When booking a session, I often am asked for suggestions on what to wear. I understand it’s difficult — when choosing clothes for my family to wear for photos in the past, I stressed about this as well. The first thing clients assume is they need to be in matching outfits or in the same color. You know…white shirts and khaki pants, black shirts and jeans are always “safe”. But, you know what? They really won’t look as interesting and appealing in the end.
So, let’s change that way of thinking. For family portraits, rather than thinking about matching, your goal is to put together coordinating outfits. Choose items with great color, texture (such as knits, denim, ruffles, layers) and accessories. Here are a couple great examples:
Two wonderful examples of coordinating:
Without the scarves & gloves, this one probably wouldn’t be enlarged in my family room!
And, straight from my website…here’s some style/session suggestions for families.
Next, style and clothing suggestions for Seniors. When it comes to teens/seniors, we go to a wide variety of locations, giving each senior a ton of looks to choose from, and always striving to do something very unique. So, I recommend seniors (especially girls) bring — are you ready for this? — everything they love out of their closet. I kid you not, I have had seniors fill up the entire trunk with clothes. It may seem like too much….until we find a new wall of graffiti in their favorite color. We dig through all of their clothes to find the PERFECT blue to coordinate with the blues/greens/purples in the graffiti. And it is SO worth it. I suggest they keep these things in mind: COLOR, texture, layers, ACCESSORIES (with every outfit, you won’t regret it!). Here’s some fabulous examples:
If Megan wore a white shirt and jeans, no jewelry…this wouldn’t have the WOW-factor that it does.
Great example of the right color, working in the perfect location. Once again, the tie adds something extra special.
Guys, don’t forget to layer…it looks amazing!
The beanie adds the PERFECT touch to this photo….texture, style, color…plus Krista loved it, so she felt more at ease.
Style guides from my website for guys and girls:
Girls: don’t forget the lip gloss!!!!
Another suggestion is to browse your favorite stores’ websites and you will often see outfit ideas that coordinate really well together. Some recommended stores to check out: Anthropologie, Gap, Guess, Abercrombie, Banana Republic, Gymboree, Old Navy, Aeropostale, Hollister, Pac Sun.
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