How to Dress for a Family Photo Shoot

If you're anything like most people, you might feel slightly overwhelmed when it comes to choosing outfits for your Family's upcoming shoot (the notorious Awkward Family Photos website comes to mind). Well look no further, I'm here to share some tips on what works well! Here are a couple of things to consider. 

1. Pick a Color Scheme: Choose no more than three or four colors for the total shoot. Of those colors, make sure to have at least one be a neutral color. What is a neutral color? Great question! Neutral colors are those colors that don't stand out too much and balance more bold colors. You could describe neutral colors as modest or quiet. Neutral colors are the students in the classroom that sit quietly and work well with others while the other school children scream and clamor for the teacher's attention. Examples of neutral colors include beige, white, black, or light gray. 

2. Coordinate Colors: Often times, I see people who wear identical outfits during a photo shoot (e.g. blue shirts and khaki pants). This is a fine approach and works well and looks cute, but if you really want to stand out, stay away from wearing an identical outfit and instead mix and match different items of clothing that incorporate your color palette. If blue and khaki are your color scheme, you can have brother Joe wearing a blue shirt with khaki pants, Aunt Theresa wearing a blue dress with a khaki colored belt, Cousin John with a tan polo and Grandma in blue pants with a cute light brown hat. This allows a family to incorporate the clothing they already have without having to purchase an entirely new outfit and gives you a little creative freedom in crafting a beautiful picture. A great example is the Walsh family below. Check out how each incorporates their color scheme in different pieces of clothing. 

3. Don't be Afraid to Choose Patterns! Patterns that have the similar colors and are small in size work very well together and help add interest to your images. Just be careful not to use big print patterns for they can detract from the image by competing with each other. 

4. Wear something you Feel Good In! Barring your Christmas jammies, if you feel good in a certain outfit, you'll feel good during the shoot and that will come across in the photo. Wearing something you've never worn before your photo shoot might not be the best thing if you haven't tried it on ahead of time. The same holds true, if you feel uncomfortable in your clothes, that might show in the photo. 

5. Dress on the Same Scale: Make sure everyone is either casual or dressy. It doesn't look good when one person is all decked out in a gown and another family member arrives in their workout clothes - unless you have a weird family member who works out in a suit :)

I hope this helps and you now feel prepared to look good and enjoy your family photos for year to come!