Iβll be honest, this photoshoot had pretty much everything working against us. It started raining when we met, the location was incredibly crowded with other family photoshoots, and we had a three-year-old who wanted absolutely nothing to do with family photos. When we pulled up to the Beaver Brook Watershed trailhead in Evergreen, the fall colors were popping, but parking was insane. There were families and photographers everywhere, dark clouds were rolling in, and then the skies opened up. Pretty much everyone ran back to their cars. I told my clients, βLetβs wait this out for 10 minutes,β while we sat in our cars and watched the few brave people who tried to weather the storm eventually come back completely soaked. A few minutes later I knocked on their window and said, βThis isnβt looking good for us.β But this was one of the last weekends we were going to have these fall colors. The kids were dressed, Mom was ready, everyone had made the drive from Greenwood Village, and rescheduling could easily mean missing the aspens altogether. So I said, βLetβs give it another 10 minutes.β And we waited.
Sometimes You Just Have to Give It a Shot
About 15 minutes later, the rain finally slowed down. I went back to their car and said, βI think we give it a shot.β We headed out and immediately discovered our next challenge: their three-year-old wanted NOTHING to do with family photos anymore. Wouldn't look at the camera. Didn't want to participate. Mom and Dad tried the fruit snacks. We tried taking a few photos. He was over it. And honestly, that's pretty normal. One of the biggest mistakes you can make during family photos is expecting a toddler to walk out of the car, stand exactly where we want him, smile at a stranger with a camera, and do it all for the next hour. Sometimes kids just need a little time. I let him run around instead of jumping straight into posed family photos. I talked to him, let him see what I was doing, and eventually offered to let him take a photo with my camera. That's something I've found works surprisingly well with younger kids. Once they're part of the process instead of feeling like everyone is asking something from them, things can change pretty quickly. And that's exactly what happened. After a little while he was laughing, running around and having a blast. By the end of the photoshoot, I honestly don't think he wanted it to be over. What should have been a one-hour family session turned into almost two hours between waiting out the rain and giving him time to warm up. It was completely worth it.
My Take on Family Photos With Young Kids
If you have young kids and you're worried they aren't going to cooperate, you're probably worrying more than you need to. I've been photographing families around Denver since 2016, and I've seen just about every version of a kid not wanting their photo taken. The goal isn't to force them into cooperating. Usually it's better to slow down, let them explore and find a way to make them part of what we're doing. A few things I've found help:
Give younger kids time to warm up before expecting posed photos.
Let them move, run and play instead of constantly asking them to stand still.
Bring snacks, but don't make the entire session dependent on bribery.
Keep expectations realistic. A three-year-old is going to act like a three-year-old.
Don't panic if the first ten minutes aren't going well. Some of my best sessions have started that way.
And that's really the point of this entire shoot. We didn't have perfect weather. We didn't have an empty location. We didn't have a perfectly cooperative toddler. What we did have was a family willing to roll with it. And once everyone relaxed, that's when the photos started happening.
Fall Family Photos at Beaver Brook Watershed in Evergreen
We photographed this session at the Beaver Brook Watershed trailhead near Evergreen, Colorado, along Highway 103 near MestaaβΔhehe Pass, formerly known as Squaw Pass. Late September can be incredible up here. The combination of golden aspens, blue spruce, evergreens, open mountain scenery and tall grasses gives you a lot of different Colorado looks within one area. It feels much more like a true mountain session than a park closer to Denver without having to drive all the way into Summit County. This particular evening definitely wasn't the sunny golden-hour session we originally imagined. Instead, we had dark clouds, wet grass and soft overcast light. And I actually love the way it turned out. The clouds softened everything, the colors in the aspens and evergreens looked incredibly rich, and we ended up with a moodier Colorado fall look that fit the evening perfectly. It's a good reminder that great family photos don't require a perfect sunset. Sometimes the weather gives us something completely different and we just work with it.
Fall Weekends Can Get Crazy
This session was on a Sunday evening at peak fall color, and Beaver Brook was packed. The parking lot was full and there were family photographers everywhere. That's something worth knowing if you're planning fall family photos in Evergreen. If your schedule allows it, weekday evenings are usually my first choice during peak fall color. You'll generally deal with fewer people and have more freedom to move around. If weekends are your only option, that's completely fine too. We just have to be a little more patient and strategic about where we're shooting. There were definitely moments during this session where I had other families and photographers in the background. That's part of shooting at a beautiful Colorado location during peak season. We worked around people when we could, changed angles, waited for openings, and yes, I Photoshopped a few people out of the background when I needed to. You would never know it from the final gallery.
What They Wore for Fall Family Photos
This family also did a really good job with outfits. They used a mix of navy blue, maroon, rust and warm neutral tones, which worked really well against both the yellow aspens and dark green evergreens. They coordinated without matching. That's usually what I recommend for family photos. Instead of putting everyone in the same colors, choose a general palette and let each person wear something that works within it. For fall mountain sessions, I especially like warm earth tones, deeper blues, cream, rust, camel, olive and other muted colors. The goal isn't for the clothing to be the first thing you notice. It should work with the environment and keep the attention on the family. If you're trying to figure out outfits for your own session, I put together a complete What to Wear for Family Photos guide with some of my favorite color combinations and examples.
A Greenwood Village Family Photoshoot in the Colorado Mountains
This family lives in Greenwood Village, but they wanted their photos to have more of a Colorado mountain feel. That's one of the things I love about photographing families around Denver. We don't have to choose between living in the city and having mountain photos. Families from Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills Village, Denver, Lakewood and other parts of the metro area can head into the foothills and get aspens, evergreens and mountain scenery without making family photos an entire weekend trip. Evergreen is one of my favorite areas for exactly that reason. And when fall color is at its peak, it's hard to beat. The tradeoff is that everyone else knows that too.
You Don't Need Perfect Conditions for Great Family Photos
I think it's really easy to picture family photos as this perfect golden-hour evening where the sun is glowing through the trees, the kids are smiling on command and everything goes exactly according to plan. Sometimes that happens. A lot of the time, real life has other ideas. It rains. Kids melt down. Locations are crowded. The temperature drops. Someone spills something on their shirt. That's why hiring an experienced photographer matters. When you've already gotten everyone dressed, packed the car, driven into the mountains and caught one of the few weekends when the aspens are at their best, you want someone who can adjust when things don't go perfectly. For this family, waiting out the rain ended up being the right call. The cloudy skies gave us beautiful soft light, the wet weather made the fall colors even richer, and the kid who wanted nothing to do with me at the beginning was having fun by the end. I'll take that over perfect conditions any day.
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Planning Your Own Denver Family Photos?
I photograph families throughout Denver, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Boulder, Evergreen, the foothills and the Colorado mountains. Every session is a little different, but my approach is pretty simple: keep things relaxed, give you enough direction that nobody feels awkward, and leave plenty of room for the candid moments that happen naturally. If you're starting to plan your own Denver family photos, you can check out my Family Photography page for pricing and session information, browse my favorite Denver-area photoshoot locations, or take a look at my guide to what to wear for family photos. And if your toddler decides the day of the shoot that family photos are the worst idea anyone has ever had? We'll figure it out.
