Asheville’s #1 Family Photographer shares tips for achieving gorgeous Fall Family Photos in Asheville including location options, timing and wardrobe tips!

There’s nothing quite like Asheville, North Carolina in the Fall! Lovely, mild temperatures and gorgeous fall color is what drives many visitors from all over the world to visit our beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain town each autumn! As an Asheville Family Photographer, I’ve photographed hundreds of families visiting the Blue Ridge and I’ll never get over these beautiful, sun soaked, brilliant fall colors which come together to create the most perfect backdrop for your Fall Family Photos in Asheville!

When is the Peak of Fall Color in Asheville?

Planning your vacation to Asheville around the Peak of Fall Color in Asheville isn’t an exact science because the timing of the ‘peak’ is largely dependent on weather conditions leading into October and throughout the month of October! The City of Asheville sits in a valley, surrounded by Blue Ridge Mountains (and the Blue Ridge Parkway). The fall colors begin to arrive at higher elevations in the mountains (and on the parkway) during the second week of October and the color gradually makes it’s way down to lower elevations / into the city during the third week of October through the end of October. Most of the vibrant fall color is usually gone by the first week in November but hear me out: I also really love the browns found during he second and third weeks in November as well! (more on that in another post!)

The Best Locations for Fall Family Photos

Let’s be honest, Asheville has no shortage of beautiful mountain locations to shoot Family Portraits in Asheville! But the very best locations to shoot your Fall Family Photos are going to be dependent upon (when) you’ll be in town or (when) you’re hoping to shoot (if you’re local!) This is particularly true if you’re hoping to capture vibrant fall colors in your photos. If you’re hoping to shoot in early – mid October, my recommendation would be to shoot on the Blue Ridge Parkway to capture those brilliant Reds, Oranges and Yellows as well as some big, panoramic mountain views! If you’re hoping to shoot from mid to late October (and beyond), my recommendation would be to shoot at lower elevations because most of the fall color is blowing away by late October at those higher elevations and because it get’s incredibly cold and windy up at those higher elevations by the third or fourth week of October and that can make for an unpredictable shoot (especially if you have younger children!)

A few portrait Location options to consider:

What time of Day should you shoot Fall Family Photos?

This is also quite subjective. If you have children under 3, I would recommend shooting a morning portrait session as evening, sunset sessions often take place during what is normally dinner, bath and bed time for our youngest friends! But, my usual recommendation (when schedules allow) is to shoot during the late afternoon (between 4-7pm) when the sun is lower in the sky and we can get those beautiful, back lit, autumn sun soaked, fall family photos you love!

Wardrobe Planning for Fall Family Photos

If the goal is to hang beautiful wall art from this portrait session on the walls of your home, to frame sweet, snuggly photos from this session on your shelves, to have a gorgeous heirloom album to look back on, my best advice for selecting wardrobe for your session is this: 

• Dress according to the season we’re in! 
• Dress in a way that is flattering and makes you feel confident and like the very best version of yourself! 
• Iron or dry clean your clothing to be sure it’s free of wrinkles, 
• Bring a lint roller to be sure your clothing is free of lint or pet hair etc. before your session! 

While wardrobe fads may crush it on the gram, if you’re hoping to hang these images on your walls, you’ll want to dress in a way that is timeless! 

My advice is to look at the existing color pallet in your home, choose colors that would look complimentary with your existing decor & color pallet at home, since these images will be hanging on your walls! 

I often encourage my portrait clients to choose either a theme color or color pallet and build wardrobe around it! (examples: jewel tones, earth tones, neutrals, fall tones, etc).

To take this a step further, go to Pinterest.com and search color pallets, the results will give you tons of beautiful options of preselected color pallets! Choose one you like and send it to everyone so that you’re all on the same page with the shades you want for outfits (bc it’s not enough to just say blue, there are a million shades of blue!) Instruct everyone to build their outfit selections using the color tones in that color pallet, subtly weaving those shades throughout!

By this point, you must be OBSESSED with these Gorgeous Fall Family Photos in Asheville and maybe you’re thinking that you would love to book a session like this for your family, so that you too could hang timeless images like these on your walls!? Good news, friend! We still have some availability for Fall Family Photos this October and would love to work with you! You can find process and pricing information on Family Photoshoots in Asheville on our website, located here: Investment Info

Also, I’ve taken the liberty of putting together a few Fall Family Photo Wardrobe Inspiration Boards for your! There’s also shopping links for everything you see! 🙂 – xo Brittany