5 Ways to Photograph Your Fall Family Fun

If we’re real life friends, you’ll already know my fondness for this season. It’s hands-down my favorite, and cliche as it might be, I’m ALL IN. I prefer jeans to shorts, crisp evenings to hot days, and the expanse of pumpkin-flavored food offered at my local Trader Joe’s makes me grin every year. The only part of fall I’m NOT sold on is that gosh-awful Pumpkin Spice Latte. That and the leaf maintenance.

If you’re family is like mine, you’ll most likely be spending an afternoon or two at a local orchard or pumpkin patch. I certainly can’t let the season go by without it! We couldn’t possibly miss fresh apples, a hay ride, and possibly an overpriced pumpkin. And if you’re like me, your camera or iPhone will be out the whole time, documenting the face paint, the corn maze, the fair rides, and your eager apple pickers the entire time.

My family made a quick visit to nearby Blue Jay Orchards after church on Sunday, and naturally, I was having fun observing my own little crew and snapping a few pictures of our time together.

Photography Equipment for Family Fun Pictures

For this outing I happened to bring along my big camera (a Nikon D750) and an 85mm lens. But the advice here works well for cameras of any kind - iPhones included. I take pictures on my iPhone ALL THE TIME like everyone else I know. No shame in that game! I actually have a whole Instagram Story about upping your iPhone photography game saved called simply “iPhone Pics” in case you’d like to find out more.

When to Take Fall Family Fun Pictures

Portrait photographers will tell you that full, bright, sun is NOT your friend when it comes to taking pictures. This is why I generally book my portrait sessions for late afternoons and evenings, when the light is soft and pretty, and no one needs to squint. Along with full sun also comes harsh shadows on my subject’s faces, which isn’t ideal.

But, let’s be real. We can’t always plan our adventures around the best lighting scenarios, right?

For this outing, my family arrived at the orchard right around 12 noon, which is generally the WORST time for portraits. And yet, the pictures are still worth taking! Fall fun is fall fun, no matter the time of day. And perfectly exposed portraits of my children’s faces weren’t my #1 priority anyway. I simply set out to capture the 45 minutes-or-so that we spent picking apples together.

I’d also like to say this: There’s nothing wrong with lining up your kids in a row, asking them to say “cheese” or taking pictures in front of those dorky signs. You do you! But if you’re looking to go beyond that, here are five tips for capturing your fall fun.

Fall Family Fun Pictures - 5 Tips

1. Think Motion

It’s the running, the dancing, the picking. Sometimes you’ll end up with blurry pictures as a result. Embrace it! The movement tells the story.

Take this one: My kids were running so fast that they’re both of out focus. And the blurred affect only serves to drive home their speedy trek down the path. The section of Blue Jay that was open for picking that day was a long walk away from the cars, and these two decided to make it into a foot race.

More examples:

2. Don’t Mind the Grouchy Kids

There’s always one. She’s uncooperative. He wants to be somewhere else. She’s thirsty. He spilled his snack in the car. Remember, you’re telling a story with your pictures. Kids are people with big feelings and lots of moods, so just roll with it, capture it with your camera, and don’t let them spoil your fun.

This one was mad because we only bought one bag for picking instead of three.

3. Crouch Down or Get Up High, Go Close and Pull Back

In other words, VARIETY. If you’re always taking pictures from your eye level, and from the same distance away from your subjects, your pictures will all look the same. But when you’re attempting to capture a scene, think about aiming for a few different angles. Close ups, are great, and so are wide open scenes. Crouch down to a child’s eye level and see what the world looks like from down there. If you can climb up high, take an overhead shoot. Basically, remember to be creative and switch things up. And if you’re apple picking, for instance, snuggle in tight to the tree and see if you can snap some pics through the leaves.

4. Stand Back and Observe

As I mentioned up top, there’s nothing wrong with posing your kids and asking them to smile. But, as any parent will tell you, their patience for such instructions is limited. You’ll find that their cooperation for group pictures goes severely downhill as your outing continues.

You’ll have better luck, and not to mention some fun pictures, if you just hang out near them with camera-in-hand. Don’t ask them to move, to stay put, or to smile. Just snap a few surreptitiously and see what you come up with.

5. Don’t Forget the Apples/Pumpkins/Etc.!

If you ever make a photo book down the road, you’ll love having shots of the apples, pumpkins, or hay bales. Again, these details tell a more complete story of your day. Get shots of your kids chomping into apples, or finding the perfect one on the tree. Get a shot of the pumpkin your preschooler can’t manage to pick up.

So get out there with whatever camera you have, and enjoy all of the corn maze, face paint, hayride action you can! And share your pictures online somewhere so I can follow along with you fall family adventures.