What to Wear to Your Family Session?

What to wear for your family session? I know that is my first thought after I book a session. Picking out outfits can be truly daunting. For this reason, here are some of my tips for family sessions that want to have that dreamy light and airy look.

The wardrobe you choose to wear can really change the overall look of your final images.  The three things that I am particular about are:  clothing, session location, and time-of-day.  These three things can completely change the look of an image.  By keeping them consistent in all sessions, you are guaranteed beautiful images.

My clients are more than welcome to choose outfits from home or rent them off sites like Rent the Runway. If you are a maternity mama, I’ve got a few beautiful maternity gowns that you can wear just for your portrait session. In other words, it can’t get any easier than that!

The biggest piece of advice that I can give you is to try to avoid bold, bright colors during your session. Believe it or not, your outfits play a huge part in how your photographs turn out. Long, flowy dresses and skirts in light colors look amazing on camera because they bring extra movement to the photos and keep your photos looking light and airy.

Quick Tips

Don’t try to MATCH…try to pick outfits and accessories that coordinate instead.  If everyone wore the same exact color, how boring would those images be? 

Empty your pockets! Literally.  You don’t want to have key chains or phones showing through your pockets. (Especially guys!)

Make sure you’re comfortable in what you’re wearing. And ladies, if the top is super low cut, that will limit the amount of angles I can shoot from. 

Things to Avoid

1. Colors to avoid : bright reds, neons, bright oranges (they reflect color onto skin and can be difficult to edit!)

2. Avoid patterns smaller than a quarter :  Tiny patterns cause something called “Chromatic Abberation” in digital images. Men’s  checkered shirts are fine if the “checks” are on the larger side.

3.  Alternate Heaviness: If one of you is wearing very dark jeans, the other may want to wear lighter pants. If one of you is wearing a  navy top, the other shouldn’t wear a dark/heavy colored top.  To a certain degree, alternating the “heaviness” of your  outfits can make your images look more balanced.

4. Avoid one of you being casual while  the other is more dressy:  This can look a bit awkward in photos. If one of you is dressed up and the other is casual, it can look a little odd in your images. 

5. Other things to avoid:  Tennis shoes, Graphic tees,  Bold logos on shirts, Sunglasses &  Baseball Hats

What to Wear to Your Family Session–Winter:

For winter sessions, I tend to gravitate towards white, cream, heather grays and other cooler neutral colors. I also think adding a bit of texture to your outfits isn’t a bad idea either — a wool sweater, faux fur coat, etc would add the perfect touch!

During winter months, I would say you need to pay attention to comfort as well. For example, Short sleeves might work here in Texas, however, if your temps drop you don’t want to be outside in a sleeveless dress or short hem lines.

What to Wear to Your Family Session–Spring:

During Spring, the temperature is great, flowers are blooming and birds are singing. For this reason, I love incorporating blush, white, cream and light blue tones during the spring time to complement the natural beauty around you. Likewise, I love fabrics such as lace and tulle during the Spring season.

What to Wear to Your Family Session–Summer:

In summer, it gets HOT…like super duper hot. (At least here in the Lone Star State) For this reason, I urge my clients to choose lighter fabrics that can breathe like cotton and linen.

As far as colors, I continue with light colored neutrals that are on the warmer side–tans, creams, pink etc.

What to Wear to Your Family Session–Fall:

During Fall, the weather starts to get cooler, the leaves are changing colors. It is really one of my favorite times of year to take photographs.

I still opt for lighter color palettes but with splashes of fall colors – mauve, tan, creams and yellows.