As the seasons change, so does what I’m inspired to create. My styling and photography shifts to deeper colors, darker shadows, and stronger contrast.
I find myself experimenting more with flames, warm drinks, and scenes that feel cozier than those that came to me in the muted, lighter summer.
If you are feeling the same, here are five prompts to use for pulling together some creative photos yourself during this new season.
Make food the supporting star not the hero.
The prompt: If you often photograph food, consider taking your focus away from it. Create a scene that includes food, or hints at it, but make your hero something else - a stack of books, a candle, a dinnerware set, glassware.
Tips: Move the food to the foreground or the edges. Catch just a hint of a mug or the handle. Shoot at a shallow depth of field so that it stays out of focus in the scene. Or pull back and create a full scene with a food or drink as simply a part of a bigger set.
Incorporate prints.
The prompt: I love neutrals and solids as much as the next person, but fall is an ideal time to ease into prints for linens and tablecloths. Plaids and prints with browns, grays, blues, specks, and stripes help develop your eye for what works with the subject without stealing too much attention from it.
Tip: Start by using prints as a surface versus trying to get the placement just right with a linen. If prints make you uncomfortable, focus on tight shots that capture only a bit of the surface.
Create a fall-inspired diptych.
The prompt: Pick your favorite printed fabric or linen, one that gives you all the autumn vibes, and take a photo of it. Search your archives for a styled photo that pairs well with colors in the fabric, or create a new one. Set them up as a side-by-side in your editing software or Canva for a pleasing visual to share.
Tip: I love using plaid for this exercise. It has so many colors and shades of those colors to match up with a styled scene. Pairing my photos helps me identify connections in color and mood that I can apply to future work I create.
Take a prop shot.
The prompt: Gather props - plates, trays, linens, utensils, cups - with the moodiest vibes you have going in your collection. Style and capture in at least three ways - overhead scene, tight detail, 45-degree angle.
Tip: Working with still options outside of food sharpens skills at controlling light and styling placement. Plus creating moody prop photos is just a whole lot of fun!
Hit the streets.
The prompt: Whether it is a trail in the woods, the sidewalk in your neighborhood, or the median in a public parking lot, pick the peak week for color change in your area and head out with the camera. Create at least three fall-inspired photos with a unique perspective, a different angle or focus than you would first turn to.
(Timing for my fall photos was sometimes not until early December when I lived in California’s Central Valley. Even if you don’t get a lot of color change, things are changing. When we lived on the coast near the ocean, colors didn’t change, but skies, greenery, and sunsets did.)
Tip: Experiment with a shallow depth of field, especially with leaves and colors. Photograph through branches, squat down and photograph up. Think of ways to photograph that you never have before.
It’s baking season! Be sure you grab my creative guide with 10 Ways to Photograph Banana Bread.
