False! If you know you look awesome in an outfit that you already have and it fits the style you want for your session, that would be a great choice!
You have to buy something new!
False! Your outfit has way more impact than your location. Your location is just a setting in the background but you and your loved ones will still be the main focus of the images.
Your location determines your style more than your outfit!
Please, for the love of all things beautiful, please don’t try to match your significant other or whole family! Instead, try to coordinate! Coordinating is a completely different concept from “matching”. Coordination means you are usually choosing different colors that look good together but are not close to being the same. (I have some more tips about this concept in the following pages.)
You two need to match!
Sure, black is slimming, but it’s always very heavy in portraits. There is nothing wrong with black but if you’re only wearing it to look thinner and deep down you’re hoping for light and airy portraits, it may not be the best choice.
Always wear black or you won’t look thin!
Whoever started this myth couldn’t have been further from the truth. Sure, there are some colors that don’t work for some people, but I spent a large majority of my life believing that I could never wear neutrals and I was missing out! The truth is, neutrals are the most photogenic color for portraits.
Avoid neutrals, they wash you out!
Believe it or not, you have so much control over the outcome of your shoot and what it looks and feels like! What you choose to wear is a big decision that often causes a lot of stress for my clients beforehand. However, my hope is that with a little education, you will be able to determine the style and feel that you desire for your shoot. This will make your outfit selection so much easier and less complicated!
Let's start by debunking some very common outfit myths that a lot of people believe about what they should wear to their session!
These choices represent the three main decisions you will have to make in regards to your outfit choices. There are no right or wrong answers!
Maybe you want one outfit to be dressy and the other to be casual. Maybe you want one outfit to be very light and neutral but you want to wear more color in the next outfit. These categories will hopefully help you determine what you’re hoping for in your session. If you’re feeling stuck and can’t seem to determine what you prefer, that’s very normal!
Here are some general “rules of thumb” when it comes to styling during your session. Once you read through these, you may have a better understanding of what you prefer and you can start planning your outfits.
These “rules of thumb” are based off of my experience and aren’t concrete rules that can’t be broken. However, if you have questions about one of them in regards to what you want to wear, just email me and we can talk about what would be best!
Classic or Trendy
Dressy or Casual
Bold or Neutral
Which style do you prefer?
Tennis shoes, Graphic tees, Bold logos on shirts, Sunglasses & Baseball Hats
OTHER THINGS TO AVOID:
This can look a bit awkward in photos. If one of you is dressed up and the other is casual, it can look a little odd in your images.
AVOID ONE OF YOU BEING CASUAL WHILE THE OTHER IS MORE DRESSY:
If one of you is wearing very dark jeans, the other may want to wear lighter pants. If one of you is wearing a navy top, the other shouldn’t wear a dark/heavy colored top. To a certain degree, alternating the “heaviness” of your outfits can make your images look more balanced.
ALTERNATE HEAVINESS:
Tiny patterns cause something called “Chromatic Abberration” in digital images. Men’s checkered shirts are fine if the “checks” are on the larger side.
AVOID PATTERNS SMALLER THAN A QUARTER:
bright reds, neons, bright oranges (they reflect color onto your skin and can be difficult to edit!)
COLORS TO AVOID:
Things to Avoid
If you really want your images to be as bright as possible, consider having your man wear lighter pants instead of dark dress pants or dark jeans.
Khakis vs. Jeans:
Dresses and skirts with feminine ruffles, multiple layers of fabric and the ability to blow and move in the wind will always photograph beautifully! You would be amazed at how impactful moving fabric softens an image.
Long, Flowy Skirts/Dresses:
Blushes, tans, light pinks, faint blues, and light minty teals, creams, grays and whites will always result in more of a light and airy look in your images. These colors photograph softer and more romantically!
Neutral Colors:
If you’re hoping for a more romantic style of shoot that includes “light” and “airy” colors, you can actually make outfit choices that will lend your images to turn out brighter, softer and extra photogenic! Here are some ingredients that go into creating a romantic styled shoot.
It’s important to note that you do not need to choose all of these ingredients in order to have a light and airy style to your images, but the more ingredients you include, the more romantic it will be:
Romantic Style Recipe
If you really want to wear a pattern, my only request is that your pattern is on the larger side. Patterns that are smaller than a quarter can be difficult to photograph. This isn’t true of all patterns but it’s a good general rule to go by!
Large Patterns are Preferred:
If you really want a bold and bright look but you want to do it well and tastefully, I would suggest that only one of you have a bright and bold colored outfit and the other stay in a solid neutral to avoid overdoing it!
Only one bold color:
A lot of time, if my clients are going for a bold and bright look, I will notice solid colored backgrounds to use for part of their session! It’s a double win if the background coordinates with their outfits!
Bold Backgrounds:
If one of you has a bold pattern, it’s very important that the other doesn’t. The more bold the pattern, the more important this rule is!
Only one person wears a pattern:
Just like the “Romantic” recipe, you don’t have to apply all of these “ingredients to get a perfectly Bright & Bold look to your session. These ingredients include:
Bright & Bold Recipe