One of most common questions I get asked is about what outfits work best for family portraits.  Here’s my top five tips for you…

1. Be Yourself

Obviously you’re going to be looking at your pictures for years to come so you want to like what you are wearing. to wear for a family portrait so here’s a little bit of information that you might find helpful.  So if you never ever wear formal wear, it’s probably not a good idea to style yourself this way for your photos.  There are some guides to choosing outfits that work better than others but it’s all for naught if it doesn’t look like ‘you’ in the finished images.   Plus if you’re feeling uncomfortable in your choice at the studio, it’s going to be difficult to relax and enjoy your session in the first place.  We always have time for an outfit change so if you want to bring along some options, then definitely do it.

2. Match but Don’t Match

It’s nice if you all match in the tone or range of colours that you have chosen but you obviously don’t need to match outfits.  That said, actually there are some very sweet matching options available in most stores these days but it’s certainly not obligatory if you don’t fancy it.   So think, all dark or all light tones or all shades of one colour.  It really does make a difference in the finished images.

3. Keep It Simple

Plain clothing works better than items with strong patterns or large logos as these can be distracting in terms of the images – we’re aiming for the focus to be on your faces and very bold patterns will naturally draw the eye.  For the same kind of reason, I recommend 3/4 or long sleeves. The human eye is kind of pre-programmed to search for flesh tones in an image and bare arms can also pull focus from your faces.

4.  Prepare for Posing

When it comes to posing, we’re probably going to run through a variety of different set ups from standing to sitting and even lying down in some cases. So it can be good to wear something long enough for you to sit down without having to worry about what you’re revealing.  For ladies, the same applies to tops that might cause some gaping in the top area.  Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t flaunt what the good lord gave you at all – it’s more about wearing clothing that makes you look fantastic and also move freely without having to worry about wardrobe malfunctions! This and the last piece of advice do make me sound like I’m being a bit Victorian but I promise it’s not the case – it really ease about just keeping you relaxed in the session and getting great images at the end of it all.

5. You don’t Need to Change your Makeup

I see a lot of photographers saying that you need to apply more make up so it doesn’t wash out under studio lighting but I have to say I disagree with this. It’s not like stage lighting, it’s designed to be as natural and gentle as possible so you can just apply your normal amount of make up however you’d like it – you’ll still look great.

6. A Few Other Tips

Generally speaking, you won’t be wearing shoes in the studio so you can either go with your socks or bare feet – totally up to you.  If you need an excuse to treat yourself to a pedicure, then feel free to use the portrait session. The same goes for a manicure, your hands will definitely be on show so you will want them to be looking nice!

When it comes to a portrait shoot, we’ll use the studio time to mix and match the groups that we shoot. So we might shoot everyone together, and also kids together, individuals separately etc So feel free free to bring along different outfits for the kids to be photographed in if you would like to!

My portrait studio is a very relaxed and informal space, so you don’t need to be anything other than yourselves to get great results and that applies to what you wear as well.  If you want to dress formally, then great, but don’t feel like you have to be fancy just because you’re visiting a studio.