Family Portraits
1. Coordinate outfits - Coordinate color, tone and or style. Pick clothes appropriate to the portrait’s setting. An outdoor portrait with a backdrop of fall leaves lends itself to casual clothing like khakis, jeans and sweaters. A studio portrait with a plain colored background lends itself more to formal or semi-formal attire.
2. Simple, comfortable and coordinated clothing look best in photos. Avoid short skirts or shorts. It makes posing more difficult. Turtle necks or v-necks are flattering although it’s best to avoid very wide or particularly deep V-neck garments. Long sleeves, slacks or long skirts are better than sleeveless shirts, short skirts or shorts
3. Choose solids and subtle patterns. When choosing a color combination limit the number of colors to a range within three colors. Whites, pastels and earth tones in solid colors look best where prints and patterns will distract attention from faces. Colors that are brighter than skin tones sometimes compete with the faces for attention.
4. Stay simple. V-necks and collarless outfits are best. Coordinating the color of your tops may be done with all matching exactly or being sure that the tops are in the same color tone, either all light, all jewel tones, all denim etc. The bottoms need to all be the same, all khaki, all light or dark jeans, all dark black or blue etc. Don’t wear sleeveless tops because they make your arm look larger. The long sleeve solid tops look the best. Crucial - no stripes, large logo or busy prints. Get a theme color going with family members and everyone wear the same color but perhaps different shades is good.
Ideas for colors : Pastel Blue, Turquoise, Pinks, Lilacs, Khaki, Earth tones matched with whites are all fun options.
Khaki, denim, black or white, plain blouses, shirts or sweaters go well with long skirts or pants. Please no writing on any of the shirts or sweaters. Horizontal stripes and patterns are very distracting and make you appear larger that what you are. Colors are fine, just be sure they are solid and coordinated with all in the group. Please remember some of these portraits will be full length, so be sure that your shoes and socks go with your outfit.
For the more traditional portrait, a suit or sport coat with tie is good. Medium to dark colored sweaters photograph well also. Dress from head to toe, your pants or shoes may show in the finished photographs, especially when photographing large groups. When selecting clothing, be sure that all are in the same color/tone scheme. For instance, if all are in dark to medium tones and one has a huge white collar on their dress, you can see how that will stand out and be very distracting. No bold patterns or writing on the clothing.
Soft, natural make up is best but apply it a little darker like you were going out for a special evening. Even in the outdoor portraits, if your makeup is too light, your face may tend to look washed-out. Add a little more mascara and a nice soft color on your lips.
You must be clean-shaven. A 5 o’clock shadow is very difficult and costly to remove. Either shave before you get here or you can bring an electric shaver to the studio with you.
Dealing with eyeglasses is one of a photographer’s biggest problems. To light you so that you look your best, it’s not always best for the glare it creates in your glasses hiding your beautiful eyes. If you wear glasses all the time, you will want to wear them in your portraits. Since glass glare and face distortion on some shaped lenses is nearly impossible to avoid, please bring along an empty pair of frames similar to your own for your session. Many opticians will loan/rent you a pair of frames for a couple of hours or they can remove your lenses temporarily for your session. This will avoid any extra charges to remove glass glare.