Now that the fall colors are changing and the pumpkins are ready, it’s a great time to take an afternoon to set up a fall family photoshoot. Whether at the pumpkin patch or in your backyard, pumpkins are a beautiful, colorful and great prop to add to photos of your kids in the fall. Here are some tips for including pumpkins in your photography:
If you have a pile of pumpkins and a small child, pull the “ET amongst the stuffed animals” routine and plop them in the middle. Even better, throw them in a pumpkin costume or dress them in orange!
Set a row of pumpkins roughly the same size, and plunk a naked baby facing away from the camera in the middle. This would work well with twins and multiples – you could also get creative and paint “pumpkins” on little cheeks!
Using a dremel tool (or whatever works), carve the names of your kids in the front of each pumpkin and have them pose with their names – a great idea for new baby photography too!
For newborns, carve out the top of a pumpkin and part of the insides, line with a blanket, and pose a sleep newborn inside. For bigger babies, carve out the entire pumpkin and add two leg holes at the bottom.
If you’ve been thinking about a maternity shoot or impending baby announcement, consider posing with your belly and your spouse, holding a pumpkin. An alternative idea is to lay in a leaf pile, pile some on top, and use the pumpkin to represent your bump.
Grab a big pumpkin and a felt marker, write your baby’s name and “First Halloween” – perfect photo op!
Feel free to include some additional fall or Halloween-related props, such as colorful fall leaves, other gourds (green and yellow ones add great contrast), tractors, trees, etc. Use a large aperture for close-up portraits (such as f/3.5) to keep sharp focus on faces and blur the background. For family shots, if you want to include the surrounds you might want to use a smaller aperture (such a f/8) to keep the details. Have fun with it!
Want more ideas? Check out this Pinterest Page for some inspiration!