What to wear to a family portrait session
So many people ask how to coordinate clothes for a family portrait shoot. It can be time consuming but here are some tips that will help you plan it all prior to the shoot.
Keep in mind – if you choose a studio shoot, we have dark and moody backdrops from coffee to warm grey which look beautiful with navy, brown, neutrals, pink and yellow. At the other end of the scale, there is the option of light and airy – think spring colours such as white, blue or lavender backgrounds. So once you decide on the background you like, choosing your outfits becomes easier.
You can also do costume changes in a studio session or swap out hats, jewellery and props easily.
Outdoor sessions lean towards denim, coats, scarves and great boots, especially with winter coming along.
While matchy matchy can work really well, especially in mummy and me sessions. In my motherhood session we all wore denim as I wanted to include my baby son’s tiny denim jacket. Denim photographs so well and looks incredible in black and white photos.
Sometimes having exact matches is adorable, like in the gallery below with two girls who are close in age.
In another example below, a family wanted to dress up like their Dad, who is known for keeping it simple like Apple guy and wearing only black jeans and a T-shirt. Incidentally, this was their second outfit, as for the most part of the shoot the mother treated herself to a spectacular dress by Zimmermann – and then based the other outfits around that. I totally recommend doing this as it’s so important to put yourself first! You want to look back on these photos and be so glad you wore something that made you feel amazing. Using white as a base, this lady worked with complimentary tones such as pale blue, creams, tan incorporated in her son’s outfits.
At the other end of the spectrum, see the example where the mother chose to use complementary colours by contrasting mustard yellow and purple and navy which looks amazing. Choosing outfits with complementary colours ensures that your final images will pop in a way that is pleasurable to see.
Little babies often look super cute with just their skin and one simple prop like a hat, headband or amber necklace, and in the studio we can make it warm and cosy.
I hope this post helped reassure you that figuring out how to colour coordinate for family portraits doesn’t have to be complicated
