“What should we wear to our Family session?” As photographers, we hear this question quite frequently. And honestly, I have asked this same question myself. Obviously we all want to look absolutely fabulous for our photos. I mean, we want to look back on these images in 30+ years and still think “man, I looked great!” Let’s run through all of my favorite ways to style you and your family to look your best, while still being yourselves.
*First off, I want to say, these are just my personal opinions they are not the “end all be all” of dressing for your family photos.
The first thing you want to be mindful of is the weather. I know what you’re thinking, “well obviously I’ll be thinking about the weather while picking out clothes”, but you’d be surprised how many people forget to take that into account. I will always say not to wear flip-flops, they just don’t look nice, same goes for crocs. You also wouldn’t want to wear long sleeves in the middle of summer, we don’t need anyone passing out. Just keep in mind what you’ll be most comfortable in, and be sure to check the weather before your session.
A common thing that I have seen done is trying to “match” everyone in your family. To an extent, yes, you should match, but not “wearing the same outfit” match. You want your outfits to compliment one another. This means colors that look pleasing to the eye when next to each other.
Colors that look nice together are generally on opposite sides of the color wheel from each other. Such as, orange and purple, or green and red. Now, I am not saying to wear orange and purple to your shoot (unless you really want to) those are just examples. I probably wont ever recommend wearing super bold colors unless it’s for Christmas photos. I find bold colors distracting in an image, and we want EVERYONE to stand out, not just for what color they are wearing.
When choosing your color scheme you really want to stick with a maximum amount of 4 colors. One or two of those colors should be something neutral, such as denim or khaki, this way it’s easy to find for everyone in the family. I say “denim or khaki”, because those can go with almost any color scheme you choose. They also tend to be readily available in many different styles.
I always recommend having boys and girls wear similar outfits to Mom or Dad. What I mean by this is that if Mom is wearing a dress, then have the girls wear a similar style dress, such as boho. Same goes for Dad and the boys, if Dad is in a button down shirt, then the boys can wear a similar style.
Style and colors are really a reflection of who YOU are as a family. I could always tell you exactly what I would pick out for you, but that is a very personal decision. I will always give guidance to my clients on what I think would work best for them and the location we have chosen. At the end of the day, these photos are for YOU, and you should love what you are wearing and how you feel while wearing it.
Every family is unique. It’s my job to capture who you are, not fit you into a mold of what I think you should look like. My goal is always to capture beautiful images of your family exactly as they are. I want to capture memories for you to cherish for decades to come!
