7 Tips for the Pawfect Fall Photo Op

September 15, 2021

Fall is a picture-perfect time of year filled with beautiful warm colors, plentiful textures, and of course, pumpkins galore. That means it's time for all dog parents to pull our your cameras and start snapping some adorable autumn photos of your pup! Scroll down for the best Fall photo tips, curated from our Instagram community.

Tip #1: Autumn Doortrait

Create an autumn "doortrait" (door-portrait) using a seasonal wreath and pumpkins to frame your front door. This is especially striking when your door has notable colors, hardware, and molding. We love how @camperdoodledoo's doortrait combines a brilliant blue front door with accents of orange from the wreath, pumpkins and flowers - and of course, a matching orange dog bandana. And, if you have stairs leading up to your front door, you have the perfect opportunity to create a cascade of multi-colored pumpkins like @georgethebernedood.

Photo by: @camperdoodledoo. Shop the Pumpkin Spice Bandana.

Doortrait example
Photo by: @georgethebernedood. Shop the Pumpkin Spice Bandana.

Tip #2: Get Height

Pose your pup on top of something to add visual interest. P.S. if you're using your iPhone to take photos, portrait mode will give you a beautiful soft background while keeping your pup in sharp focus.

Pumpkin Patch
Photos by: @Laurendobish. Shop the Aspen Plaid Bandana and Sunflower Bow Tie Collar.

Tip #3: Use a Prop

Pumpkin patches offer more than just lots and lots of pumpkins. They're usually filled with other fun props like hay bales, corn mazes, scarecrows and more. We love the idea of putting your pup in a a rustic vehicle like a cute red wagon, pickup truck or tractor to get a different perspective and stay true to the farm vibes.

Photo by: @sumothegoldendoodle. Shop the Black Windowpane Bandana.

Tractor dogs
Photo by: @captainandtony. Shop the Dusty Blue Windowpane Bandana.

Photo by: @sweetboysodo. Shop the Pumpkin Spice Bandana.

Tip #4: Personalized Pumpkin

Pose with a custom jack-o-lantern! All dogs deserve their own pumpkin carving and we can't think of a better way to greet trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. Making a custom carving of your dog is easy thanks to these printable dog breed stencils from BHG (and best of all, they're free!). A total of 24 breeds are represented including Dachshund, Labrador Retriever, Boxer, Pug, Beagle, Boston Terrier, and others. If you have a mixed-breed dog, you may need to get more creative and personalize your dog pumpkin carving stencil by changing the shape or adding little details like shaded patches of fur, or whiskers. Or, you can download vector art of your dog's face (like this doodle drawing) and create your own stencil with an X-acto knife.

Photo by: @ollieismybestie. Shop the Pumpkin Spice Bandana.

Tip #5: Wow Factor

Go big with a statement-making backdrop like this one by @novathegoldengal taken at Pier 17 in New York City. If you don't have an amazing giant pumpkin arch like this near you, many local pumpkin patches are filled with photo ops. Some, like Craven Farm in Washington state, even have special days where they welcome you to bring your dogs.

Photo by: @novathegoldengal. Shop the Pumpkin Spice Bandana.

Tip #6: Pawty Time

Get your fur-riends together in coordinating outfits. We love how the Golden pups in @golden_hall_of_fame_hof's mixed it up with a second coordinating print that also incorporated the color orange. Bonus points if you all look at the camera!

Photo by: @golden_hall_of_fame_hof. Shop the Valencia Natural Bandana.

Tip #7: Color Block

Find a fun painted wall (or doorway) to add a splash of color that coordinates with your dog's Fall outfit. This vibrant orange wall in Santa Barbara adds a modern, minimalist color block effect to this photo of Eli in our Pumpkin Spice flannel bandana, a seasonal favorite.

Photo by: @veilstailsphoto. Shop the Pumpkin Spice Bandana.