Fall Family Photo Locations in Salmon Arm: How to Choose the Right Landscape for More Interesting Photos

Abigail Anderson

Sep 1

5 min read

One of the first things we’ll talk about when you book family photos with The Dark Room Studio is location. Not because we just need somewhere pretty to put you, but because where we photograph you changes the entire look of your photos.

Put the same family in a wide open field, on the edge of Shuswap Lake, surrounded by evergreens or against a mountain view and we can create four completely different galleries, even if we photograph them all in the same week.

That’s one of our favourite things about being a family photographer in Salmon Arm. We have an almost ridiculous amount of variety right outside our door. So instead of asking, “Where should we take our fall family photos?” a better question might be: “What do you want your photos to feel like?”

Smiling family of four with a small dog posing on rocky ground, with mountains and a cloudy sky in the background by Salmon Arm Photographer

Open Fields for Warm, Earthy Family Photos

Fields are one of our go-to locations for fall family photos in Salmon Arm and the Shuswap, and there’s a reason we keep coming back to them. By late summer and fall, the grasses have usually faded into shades of wheat, beige and brown. Add mountains and a big sky in the background and we have a simple, neutral landscape that lets your family stand out. Fields can feel warm and earthy, but they can also be dramatic depending on the weather and what you wear. Dark clothing against pale grass gives us a completely different result than creams and lighter neutrals in exactly the same location. They also give us room to move. If you have kids who would much rather run through a field than stand nicely beside you and smile, this is a very good thing.

Couple standing close on a pebbled lakeshore beneath low clouds and misty mountains, in muted gray tones in Salmon Arm during Fall at Canoe Beach

Beaches and Shuswap Lake for Something Completely Different in your Family Photo Locations in Salmon Arm

Family photos at the beach aren’t just for summer. Once fall arrives, the beaches around Salmon Arm and the Shuswap become quieter, the colours soften and the lake starts taking on those beautiful blues, greys and silvers. On a clear evening, we can have mountains, water and a huge sky behind you. On a cloudy day, the exact same location can become dark and moody. This is why we don’t automatically reschedule because the forecast isn’t calling for a perfect sunny evening. Sometimes the weather gives us something much more interesting. And yes, you can absolutely wear darker clothing to the beach. This does not need to look like a summer vacation photo.

Man tosses a smiling child in a pink sweater and yellow skirt high in the pines at Little Mountain Park in Salmon Arm during family Photoshoot

Evergreens and Forests for Darker, Richer Photographs

If you’re drawn to darker family photography, tell us. Evergreens give us deep greens throughout the fall, even after most of the other colour has disappeared. They can make photographs feel richer and more intimate, particularly when we don’t have a huge open landscape competing for attention. They’re also a great option if the traditional fall colour palette isn’t really your thing. We can work with forest greens, browns, black, charcoal, cream and other neutrals instead. The result still feels completely appropriate for fall without requiring a single orange leaf.

Cowboy-hatted man sits with two dogs on a mossy ridge, overlooking Shuswap Lake and Bastion Mountain at sunrise by Salmon Arm Photographer

Mountains and Open Landscapes for a Sense of Scale

Sometimes we want the landscape to be a big part of the photograph. We’re surrounded by mountains here, so it would be a shame not to use them. Choosing a location with an open mountain view lets us create those wider photographs where your family becomes part of the landscape rather than filling the entire frame. We’ll still make the closer portraits, of course, but having that space gives your final gallery a lot more variety. This is one of the things we love most about family photography in the Shuswap. We don’t have to choose between portraits of your family and beautiful landscape photographs. We can make both.

Salmon Arm Family Photoshoot locations mother with children
girl in pink dress with hat on in sagebrush for Kamloops family Photoshoot

Sagebrush and Dry Grass for a Wilder Look

Drive a little farther and the landscape changes again. Sagebrush, dry grass, rolling hills and more open terrain give family photographs an entirely different feel from the greener landscapes around Salmon Arm. The colours are pale and muted, there’s often very little visual clutter, and the landscape itself can become a major part of the photographs. If you show us a family photo with a huge landscape, muted colours and lots of negative space and say, “I want something like this,” this may be the kind of location we’ll recommend. It’s less about finding an exact spot and more about figuring out what you’re responding to in the photograph. These photos were done in Kamloops. I'm lucky enough to continue to return year after year to photograph loyal clients, however we can find this soft palette as close as Vernon, if you don't want to go as far as Kamloops.

And Yes, We Can Still Find Fall Colour

Maybe you actually do want the leaves. Perfect. There are locations around Salmon Arm where we can lean much more heavily into traditional fall colour, with changing trees, wooded areas and warmer tones throughout the photographs. The point isn’t that we don’t like colourful fall family photos. We do. It’s that they’re only one option.

Two smiling boys stand on a leaf-covered forest path, one holding a black-and-white puppy in autumn woods on Raven Trail by Salmon Arm Photographer

How Do You Choose the Right Family Photo Location?

You don’t need to know the answer before you contact us. In fact, you can send us a few photographs from our portfolio that you love. We can usually figure out pretty quickly what you’re responding to. Maybe it’s the openness of the landscape. Maybe it’s the colours. Maybe you love water, dark trees or huge mountain views. You can also just tell us what you don’t want. That’s useful too. Part of our job as your Salmon Arm family photographer is helping you make these decisions. We’ll consider the season, time of day, weather, your family, what you’re planning to wear and the kind of photographs you’re drawn to, then recommend locations that make sense.

Smiling red-haired mother holding a young boy in a golden grassy hillside at sunset, with mountains in the background by Kamloops family photographer

Same Season. Completely Different Family Photos.

That’s really the fun of it. Your fall family photos could be dark and moody beside the lake, warm and earthy in a field, rich and green among the evergreens, colourful beneath changing leaves or tiny figures surrounded by a huge mountain landscape. All of them can be photographed in the Shuswap. All of them can be photographed in fall. And all of them will give you a completely different gallery.

Salmon Arm Photographer captures siblings at Canoe wharf
Kamloops family photographer captures family at the beach by the airport

The location isn’t just the background. It’s part of the photograph.

Ready for Your Own Family Photos?

If you’ve been looking for a Salmon Arm family photographer and wondering what your session could actually look like, get in touch. Tell us a little about your family, what you’re drawn to and what time of year you’re thinking.

We’ll help with the location, what to wear and all the other details from there.