6 Tips on What to Wear for your Outdoor Fall Family Portrait Session

What clothing you decide to wear for your family portraits can actually greatly affect the outcome of the portraits. Not only just in style either, but overall happiness of family members during the session. I want to capture interactions between your family while you are all having fun. It’s tough to just let go and have fun while dealing with wardrobe malfunctions! Some tips below to help you prepare and make the most out of your family portraits:

1. Choose Timeless Clothing Styles

You’ll be looking back at these portraits for years so try to choose outfits that are timeless. Big graphics or logos can be very distracting and will not look as fun or trendy as they once did, in 20 years.

2. Temperature and the Importance of Layers

The fall temperatures in New England can vary widely from week to week so it’s hard to predict what season you should be buying for. It truly makes for a difficult session if the kiddos are cold, or everyone is sweating and just wants to get out of there.

The good news is, there is a great solution for this — layers! Layering your clothing is a great way to have options on the day without having to scramble. Things like sweaters, scarfs, hats, tights, a long pant option and a shorts option, etc. are good things to have as options.

3. Pay Attention to Size of Clothing

Resist the urge to buy clothing for you kiddos that they can grow into. I’m a Mom, I totally get it! But you should put your kids in the clothing size that they are currently wearing. In your family photos it will be obvious if clothing is swimming on your baby or child.

4. Colors and Textures

If your family portraits are taking place in the early fall, the leaves are beginning to change color but there may be a lot of green as well. When dressing for your outdoor family photos, keep this in mind when choosing colors. You want colors that compliment the environment we’ll be photographing in. Some of my absolute favorite colors for fall (and really anytime if I’m honest!) are: plum, maroon, burnt orange, navy blue, mustards, creams.

Textures, like what you find in sweaters for example, are a fantastic way to add visual interest to the styling of your family portraits.

5. Cohesiveness of Clothing

Try not to have everyone in the exact same outfit or color for top and bottom. It makes the image more visually interesting to break up colors or patterns. I suggest starting with one person’s outfit and building from there. One person can be wearing a busier pattern with lots of colors that the rest of the family compliments.

6. What to wear on your Feet

I love seeing toes and feet au natural, but this isn’t really possible in the fall. Try to find footwear that matches the style of clothing your family is in. Bright neon sneakers will stick out like a sore thumb, trust me!

Examples of Outdoor Family Photo Clothing Ideas

I’m currently obsessed with plaid. Check out the first few images below to see why. The first image below shows all three family members wearing plaid that could not possibly match the foliage any better. Baby boy has a denim vest on to break up the pattern between his shirt and Dad’s. Perfect.

In the next example, baby girl has on plaid. Her outfit really pulls you in to the image and is the star of the show. The texture on Mom’s sweater is really nice as well.

Another plaid example! Mom could have put him in the same shirt as his two older brothers. Because she chose plaid there is more diversity and interest in this photo. Mom’s scarf helps differentiate her from Dad as well, when they are next to each other in the photos.

The star in the image below is the connection of family and the gorgeous fall foliage surrounding this family. The outfits are simple but include nice texture, some layering and great footwear 🙂

Hanna Andersson for the win in this sibling photo below! They often offer complimentary style outfits for boys and girls. The little girl’s tights below are just so cute!

Perfect example of very colorful and cohesive styling below. Baby boy really pops in this image and the necklace and earrings are a nice touch on Mom.

Plaid again! I love it. Pair it with the layers Mom is wearing and baby boy’s bow tie and we have a winning combo.

Finally, feel free to get colorful, this family did!

The fall in New England is a fantastic time of year to get the family outside for your yearly portraits. After reading this blog post, I hope you have found some tips and tricks for outdoor fall family photo clothing ideas.

I have some limited availability over the next few weeks for outdoor family portraits. If you’re interested in a session, contact me today for details. I am also running, very soon(!), a mini session day for outdoor portraits, click here.