How to Choose the Best Outfits for your Fall Family Photo Session

It’s the middle of September and things are BUSY! School just started, your kids are signing up for endless activities – all with varying schedules – and now we have to figure out how to do homework again. Oh yeah, and you also have that family photo session scheduled for a few weeks from now and need to figure out what everyone is wearing! No big deal, right? 

HA – I get it. I have been in your shoes multiple times and I know how daunting it can be to plan outfits for the family photos. Lucky for you, I have a few tips to help you decide exactly what to wear and look your best for your photo session this fall! 

Start with the color palette.

If you have one outfit or piece of clothing already in mind that you KNOW you will want to use (the dress you’ve been saving, the sweater that makes you feel like yourself, the tiny overalls you can’t stop looking at) start with that. If not, I usually suggest figuring out Mom’s outfit first!

I know, I know. You’re used to being the one who gets everybody else ready and then throws something on at the last second. But YOU are the heart of these photos, and when you feel good in what you’re wearing, it shows in every single frame. 

Choose a color palette you want to build from. Think about the season and the location you have planned for your family photo session. Will your family be more out in the open in a field, giving you more of a blank canvas?  Or will you be surrounded by vibrant colors of trees or flowers? Think about the environment and choose a color palette that compliments this without getting you all lost in the sauce. 

Also.. most people miss this…  but something else to consider when choosing your color palette is where you plan to display these photos in your home. What colors compliment your existing decor in that room? If you already know they’re headed above the couch or up the stairwell, pull your palette from that room. The colors in your family photo sessions should feel at home on your walls, not fight with them.

Pull from your chosen color palette to build outfits that coordinate

Once you’ve got your palette, start pulling pieces for everyone else from within it.

Now, here’s where I’ll gently talk you out of something: please don’t match. I know matching feels like the safe choice.. same shade of navy, everybody in white tees and jeans..  but these are family photos, not a work uniform or a cult initiation. What you actually want is a family that goes together, colors that talk to each other, and patterns that play well without shouting.

Stick to one or two people in a pattern, max. Any more than that and the whole group starts to get noisy. Your eye doesn’t know where to land (and neither does mine).  Let everybody else carry the palette in solids, and then bring in texture to keep it interesting. A chunky knit. Corduroy. A soft flannel. Texture does all the work that a print would do, without any of the chaos.

And another thing…  please don’t forget about movement. We’re not going to stand in a line and say cheese. I’m going to ask you to walk, to spin, to scoop up your 2 year old who’s already made a break for the treeline. If your dress is too tight to sit down in or your husband’s shirt is choking him, you’ll feel it, and I promise the camera will see it. Stiff clothes make stiff people.

My recommendation? Soft and flowy. Fabrics that catch a little wind and move with you don’t just feel better during your family photo sessions, they make the images themselves more alive.

Lastly, think about where we’re shooting and what the weather will actually be doing that evening. Fall in Pennsylvania can turn on you. If it’s going to be chilly and you’ve got a little one who gets grumpy the second the wind picks up, layer them. Cardigans, vests, tights under dresses. A cozy kid is a happy kid, and a happy kid makes for great family photos. 

Make your fall family photo session feel like you.

My last piece of advice? Talk to your photographer (me lol).

Once you book your family’s photo session, outfit planning isn’t something you’re doing alone. Send me photos of what you’re considering and I’ll give you real, honest feedback. What’s working, what to swap, what to add. We’ll figure it out together, every step of the way.

And here’s what I really want you to hear: your photos should look like you. Not like a Pinterest board or  like a family who spent $400 on outfits everyone will wear exactly once and then shove to the back of a drawer. Start with what’s already in your closets like your son’s favorite sweater or that dress that gets you compliments every time you wear it. Bring me that, and let’s build from there.

Years from now, when you look back at these photos, you don’t want to remember stressing over an outfit. You want to remember what it felt like to be surrounded by the people you love, dressed like yourselves, on a golden fall afternoon.

Contact Jessica Michelle Photography to book your Fall Family Photo Session near York, PA.