What to Wear for Fall Family Photos in Ottawa

Start With One Person, Then Build Out



Don't try to plan five outfits at once — you'll lose your mind. Pick one person (usually mom) and choose their outfit first, or even just one piece — a sweater, a dress, a jacket. Everyone else's outfit gets pulled from there: colors, textures, and general vibe. Once you've got that anchor piece, dressing the rest of the family is just filling in around it instead of starting from a blank page.



Select a Color Palette

You don't need matching outfits. You need a coordinated palette: 2–3 colors, with a few shades of each mixed in. Pick one dominant color, one or two supporting colors, and a neutral to tie it together. Here are four fall directions to choose from. Pick whichever one feels most like you:

• Warm Rust — rust, olive, cream, charcoal The classic, high-contrast fall look. Great against changing leaves and golden-hour light.

• Deep Wine — burgundy, camel, charcoal, cream Richer and moodier. Works beautifully in overcast light or later in the day.

• Soft Neutral — sage, camel, cream, espresso Quieter and more editorial — a good fit if bright fall colors aren't really "you."

• Navy Frost — navy, camel, cream, slate Crisper and cooler-toned, for families who want fall layering without the orange-and-rust cliché.

Once you've picked a direction, stay inside that palette for every person in the photo — but let each outfit look different from the others within it.

SKIP: neon or highlighter colors, anything head-to-toe black, and busy graphic tees. They pull focus away from your faces and read as noise in photos.

Choosing Colours That Photograph Beautifully on Every Skin Tone

I photograph a wide range of skin tones, and it's less about light versus dark and more about contrast.

• Light skin tones tend to glow in Deep Wine or Navy Frost, where the richer tones create contrast;



• Dark skin tones tend to pop in Warm Rust or Soft Neutral, where the warmer, lighter tones stand out.

Every palette works across the full range, though — it's about pairing your undertone with whichever direction you choose, not switching palettes by skin tone alone.