they ended up creating the best photos that really happened organically.  You'll see more of this down below, where my little girl and older daughter are snuggling in my shawl.

2) Pick a color scheme that reflects your scenery, or complements it.

I told our photographer, Hayley, I wanted to do pictures where there was the effect of golden wheat.  She knew a great spot, and from there, I chose blue tones that coordinated with the sky and mountainscape.  I choose light blue, whites, and depths of indigo and navy, to add our layers, and suddenly the color scheme was really beginning to be dynamic.  The blues really complemented the gold tones of the wheat, and the tones of blue and indigo, really reflected that beautiful mountain backdrop.

I could have easily done neutral tones, with pops of deep red, against that gold, or even stayed all neutral, so as to complement the vibrant colors around us.  Almost anything would be complemented by that gold tone (cue all the 'put a little gold with that' memes and you get the point).

Notice, the layers of color came in different shades of blue, whites, even emerald green, but they all fit with the overall scheme and created a depth for photographing.

3) Accesorize

Accessorizing just adds another layer of depth to your pictures.  Since you're already dressing for the weather, you've added in accessories likes scarves or hats.  Now add those sweet and simple elements, like your favorite piece of jewelry, belt, shawl, dainty hair bow, bonnet or flower crown, and maybe even something wild.

Your accessories don't need to be contrived either; wear your favorite necklace that means something to you; I'm wearing my crystal monogram T necklace, for my husband's name.  Wear a favorite bracelet, or go with an idea that your little one comes up with.  I wore a special belt that I wore on  my wedding day (just kidding, haha, but that really made it sounds special right?).  It was just special because I love it, and it really completed my look.

My 'something wild' accessory was an idea that my daughter came up with in her mind which made it even better and more magical.  She imagined holding this billowing silk through the wind in her special dress.  I thought her idea was brilliant, so I simply made the scarf by picking out the fabric with her, then cutting it, the end.  And did you see above how my daughter's vision really came to life with our photographer?   

Your wild could be a picnic basket full of food, a simple blanket, or even a special lovie that one of your kiddos never leave home without.  Unless it's not something you can really take out in public.  We have one of those; we refer to it as the dirty dish clothe (we love it).  We do have a handful of pictures with a beloved, velveteen rabbit.  We never really plan it, he's just often there.

Happy fall pictures.  I hope some of these ideas help you.  I'm certainly not saying any of these tips are required to make a beautiful picture.  They are just some tips that work for me and will really connect the dots in your photos.