What to wear for fall photos in Columbus, Ohio: a simple guide for authentic and beautiful images
Deciding how to dress not just yourself but your entire family for your annual fall photos can feel overwhelming. I’m here to break it down in an easy-to-apply manner, tailored to suit your personal style and complement the setting of your images. What follows is a set of “rules” that will help you decide what to wear in no time.
I adore the mix of patterns, solids, complementary colors (blue and orange) and textures here.
Be yourself
I talk about this all the time, but truly - don’t dress in a way that is not recognizably you. You don’t want to look back at your images ten years from now and feel that they were inauthentic in any way. What a bummer that would be! I promise you can pull something out of your closet or acquire it from a quick trip to Target that will look GREAT and reflect your personality. One caveat regarding the rules that follow: if they don’t feel like you, ditch ‘em. If you want to wear a magenta sequined dress and a mohawk, I promise you we can find a location around Columbus that will make a killer backdrop for that outfit. BE YOURSELF, 100%.
Not a “traditional” fall photo outfit but he chose it himself and it suits his sweet and sparkly personality :)
2. Consider your location
Location can and should have a large influence on what you decide to wear. It’s possible you would want to dress differently for a session at a park, in an urban neighborhood, or at your home. Consider the colors that will be on display at your chosen location and go from there. For an example, if you want your fall photos taken at your home, and your home already has a lot of color and decorations throughout, you may want to opt for simple neutral colors for your outfits in order to not clash or create an image that is too busy. Another example: if you are photographing in a lovely neighborhood around Columbus or in a studio, where there may not be as much fall color, you could bring more fall to your images by wearing the reds, oranges and yellows of fall. Speaking of color, that brings me to my next rule…
Two perfect cozy, late-fall outfits for photos at a Christmas Tree Farm
3. Know your color wheel
I’m not talking about an art-degree level of knowledge about the color wheel, rather a simple understanding of complementary colors and adjacent colors on the color wheel. Fall in Ohio proudly displays many reds, oranges, yellows and browns. Red, orange and yellow are all next to each other on the color wheel: thus they are all going to look beautiful together. The complementary colors of red, orange and yellow are green, blue and purple, respectively. The complementary colors of fall are also going to look beautiful in a fall setting. Finally, if dressing in color really isn’t your thing, a blend of neutrals and muted colors create a timeless look that is beautiful in any setting. Consider ivories, tans, browns, mauve, sage - “earthy” colors.
This little girl’s burgundy dress is gorgeous paired with the orange leaves, and her blue jacket complements them perfectly as well (blue is orange’s complementary color). Mom dressing in neutral allows her to work with a variety of settings/colors as well.
4. Mix it up
Nobody wants to be matchy-matchy (unless you do - that can work too if you’re doing it with intention). Rather than dressing everyone in one color, mix it up for the best results. I’d recommend that Mom chooses her outfit first, considering that 99 percent of the time it is Mom coordinating the photos and getting the most meaning from them (at least initially - five years from now everyone will cherish them). Then select a color palette based on Mom’s outfit. You can work with the palettes I’ve suggested above, but if it helps to have an image to work from you can find loads of inspiration on my fall pinterest board. I’d also recommend mixing up your solids and patterns, as well as articles of clothing (example: you have two daughters - have one in a dress/skirt and the other in jeans, mix up long and short sleeves, jackets, etc).
This was a freakishly warm fall day so it appears more summery but the rules apply: the family chose a blue and white palette. Both the range of blues used as well as incorporating a pattern into the mix keeps their outfits from being too matchy, even though they are all technically dressed in “blue.”
5. Incorporate textures that make you think of fall into your outfits
Think: denim, knits, chunky cardigans/sweaters, scarves, knee socks - the possibilities are endless.
I purposefully chose a black and white image for this example because you can STILL TELL IT’S FALL based on the texture of the clothing.
But how do I get my kids to wear what I want them to wear?
I TOTALLY get it. Your kids may have their own ideas about what they want to wear. They also may not want to put on a brand new outfit they aren’t comfortable in. This is why I recommend shopping from your own closet, but if that’s not an option let them wear the new outfit once or twice (inside and not while eating) prior to the day of your photos. You can also give them some autonomy to encourage cooperation. Depending on their age you can approach this one of two ways.
for the younger kids: present them with two outfits that YOU are comfortable with them wearing, and tell them they get to pick which one they want to wear.
for the older kids: present them with the overall color palette, or with a single color, and tell them they can wear whatever they want as long as it matches the color (you get veto power in case they choose pajamas). Remember, we want to capture their personality too!
No matter where or when you decide to have your session, know that you will receive one-on-one help from me with regard to styling your family in a way that suits your personalities AND works for your location. Ready to schedule a session or learn more? Send me a quick email to get the ball rollin’.
