Choosing Outfits for Family Photos

Happy Friday guys! It is a BUSY day for me with clients and packing up for my trip to Washington D.C. for a conference where I am presenting some of my dissertation data. But, I have had this post a lot on my mind recently, since I have been involved in styling some family photo shoots. I saw about 10 couples/families come and take photos and I made some interesting observations about coordinated outfits. All of these couples/families had outfits that were SO on point, it was mind blowing! So I wanted to share some tips with y'all on how to go about choosing your outfit and coordinating that with the rest of your fam jam!

Think neutral colours - Okay this may seem a bit strange, as some of you may be wondering "but won't I want to stand out?".. the straight answer is - yes, you want to stand out , but not because you are wearing a bright fuschia. A lot of bright colours clash with the natural environment outside for example, if you are doing a fall shoot, and wear bright purple.. that doesn't go so well with the "theme" of the season, if you get my gist?. Neutral colours work well with all sorts of backdrops, weather conditions, lighting and are more versatile. So, if you were your favourite fuschia dress, and it rains in your perfect location.. and you are stuck next to a red barn as the next spot of choice, the photo's won't turn out as impactful. Creams, whites, beiges, nudes and even darker neutrals like mustard, navy, black are all great choices!

Opt for solid coloured pieces with texture over pattern - Textures offer great depth and interest to your photo and give some much added character to them. without getting too busy! So, by texture, I mean choosing different fabrics (like chunky knit sweaters, velvet, flowy tops) that are solid in colour. If you want to add pattern, make sure only ONE person is wearing this pattern and the rest of you all have the colour pallet from that pattern. For example, my husband wore a red plaid shirt - so I made sure, that we incorporated a similar colour palette into my outfit and my daughter's outfit.

Pay attention to your shoes - let me tell you about my maternity shoes. We put so much thought into our outfits.. but we forgot about our shoes! It was pretty cold that day, and I was 35 weeks pregnant and could not fathom wearing heels. So I just went for comfy shoes and so did my husband. Big mistake! Some of the nicest shots have to be cropped but our shoes look butt ugly - see what i mean?!

And sadly, some of the nicest photo's are the ones where you get a candid glimpse into your family, like while walking towards the photographer. So for our fall family photo's.. I made sure everyone had good shoes on! Even if it meant they were a tripping hazard for my daughter - sorry darling, mama means business when it comes down to photos!

Think about what your location is and draw inspiration from there - since, we were shooting our fall photo's in a conservation area with pretty fall colours, I knew I wanted to incorporate a deep burgundy colour somehow. I specifically bought a burgundy floppy hat for the shoot and that coordinated perfectly with my husbands shirt. The blue from our jeans and my daughters dress also went together and was something that helped her stick out against the beautiful foliage. We also had this little set up that I had planned (read more about that HERE) to help me work with a coherent colour palette for our outfits.

Its okay to wear 7 inches of make up 😉 - Okay, so everyone wants those beautiful family photos with the flawless natural makeup.. but no one tells you how much makeup they were wearing for those exact photos 😉 You don't have to go crazy with the makeup, but put on enough to get a "full-face" on which will then automatically photograph well and look au naturale 😉