I often get asked by families of what they should wear on their family lifestyle shoot. It can be quite daunting having to think of what you’re going to wear, let alone what everyone else in the family is going to wear too. So here are my top tips for you:
PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
Don’t leave it to the last minute to decide what you’re going to wear. As soon as you book a date for your shoot, start planning. This takes the stress out of it and gives you plenty of time to try a few different outfit combinations out.
COORDINATE
Rather than trying to match colours, coordinate colours. So for example rather than all wearing cream and blue, wear coulours that work well together and match.
Start by selecting a colour that you love and feel confident in and then work around that. If you’re buying something new to wear, you’ll often find many high street shops put coordinating colours together, making life easier. If you’re buying online, again they always dress the models in coordinating colours.
Think about the seasons too – if it’s summer you may want to go for soft, pastel shades. If its autumn you may want to go for bright, fun colours. And in winter you might want to wear layers and chunky knits. Introducing hats and scarfs can also look good and double up as a prop too. Children love wearing their parents hats!
SAY NO TO ALL BLACK OR ALL WHITE
It’s easy to think you’ll just wear all black…after all it’s a flattering colour right and easy to get hold of all year ? Wrong! Although black clothes can look chic and elegant for everyday wear, I find they don’t work on family photoshoots. A block of black, specially when worn on the top half, is distracting, and can look quite harsh in a photo.
White can can also cause a similar problem, specially if you’re wearing a full white outfit. Black and white are both very strong colours and can dominate a picture. If you really must wear black, try to break it up with accessories such as a scarf, long soft cardigan, or jewellery; Try and introduce colour another way.
LOGOS AND CHARACTERS
Patterns can have the same effect as blocks of black and white and can be distracting to the eye. I know that if children had their choice, they would wear t-shirts or sweatshirts with their favorite characters on them. However, the first thing you want to see when you look at your photos is the people inside them, and not logos or cartoon characters. The less distraction the better.
Remember you want to enjoy looking back at your photos for years to come. So think ‘timeless’ and ‘classical’ when choosing your outfits. And if you’re still not sure, than feel free to get in contact with me and we can go through wardrobe options. I’m always on hand to help.
