Heeeyyyyy Friends!!!  Who can believe it's the end of July and kids in our neck of the woods are starting back to school within the next 2 weeks - say whaattttt?!!!!  Summer finally started for us about 3 weeks ago because that's when we finally started consistently having good weather.  Twice in June my girls and I got drenched from torrential downpours.  It was so bad we had to change clothes when we got home.  Well, one of those times we were coming from the pool, so I guess that time doesn't count since we had to change clothes anyway!  So I guess my whole point in sharing this is, I'm still in summer mode over here and pretty soon I will be back making lunches, buying things for school potlucks, volunteering in classrooms AND it will be busy season for us photographers.  

I hadn't really started to think about Fall, or what I call Cray Cray time until a friend asked if I was starting to book Photo Sessions for October yet.  You should have seen the look on my face...I was looking stunned, like why are we talking about October already, as I'm still trying to find some time to get on my Stand-Up Paddleboard?!  So as I looked on the calendar, I realized that I need to at least be aware that October is coming quickly and I figured I'd give my lovely friends and clients a heads up that it's time to start thinking about booking Fall Portraits if that's the time of year you love.  And what better way to get your creative juices flowing, but to showcase a late fall session I did last year with a family of 4 that knocked it out of the park with their outfit choices.

So let's talk through these outfit choices for a minute!  Here's what I love about them:

- They're not wearing all black! Ya'll this is something that should have gone out of style in the 80's and we should never ever bring it back

-Their outfits are comfy and cute.  There's nothing worse than being in some kind of itchy, uncomfortable outfit because we think it's cute

-They're coordinated without being "matchy matchy" (is that even a word; it may not be, but you know what I mean)!

-They are dressed for the season...it was late fall for these photos and freezing cold for an evening shoot (around 40 degrees, which in November is cold), so layers were a must

-They have super cute accessories (scarves, vest and cute tights)...note the scarves and vest can make for some fun poses

-You can never go wrong with riding boots in the fall!

If you're at a loss for how to start pulling outfits together like this, my first suggestion before you hit the mall or your favorite store is to start with Pinterest.  Make sure you give yourself a time limit (maybe an hour) so you're not sucked in; and you can type in a very specific term like, "outfits for fall family photos" and you will get a host of options.  When you find a "pin" that really resonates with you, then pin it to a board you create named something like "Potential Photo Session Outfits".  Repeat this over and over until you have a variety of different options.  My favorite "pins" are outfit guides that give you many different possible coordinating color combinations. 

Once you've completed your board, it's time to review and study it to see which family member's outfit type and color you are going to start with first.  Personally, I start with myself or one of my girls and go from there, and do my husband last because I find that it's much easier to pull outfits together for husbands.

If you are not a fan of Pinterest, another tip is to look at Fall Family Session Blog Posts from a variety of photographers to see what their clients wore for fall family sessions.

The N Family's wardrobe came together so well for this session and as I did a brief Pinterest search on "Outfits for Fall Family Sessions", I found that this particular color combination with gold/yellow/mustard was a very popular one.  In fact, my family and I wore a very similar color combination for our Christmas Card photos last season and I loved how it turned out (it's posted below ;-) )  

So your two take-aways from this blog post should be:

1.  If you are thinking about a fall family session, you should think about booking it within the next couple of weeks

2. Once you book your session, you should start thinking about outfits soon thereafter.  And remember, Pinterest can be your friend, if you give yourself a time limit!