I put on my Slytherin robes and grabbed by Hufflepuff bestie for a foggy, chilly fall morning Harry Potter Forbidden Forest Photoshoot here in San Francisco.
I’ve been wanting to do a fun Harry Potter photoshoot for ages. This year feels especially important to lean hard into the things that bring us joy and for me, that’s pretending like I really did my letter 18 years ago.
Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?
As a kid I was always really confused about what house I belonged in. I told my friends I was in Gryffindor. Everyone wanted to be in Gryffindor. But it never felt right.
As an adult, I realized I’m a Slytherin. It feels right, it feels like home and now I’m a proud Slytherin complete with an unnecessary robe, tie, house t-shirts and multiple wands. Robin and I have even been making tons of Harry Potter cocktails to drink this holiday season. I’m in DEEP ya’ll.
So, when fall rolled around this year I knew I wanted to do a photoshoot and instantly thought of shooting on a foggy San Francisco morning somewhere in a park so it looks like the Harry Potter Dark Forest.
My Slytherin Student Outfit
My Harry Potter Forbidden Forest Photoshoot
Brianna and I totally lucked out on the morning of our shoot. The day before was such a clear, sunny day. I was worried that San Francisco’s traditionally late summer (end of September through October) was here to stay and we missed our window of fog. But that morning we woke up to THICK fog and we beelined to Sutro Forest before it burned off.
It was actually so incredibly wet from the fog. The trails were SO muddy and the leaves were dripping condensation so hard that it felt like rain. You can see my hair in these photos and how it looks wet – that’s not a Snape style look, that’s the rain. You can also probably see some muddy boots and stained shirts as we tried to quickly work with the elements.
Since I’m a basic fall betch, I had already visited a pumpkin patch earlier that week so we grabbed one of my pumpkins along with a green goblet for props, though we mostly just used our wands which I later photoshopped to look like we’re casting the Lumos spell.
After our shoot, we came back to my apartment and had a nice pancake breakfast with a side of bacon. Such a great morning.
I hope this inspires you to do your own Harry Potter photoshoot! If you do one, tag me on Instagram @thewhimsysoul or TikTok @whimsysoul I’d love to see yours!
