We’re continuing our series on family portrait sessions, and this week we are covering what to wear and themes. As a portrait photographer, when I usually talk to my clients, we choose the location for their session and then collaborate on the cohesive look. One of the most common questions I get is “What should I wear?”. To help everyone who isn’t sure what to wear, we’re covering this today!

Wardrobe Should Fit the Scenery and Seasons

Last week’s post described the different locations available to couples. What I recommend as a portrait photographer is to make sure the wardrobe chosen fits the scenery.

For example, this means that a beach setting would include more casual clothes. Alternatively, maybe it’s a fall portrait session and you want to include puffy vests for your mountain portraits! Or a flowy dress for a summer field portrait session.

We love using the seasons to dictate the theme of the entire shoot. If it’s winter, maybe that means that all the girls wear tights and boots. Or if it’s summer, we would recommend sundresses. Ultimately, we will collaborate on what this means for you and your family portrait session.

Wardrobe Should Be Color Cohesive

First of all, one thing to consider for portrait sessions is color. If you consider the color wheel, you want to dress your family in three different shades. Maybe that’s blush, white, and a beige. Or maybe that’s navy, grey, and black. Whatever three shades you choose, make sure each member of the family is reflecting a different shade so that it looks cohesive in the portraits.

Another idea for larger family portrait sessions is for each nuclear family to have one main color navy and for another nuclear family to wear a complementary color like grey. In portrait photography, when both families are photographed together, it looks cohesive.

Wardrobe Should Be Timeless

Overall, we want to create timeless photos that your kids aren’t embarrassed by! Because of this, we recommend staying away from logos, trendy patterns, and the main colors of red and white. Finally, as a portrait photographer, I really want to build photos for you that you could use in this year’s Christmas cards (and next years, too!).

I would love to be your portrait photographer for your next session! Contact me here.