If you’ve been thinking about booking a fall family photo session in the Cotswolds this autumn, this one is going to give you all the feels. I had the most wonderful mini session with this family in Lower Slaughter last October, and I’m so excited to share a few of their photos with you.

Lower Slaughter is one of those places that looks like it was designed specifically to be photographed in fall. The honey-coloured stone cottages, the winding River Eye, the little stone footbridges, the old mill — it’s all just there, waiting for you. Add in the amber and russet tones that autumn brings, and you’ve got a backdrop that does a lot of the heavy lifting for us.

Cotswolds Lower Slaughter Autumn Fall Vacation Family Photos Barbara Asboth

Lower Slaughter sits quietly in the heart of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, just a short drive from Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold, and the gorgeous market town of Chipping Campden. For this session we moved around the village quite a bit, making the most of what it has to offer. We started on the main village lane, with those famous stone buildings stretching out behind the family. Then we headed down to the river and the old stone bridges that cross it and this is where the magic really happened. The bridges in Lower Slaughter are genuinely beautiful, low and wide and made from the same warm Cotswolds limestone you see everywhere in the area. The autumn colour was at its absolute peak. Burnt oranges, deep greens, soft yellows, all of it there and looking gorgeous in the October light.

If you’re visiting the Cotswolds from the US or further afield, a family photo session is honestly one of the best things you can add to your trip. Whether you’re planning a Cotswolds vacation, a UK road trip, or a longer stay in England, having professional photos taken against this backdrop is something you will never regret.

Families travelling to the Cotswolds often base themselves in or around Bourton-on-the-Water, which is just a few minutes from Lower Slaughter. It’s very easy to fold a photo session into a day of sightseeing – you can have a session in Lower Slaughter in the morning, check out Bourton on the Water (don’t miss the model village) and then head north to Chipping Campden or Broadway to fill the rest of your day.

Other nearby villages that work beautifully for autumn and fall family photography include Burford, Northleach, the Barringtons, and Moreton-in-Marsh. But Lower Slaughter, with its river, its bridges, its untouched character and its relative lack of tourist crowds (compared to Bourton, anyway), is genuinely one of my favourite spots in the whole area.