Guest Blog: Fall Family Portraits

The leaves are changing, it's cooling off, and that means we're officially in portrait season!  Many families want fall portraits, whether it's for Holiday cards or just to take advantage of the beautiful autumn colors! 

One of the questions I’m most often asked by clients is “what do I wear?”  And I’ll be honest, fashion isn’t really my thing.  In fact, I regularly send pictures of myself in dressing rooms to my sisters to ask them if what I’m trying on is cool or not (the answer is often no).  But, I do know what looks good in photographs.  

Do: Choose something you’re comfortable in.  When I had my family pictures taken by Whimsy Photography Studio (we met up at the beach and did a swap!) I tried coming up with a color scheme first.  But then I couldn’t find anything I was comfortable in.  I admit that I’m difficult to please clothing-wise.  So, I decided to start with my outfit choice first, and build my daughters and husband’s outfits around me.  I found a dress in my sister’s closet that I liked and built our outfits around that.

 

Do:  Coordinate, but don’t match.  Choose 2-3 colors or patterns that go together and go from there.

This is from Maria’s half of our swap and when I saw her family’s choices a couple days after mine, I was jealous!  I love how she incorporated the colors with everyone.  See how her necklace picks up the blue in her son’s and husband’s shirts, and her daughter has pinks in her dress?  Perfect!

I love how this family highlighted turquoise in their outfits.  It’s almost not noticeable, but it connects them without looking overly matchy.

Don’t: Wear a lot of white.  A little bit of white or cream in a picture can look nice, but everyone in white, or even several in white can give a glowing appearance.  The eye naturally goes to the brightest part of an image, and you don’t want that to be your clothing.  You want it to be you! On that note, try to avoid very bright colors in general.

Do: Consider the setting.  The clothing choices this family made were perfect for a summer beach shoot.  They’re light and summery!

Think about what the scenery is going to look like.  Are there leaves on the trees?  For fall, are the leaves going to be red?  Yellow?  Brown?  No leaves?  You don’t want to blend in or clash with your surroundings.  I love how the tones in the below pictures go with the settings.

Don’t: wear t shirts with large graphics or logos.  They have a tendency to look sloppy and can be distracting.

Do: incorporate textures and accessories.  Like everything, moderation is key!  You don’t want to wear a huge necklace, scarf, headband, large earrings, chunky bracelets, etc.  But yes to a cute scarf and headband!

Don’t: overdo it on patterns.  Some patterns are fine, but if one person is in stripes, another plaid, another flowers, another polka dots and so on, it isn't going to look nice.

Do: Ask your photographer for advice.  Please take the time to plan out your outfits.   If you’re making the investment in custom portraits, spend the time to put together a well-styled look.  It’d be terrible to be disappointed in your pictures because of a poor outfit choice.  As photographers, we want you to be happy with your pictures, and, on a more selfish note, it’s always great when we can use your pictures (with your permission, of course) in our portfolios. Well-styled sessions help make a good portfolio!  I am more than happy to discuss outfit choices beforehand, either on the phone or via email or text.  I’ve had clients send me pictures of outfits or potential outfits so I can offer suggestions.

There is no one “right” outfit or set of outfits.  Ultimately, the pictures are going on your walls, so if my suggestions don’t fit with your style, then you dress yourself and your family how you’d like to look!