Photographers offer advice to make the most of family photo season as fall comes to a close

Photographers say fall, with its warm colours and shorter days, is the perfect time to schedule your annual family portraits.

"The light becomes more beautiful earlier on in the day, and so it's much more accommodating for families to get that golden-hour light and not have to wait until nine or 10 o'clock at night," says Edmonton photographer Aspen Zettel.

"The sun sets earlier, and that's the best time for photos," said Buck Lake photographer Angela Roxburgh. "It's more manageable for people to have their kids up at prime photo time."

In addition to golden hour, the yellow tones of grass and leaves reflect warmer – more complimentary – light, Zettel added.

"The colors are more beautiful and more flattering on skin tones. And people love to play in leaves, so it automatically evokes a kind of a deeper sense of playfulness that happens.

"It's perfect."

While it's too late for an outdoor pumpkin patch or sunflower field, some Edmonton trees are still clinging to their leaves.

Here are a few spots to find some of the city's more colourful canopies:

If the wind has beaten you to your favourite foliage spot, have no fear. It's not too late for a fall family shoot even if some (or most) of the leaves have left.

Zettel said trees in low-lying more protected areas like the Mill Creek or Blackmud Creek ravines tend to hold their leaves for longer. And don't be afraid of fruit trees, she said, especially ones that are a bit more bare.

"Trees with the berries and the crab apples still left on them … this is the time of year to see them for what they are," she said. "Especially when they're in a shallow depth of field and they're in the background, it's just stunning.

"And then the sky goes purple a lot faster, too. So you can lean into that blue hour as well and just really find the romance that comes with this time of year."

Get spooky

With Halloween right around the corner, Zettel said you can take advantage of the feelings bare branches evoke.

"You can do smoke bombs, you could make something spooky using chiffon or lanterns," she said. "You could lean into that energy of things being a little bit more spooky."

For explicitly Halloween-themed shoots, you can head to the Summerside Grande Boulevard, Edmonton's Halloween version of Candy Cane Lane, where decorating is well underway.

Pumpkins after Dark in Borden Park allows family photos shoots on site, and Prairie Gardens and Adventure Farm in Bon Accord said it still has plenty of photo-opportunities on site.

"There are antique trucks and a pumpkin house to snap a family shot in," a Prairie Farms representative said. "Around the farm, there are old fashioned granaries, and piles of pumpkins, and selfies with goats - all for you to set up the perfect shot with your little pumpkin."

Both Prairie Gardens and Pumpkins After Dark require everyone – including the photographer – to pay admission.

If you're looking for a scarier experience, the Stony Plain Red Brick Schoolhouse and Oppertshuaser House in Stony Plain is one of Alberta's real-life haunted locales – with reports of orbs, apparitions, moving furniture and unexplained music.

A representative said the grounds are open to the public, and anyone who wants to take photos in the house can call to arrange a time. More information can be found on the Red Brick Common website.

Tricks and tips (and treats)

People tend to lose focus after about an hour, so Zettel recommends booking sessions for no longer than that. If your family includes kids, toys, snacks or special treats can help motivate and keep things moving.

"The key is actually just to really make it fun," Zettel said.

"I always tell people to really put your focus on just enjoying each other and being together … because when you enjoy that session, then it shows in the photograph and you want to do it again."

"(Kids) also play off your emotions," Roxburgh said. "So if you're really stressed out and running late and whatever, well they're going to feel stressed out too. So sort of make it as easy as possible."

Family photo costs depend on the photographer, but can range anywhere between $200 and $1,500. If you think you can nail it in less than an hour, or you're on a tight budget, Roxburgh said some photographers offer mini-sessions at a lower price.

Fall mornings can be chilly (you want to capture the red leaves, not your red nose), so you should shoot for late afternoon and early evenings, and bring a blanket so you don't get dirty or wet.

"In terms of outfits, it's all about layers," Zettel said. "So that you don't have to wear a coat when you're doing your family photos.

"You want to have two or three layers, which add texture and visual interest and also makes people comfortable while not bulking up their silhouette."

It can be tempting to pick matching outfits or lean into plaids, but Roxburgh recommends choosing simple, neutral colours instead.

"Avoid huge patterns, avoid logos, avoid really bright colours," she said. "If one person has a pattern, that's cool, but if everybody's wearing different plaids, obviously that's super distracting.

"And then, in the same sense, if everybody's wearing the exact same colour, you kind of just blend together."

Have a specific space in mind to hang your photos? Consider dressing in colours pulled from the room, Zettel said.

"Anything congruent with that colour scheme," she said. "That way, when you hang those photographs, they match the room but not in a really kind of obvious way."

Family photos are an investment, but one Zettel and Roxburgh believe are worth taking the time for – even in an age where many people carry a high-resolution phone camera in their pockets and purses.

"The person that's always taking the photos tends to never be in the photos … and oftentimes that's the mom," Zettel said.

"I think we all want to be seen and heard and loved, and a good photographer wants to give that to you," she continued. "It's not just about taking pictures and getting them back, it's actually just really about being present with the people that we love."

"It's more than just hanging them on your wall," Roxburgh said. "It's those photos that are left for generations of you and your family."

You can learn more about Zettel and her work on her website or Instagram page.

Roxburgh is the owner of BRZ Photography, you can learn more on her website.