It’s the morning of your fall family session. You’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. The outfits are picked out, the kids are cooperative for once, and then you open the weather app and see it.
Rain. All day.
This is one of the most common panicked messages I receive in October — families who have been looking forward to their fall session and are now staring at a gray sky wondering whether it’s all falling apart.
After 25 years of photographing families in Minnesota, I have a lot of experience with fall weather. Minnesota does not offer polite, predictable autumn days on demand. What it offers is a full range of possibilities — sunny and golden, overcast and soft, and yes, genuinely rainy.
Here’s exactly what happens when it rains on your session day — and why the answer is more nuanced than you might expect.
First: What Kind of Rain Are We Talking About?
Not all rain is the same, and the decision about what to do depends significantly on what the weather is actually doing.
Light overcast with occasional drizzle is not a session-ending condition. It’s actually a lighting condition that many photographers — including me — genuinely love. Overcast light is soft, even, and flattering in a way that direct sun often isn’t. It eliminates harsh shadows. It makes skin tones look beautiful. Some of the most stunning family portraits I’ve ever made have been on overcast days that the family was worried about.
Steady light rain that will clearly continue all day is a different situation. Wet, uncomfortable families don’t produce relaxed, genuine images. Children who are cold and damp don’t cooperate. This is the condition where alternatives need to be considered.
Heavy downpours are obviously a different story entirely — no outdoor session should happen in those conditions.
The first thing I do when weather is a concern is assess what’s actually happening — not what the forecast said three days ago, but what the actual conditions are on session day. Forecasts are often wrong in both directions.
The Options When Weather Is a Real Problem
Option 1: Reschedule
Rescheduling is always on the table. My rescheduling policy exists specifically for genuine weather situations — days where outdoor photography is not safe or comfortable regardless of how flexible you try to be.
The practical reality of rescheduling in fall: October dates are full. If your session is in mid-October and you need to reschedule, finding another outdoor fall date can be genuinely difficult. Late October or early November may be the only available options, and by then foliage may be past peak or gone entirely.
This is one of the reasons I always recommend discussing the rescheduling policy when you book rather than the morning of your session. Knowing the options in advance — before you’re standing in your kitchen in coordinated outfits — makes the decision significantly less stressful.
Option 2: Move the Session to the Studio
If you have your heart set on getting images done on your original date, my Saint Paul studio is always an available alternative.
Studio sessions on rainy fall days have their own specific beauty. The light I use in the studio has a warm quality that doesn’t depend on outdoor conditions. Families often arrive at the studio slightly stressed about the weather and leave genuinely glad they came in — because the session worked, the images are beautiful, and nothing got rained on.
Studio fall sessions look different from outdoor ones — no leaves, no natural backdrop — but they have a timeless, warm quality that many families come to prefer. If you’re open to the studio as a genuine alternative rather than a compromise, a rainy session day can produce something you love just as much as you would have loved the outdoor images.
Option 3: Shoot in the Rain
This one surprises people, but it’s a real option for the right family in the right conditions.
Rain photography — not heavy downpours, but light rain with umbrellas or minimal coverage — can be genuinely stunning. There’s a particular quality to rainy day images that clear sunny days can’t produce: a moodiness, a sense of atmosphere, a coziness to the way families huddle together under umbrellas.
This option works best for families who are genuinely relaxed about weather and willing to embrace whatever the day brings. It doesn’t work for families with very young babies who can’t be exposed to cold and damp, or for situations where the rain is heavy and ongoing.
But for the right family and the right level of rain — it can produce some of the most distinctive fall images I’ve ever made.
How I Handle Weather Decisions With Families
My approach to weather decisions is always collaborative and always honest.
I don’t make the call unilaterally on session morning. I communicate with families about what I’m seeing in the forecast, what the actual conditions look like, and what the options are — and then we decide together.
I’m not going to tell you a gray overcast day is going to ruin your images if I genuinely believe it won’t. I’m also not going to push you to shoot in conditions that are going to make your children miserable and produce strained, uncomfortable images.
The decision is always made with the actual images as the priority. Not the sunk cost of having arranged your schedule. Not the pressure of it being “fall season.” Whether the conditions on a given day can produce images you’ll love — that’s what drives the conversation.
If you have questions about weather policies, backup plans, or what a fall session with me actually looks like from start to finish, reach out and let’s talk. I’d rather answer your questions now than have you worry about them later.
What to Do the Morning of Your Session If You’re Worried
First: don’t make decisions based on what the weather app says at 7am about 2pm conditions. Weather apps are directionally useful and specifically unreliable.
Second: reach out to me. That’s what I’m here for. I’ve been doing this for 25 years. I know the difference between light overcast that will photograph beautifully and conditions that genuinely require an alternative. One message from you and we can figure out the plan together.
Third: remember that your session can be beautiful regardless of what the weather does. I’ve made images in every kind of Minnesota fall weather. Some of my favorite sessions have been on days that families initially dreaded.
The weather is one variable. It’s not the most important one.
