Smiling toddler in brown corduroy overalls holds a red apple while lying beside his mother on a lace blanket near a basket of apples.
Smiling woman in a checkered dress and floral headscarf lifts a laughing toddler holding a red apple in a golden sunset field.
Smiling woman and toddler boy on a picnic blanket holding a vintage film camera, with a basket of red apples and a grassy field behind them.

No Orchard? No Problem.


Let me just say it up front: there is not an apple orchard anywhere near Cheyenne Mountain State Park. I looked. Colorado Springs gives us mountains, scrub oak, and golden meadow grass for days, but rows of apple trees heavy with fruit? Not so much.

And honestly, that was never going to stop us.


This mama wanted that cozy, old-fashioned, apple-picking-in-the-fall feeling for her session with her curly-headed little guy. So instead of driving three states over to find a real orchard, we built the whole vibe ourselves, right there in a meadow at the base of Cheyenne Mountain. A couple of wicker baskets, a few bags of apples, a vintage lace blanket, and some very intentional wardrobe choices later, and we had an orchard session that never actually set foot in an orchard.

Smiling blonde mother in boots playfully holds her laughing toddler in a sunny grassy field with a basket of red apples and mountains behind
A blonde mother and her toddler son relax on a picnic blanket with apples in a golden grassy meadow with mountains in the background.

Your Session Should Look Like You


Here's the thing I want every family to know: your session doesn't have to look like everyone else's. It shouldn't. If you have a picture in your head of what you want, whether that's an apple orchard, a cozy cabin morning, a wildflower field, or something completely out of left field, we can build it.


Every session I plan starts with a conversation. What do you love? What does fall feel like to you? What do you want to look back on in twenty years? Some families come to me with a full Pinterest board. Some come with one word, like "cozy" or "vintage," and a little bit of panic. Both are completely fine. My job is to take whatever you bring and turn it into a session that feels individualized to you and your people.


The location doesn't have to match the theme, either. That's where styling comes in.

Smiling blonde mother and toddler sit on a cream blanket with apples in a basket in a grassy field with mountains behind at sunset.
A smiling blonde woman reclines on a lace blanket with her toddler son holding a red apple, with apples nearby and mountains behind.
Smiling mother lying on a lace blanket holds a curly-haired toddler in corduroy overalls eating an apple beside a basket of fresh apples.
Woman and toddler stand in a grassy meadow with mountains behind them, while baskets of fresh red and green apples sit in the foreground.
Smiling mother kneeling in a grassy mountain meadow holding her toddler, with baskets of red and green apples in the foreground.
Smiling toddler boy in overalls holds a bitten red apple while standing beside a woman in a plaid dress and boots in a golden autumn field.
Blonde woman in boots kneels in a grassy field holding a smiling toddler in overalls who holds an apple, with mountains behind.
Smiling toddler in corduroy overalls and rain boots holds a bitten apple beside a woman in tall suede boots in a grassy apple orchard.
Blonde mother in a vest and tall suede boots sits on grass holding her toddler son and a red apple beside a basket of fruit at sunset.
Smiling blonde mother in boots sits in a grassy field with her toddler son holding a red apple, with mountains in the background.
Smiling mother in a polka dot headscarf holds a laughing toddler in overalls on a picnic blanket with apples in a basket outdoors.
Smiling toddler in overalls and rubber boots sits on a wicker basket holding a red apple on a blanket in an autumn orchard.
A smiling woman picks apples from a tree while a laughing toddler in overalls sits on a blanket with baskets of red apples near mountains.
Woman with long blonde hair in a bandana, brown vest and suede boots holding a red apple in a grassy meadow with mountains behind.
A woman in a polka dot headscarf lifts a toddler in overalls to reach a red apple on a tree, with mountains glowing at sunset behind them.

 

Styling the Session From Start to Finish

 

Start With the Story


Before I think about a single outfit, I think about the story. For this one, the story was simple: a slow fall evening, a mama and her boy, a basket of apples, and a whole lot of snacking. Once you know the story, every decision after that gets easier, because you just keep asking whether it fits.

Wardrobe That Sets the Era


The wardrobe did most of the heavy lifting here. Mama wore a brown tweed vest over a brown gingham dress, left unbuttoned so it moved in the wind, with white eyelet lace shorts peeking out underneath. We added tall camel suede slouch boots and a khaki utility jacket with cord cuffs, worn off the shoulder for some of the frames. For the second look, an apple-print headscarf took the whole thing from "cute fall outfit" to "she definitely has a pie cooling on the windowsill."

Her little guy wore chocolate corduroy overalls over a cream waffle-knit henley, plus olive rain boots. Overalls on a toddler will never not be adorable, and the corduroy gave the images that rich, textured, old-farmhouse feel.


Notice what's missing: no bright logos, no graphics, no neon. Everything is textured and a little timeless, and that's what makes the images feel like they could've been taken forty years ago or yesterday.

Smiling toddler in overalls and rain boots sits on a wicker basket holding a red apple on a blanket in an autumn orchard.

Props That Do the Talking


If the wardrobe sets the era, the props tell you where you are. Two wicker baskets overflowing with red and green apples did most of the convincing. We tipped one over so the apples spilled out like they'd just been picked, tucked a red gingham napkin into the basket, and laid out a cream crochet lace blanket underneath to ground the whole setup.


he real secret, though? The apples were edible, and he ate them. Constantly. Giving a toddler something to do with his hands (and his mouth) is the fastest way to get real smiles instead of forced ones, and every bite mark you see in these images is 100% authentic.

Let the Location Fill In the Rest


Cheyenne Mountain State Park gave us exactly what we needed: tall meadow grass going gold for fall, scrub oak that reads like an orchard edge from the right angle, and that big, dramatic mountain backdrop. We timed the session for golden hour so the light would warm everything up and glow through the trees. Mama even reached up into the scrub oak like she was picking fruit, and between the baskets and the styling, your brain just fills in the orchard.

Mother holding her toddler in a golden grassy field at sunset, with a wicker basket of fresh apples and mountains in the background.

The Color Palette



 

If you take one thing from this post, let it be this: the palette is what sells the theme. You can have all the apples in the world, but if everyone shows up in bright blue and black, it's going to read as "family at a park with fruit" instead of "fall at the orchard."

Want to borrow this palette for your own fall session? Dress everyone in the neutrals, pick one person to carry a pattern like gingham, and save the red for an accessory or a prop.

Apple Orchard color palette with eight swatches from orchard red and grassy smith green to gingham cocoa, camel suede, and antique lace.

Let's Build Yours


This session is proof that you don't need the perfect location to get the perfect vibe. You need a plan, a palette, and a photographer who's willing to haul two baskets of apples across a meadow for you. (That's me. I'm the photographer.)


If you've got a session idea living rent-free in your head, I want to hear it. Whether it's an orchard, a pumpkin patch, or something nobody's ever asked me for before, we'll plan it together from the first conversation to the last apple. I photograph families, motherhood, and couples across Colorado Springs, Denver, and the Front Range.


Reach out through my contact page, and let's start dreaming up your session.

CALL ME, BEEP ME

Let's connect!

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