When choosing what to wear for your family portrait session, there is one thing that is by far the most important thing to keep in mind:
CHOOSE AN OUTFIT THAT FEELS GREAT
The rest is truly secondary, but having some suggestions to go off of can help.
-DO-
Choose clothing that will work with the style of your home. Allow me to explain - if you have lots of greys, brown and creams in your home but wear bright red holiday outfits to your session, then you might hesitate to put your images up on your walls. Try for colors that won't take over - we want you to be the center of attention, not what you're wearing.
Choose clothing that you don't need to keep adjusting! If baby girl is in a dress, it will ride up. If we have to keep pausing to adjust clothing, we'll miss those wonderufl in-between moments.
Wear clothing that doesn't wrinkle or crease easily - pro tip!- bring a bottle of Downey Wrinkle Release in case you get some creases from sitting in the car.
-WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND?-
Gentle patterns & muted colors. I always love how gentle patterns on clothing photograph! Including some patterns in your outfit choices can also help open up the color options when coordinating outfits with multiple family members. It's okay to mix patterns - try to keep the patterns subtle and not too bold.
Choosing to wear light, neutral colors are also a great choice because they will help create a soft, airy look that will work well with my editing style.
Coordinate instead of match. Below, identical twins are wearing matching muted pink dresses and it's absolutely adorable. In fact, one of the twins wore a little white vest to add a layer and help the other family members tell them apart! (So sweet!) The rest of the family is dressed in similarly light colors on top, helping them look coordinated and evenly distributing visual attention to each member of the family.
Earth tones look great any time of year and are easy to pair light colors or jewel tone colors with.
Layers photograph well: cardigans, light jackets, hats, jewelry- different patterns and textures add interest, depth and can give your portraits more of your personality.
Black is classic and gives your images a modern vibe.
-CLOTHING TO AVOID-
Things to consider when choosing your outfits:
1. Avoid bold prints, blocks of color, big logos or letters - our eyes are immediately pulled to writing in any photography!!
2. Horizontal stripes: They can give us the illusion of being wider than we are.
3. Sleeveless tops: Unless your arms are your favorite feature, I suggest wearing a shirt or dress with a sleeve as often sleeveless tops can make our arms look larger in photographs than they are in real life. One of photography's cruelties.
4. Avoid dressing the family in very different color tones. For example, if three out of the four are wearing gray and one is wearing bright red - then the bright red will be the focus of the images. Keep in mind that this can work if it's a birthday session or milestone session when the focus of the session is celebrating a specific family member. Like dressing the birthday gal or guy in a fun bold color will add to the celebratory feel and keep them as the center of attention!
If you are unsure of what to wear, send me a text! I love when my clients text me their outfit ideas! We've all found it helpful to have a second pair of eyes from time to time and I am here to help you.
Looks I love!
Check out these style cards to see some ideas for color and pattern combination inspiration when figuring out what to wear for your family photography session!
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