Annual family portrait sessions are a simple way to bring back memories for years to come. Summer months are a great time to consider your family photo session – everyone’s all together, relaxed, and ready to make some memories! Often the most difficult part of a family session is deciding what to wear, especially when there’s a group involved. Everyone has their own ideas about what looks good and in a family session, you want everyone to feel their best!
Your clothing is meant to enhance your look, not distract from it. Our best advice to accomplish that is to stick to three to four colors at the most. You’ll easily coordinate with everyone while they are able to show their own style. With a palette, whatever your family members choose goes great together, and your eye isn’t distracted by something that feels out of place or mismatched. A simple way to decide on a palette is to focus on one person’s outfit – the one with the most patterns, and build from that. We also recommend you limit your patterns to 1-2 people, especially if you feel uncomfortable with styling.
When you’re choosing the best colors for your outdoor family pictures, start by looking inside your home. Where do you plan to hang your final portraits? You may want to pull colors from your decor so that your final artwork looks like it was made for your walls. If your style is soft and muted tones, outfits in the same soft and muted style would be a perfect choice. Decorate in cooler tones? Be sure to dress in cooler tones as well.
Avoid trendy patterns and logos so you will have a sense of timelessness with your outfit choices. You can accessorize with belts, scarves, jackets, or sweaters to add depth and texture. One of our favorite tips for styling is indirect matching. For example, if mom is wearing a red knit scarf, her spouse or child could be wearing a red plaid shirt.
Whatever you choose, be sure above all else you’re comfortable! Discomfort shows in photos. Choose clothing that you’re familiar with, that fits you well, and that you enjoy wearing.
Thankfully, today’s family portraits are a far cry from the days of everyone in white shirts and khakis! A well-styled group means corresponding colors and indirect matching. In the pictures below, you’ll see that this shows more individuality, and all the family members don’t disappear into one another.
You can find more of our family photos on Instagram (search the hashtags #pure7families and #pure7portraits to bring up images specific to family portraits): Pure7 Families
One of the best things about a portrait session with Pure7 is that you won’t have an ever-accumulating set of family photos that never get printed! We will always work with you to select your favorite images and turn them into family heirlooms you can cherish for years to come. You can explore some of our favorite products in a recent post here!
It’s our hope that every family has the opportunity to experience photo sessions like these. At Pure7, we include an in-depth consultation prior to each shoot where we will help you with every step of the process in planning your shoot, including deciding what to wear. You can even text us pictures of items from your closet or the store and we can help you decide! If you have any tips for easy family styling, please share them with us in the comments below!
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