Fall season 2023 is finally upon us! It’s time to enjoy hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes, and delicious seasonal baked goods. The only thing more exciting than the fall fun snacks are the numerous holidays that are coming up. It is the perfect time to take photos at your local pumpkin patch, apple orchard, or fall festival. We've got you covered if you are looking for inspiration for a cozy fall-themed photoshoot this season.
1. Playful Rain Boots
Pick out fun, playfully patterned rain boots for each of your kids and have them line up in a row. Put your family’s unique spin on heading out to the pumpkin patch by letting your kids choose their prints. If you go to the pumpkin patch with the whole family, consider coordinating a rainbow pattern or an ombre effect and giving a unique twist to fall photoshoot colors. You could even create customized rain boots, monogrammed with your last name, for the whole family.
Photography Tip: Background
Level: Beginner
Select a spot for your photograph that offers a pleasing background. Encourage your group to stand where the background isn’t too cluttered- think in front of the corn maze rather than a crowd of foot traffic!
2. Pumpkin Picking
The best part about the fall season is the opportunity to take autumn pictures with pumpkins. Take candid shots of your kids with different sizes, shapes, and colors of pumpkins. You’ll treasure the photo of your little one with a shocked expression standing next to a pumpkin larger than them!
Photography Tip: Candid Photographs
Level: Beginner
While it might seem most straightforward to capture posed photos, such as asking your kids to look at you and say, “Cheese!” your favorite snapshots will likely be the ones where they have genuine emotions and expressions. Look for candid moments by kneeling at the child’s eye level (so you don’t have to ask them to look up at you) and focusing on one subject at a time.
3. Measure Up to Your Pumpkin
Some pumpkin patches offer measuring sticks to see how your kids compare to their new pumpkin companion. However, if they don’t provide this photo opportunity, think ahead and bring a measuring tape or stick with you in the car and have one child hold it while the other poses triumphantly.
4. Corn Maze Exploration
The corn maze makes for an essential fall photoshoot spot! Capture those moments of surprise and exhilaration as you find your way through a corn maze! If you have multiple kids, pose for a photo with one child holding a map to the maze and the other children looking around. You might even find cute opportunities to stand among the corn stalks and peek out from behind them!
Photography Tip: Lighting
Level: Beginner
Taking photos on a cloudy day in the corn maze can be challenging. If the corn stalks are so tall that they cast large shadows over your photos, consider taking pictures at the maze entrance or plan to go early in the morning on a calm weather day. Aim for soft, diffused lighting that will cast a warm, golden glow.
5. Climbing Haystacks
Stacks of straw or hay make for easy fall photoshoot props. Some pumpkin patches offer smaller straw bale mazes for younger kids or haystacks for kids to climb on. Try to get some fun action shots of the kids in motion while they play and ramble through the hay!
Photography Tip: Action Shots
Level: Intermediate
Learning to take high-quality action shots is essential when taking photos of your kids! To take pictures of your kids while running and climbing, use a technique called “panning.” First, choose a slow shutter speed (1/30th of a second), move your camera with the child’s path of motion (ex: horizontally), and use a continuous shooting mode to take multiple photos quickly. Some cameras call this “burst mode” or “action mode.” Additionally, you can use image stabilization to help keep the subject in the frame during the panning motion.
6. Jump in the Leaves
Now that you are ready to take action shots, consider having your kiddos jump into a pile of leaves or playfully toss handfuls into the air. This playful photoshoot idea feels more like playing than posing, and most kids will love the opportunity! Of course, you don’t have to take these photos at your local pumpkin patch. There are endless fun fall photo ideas! You can take pictures of the leaves on the first day of fall in your backyard, at the park, or even at the playground.
7. Wagon Rides
Enjoy this old-school mode of transportation together and take photos of your kids on the wagon with their pumpkins close at hand. Young kids will especially love taking a wagon ride; their expressions are priceless!
Photography Tip: Depth of Field
Level: Intermediate
Adjust your aperture to control the depth of field. A low f-stop number will create a shallow depth of field, which can create a dreamy background and put an emphasis on subjects up close. A higher f-stop number will keep more of the scene in focus, such as taking a photo of the sprawling field of pumpkins as the wagon rolls by!
8. Sibling Memories
Sit back and observe your kids together as they search for pumpkins, compare weights, or chase one another around the maze. Take quick snapshots of these unforgettable moments to save for later! You could even create Mini Photo Books for each child to treasure using these photos. Mini Photo Books come in sets of three, so they are perfect for sharing with siblings, friends, and family.
9. Scavenger Hunt
Level up your pumpkin patch experience and create a themed nature scavenger hunt photoshoot. Bring fall photoshoot props and set up areas with clues ahead of time. One parent can help the kids solve the scavenger hunt riddles while you are ready and waiting to take photos of the magic with your camera!
Photography Tip: Use Multiple Lenses
Level: Intermediate
When you first start taking photos, you might stick to one lens for most of your shots. As you get more experienced, it can be helpful to explore other lenses. Wide-angle lenses can capture landscape shots beautifully, while a portrait lens isolates your subject and helps refine those close-up details. Bring multiple lenses to your photoshoot to make sure you capture the moment!
10. Petting Zoo Magic
One of the best parts about heading to the pumpkin patch is meeting the friendly array of animals that live there! Get ready to take photos of your little one swooning over the llamas or gobbling with the turkeys. For a fall newborn photoshoot, get clever and pose the baby in a safe area close enough to the action for animals to be seen in the background (but safely on the other side of a fence!)
Photography Tip: Post-Photoshoot Perfection
Level: Beginner-Advanced
A critical aspect of taking beautiful photos is editing them in post. Fine-tune your colors and add sharpness and contrast. Get creative with preset filters and retouching areas as they need them. With advanced photography skills, you can remove distracting objects from the photo or crop them accordingly.
11. Sipping Apple Cider
Bring super cute mugs from home and cozy mittens, and take photos of the whole crew sipping warm apple cider on the chilly fall day. Make the fall vibes complete by finding a picnic table and placing the pumpkins artfully throughout the background.
12. Face Painting
If your pumpkin patch or fall festival offers face painting, you can capture their smile as they transform into a pumpkin, a tiger, or a beautiful butterfly. You could even develop your own festival face-painting designs and have a face-painting party while your older kids work on carving their pumpkins.
13. Pumpkin Carving
Get ready to take photos as your kids carve spooky, silly, and inviting faces into your pumpkins! For younger kids who are too young to safely use a carving knife, consider letting them use permanent markers or colorful paints to create their Jack-o-Lantern.
Photography Tip: Tell A Story
Level: Advanced
As you watch your little ones carve their pumpkins, try to tell the story of the moment. From their surprise at how thick the pumpkin’s shell is to how gooey and sticky the seeds and pulp are, to their pride when they are finished, and their candle lights up their jack-o-lantern for the first time. These storytelling moments fit perfectly into a custom photo book, where you can show each step of the process!
14. Create a Pumpkin Circle
Gather a variety of pumpkins, place them in a circle, and have your children sit inside. Take photos from above to create a unique perspective and perfectly capture the fall season aesthetic.
Photography Tip: Shoot from Above (or Below!)
Level: Advanced
Taking photos from far above your subject can be a fun way to add variety to your photoshoot. Use a ladder or an elevated surface and take pictures from a bird’s eye view for an exciting shot! You can also get low by kneeling, crouching, or lying down to get a better angle. It can take practice to photograph your subject from these angles, but once you master this technique, your photography skills will go to the next level!
15. Peek-a-Boo Pumpkin Tower
Create a stack of pumpkins as tall as possible, and have your children peek out from behind the tower! If you are looking for things to do with friends for your kiddos, get them involved in selecting and stacking the pumpkins for your topsy-turvy tower.
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Use the free SimplePrints app to bring your Pumpkin Patch photoshoot to life! Create stunning Photo Books to keep and share, Wall Calendar gifts for grandparents, and so much more. Get started creating something beautiful, and check out the SimplePrints app for iOS and Android today.
Blogger: Cameya Martin
Cameya Martin is a mother, a wife, a self-identified horse-girl, and a writer. She writes articles for small businesses, memoirs for people, and fiction for herself.