Dress for Portrait Success
Over the years I really have seen it all when it comes to wardrobe choices for portraits – especially family portraits. I have never sent anyone away for a “bad” clothing choice, but believe me, I have been tempted. Why? Well, the object of having your picture taken by a professional photographer is to get professional looking images! And, I hate to say it, but even a pro can’t make you look terrifc if your outfit is a distraction rather than an enhancement. So, when asked in advance, here is what I recommend to clients about dressing for photograph success:
- Choose clothing that you’re comfortable wearing!
- Choose something that shows your personality without going overboard.
- For group portraits you want to choose 2-3 colors that coordinate well together and will look good with the location where we’ll shoot. Not everyone has to have all three colors in each outfit – but they shouldn’t wear any colors outside of the selected colors.
- Some great color combinations include brown, blue and orange; green, blue and purple; yellow, blue and cream; or black, red and gray.
- Avoid really loud patterns or big graphic logos.
An example of how your family could dress: you have four people in your family and choose orange, green and brown. Mom could wear a brown and green floral top with an orange accent scarf, Dad could wear a brown half zip sweater, child one could ear an orange and green shirt and child two could wear a brown and green sweater. Everyone has some type of combination of the 3 colors. Great places to shop for everyone (if you need to) include Nordstrom, Banana Republic, J Crew, Old Navy and Gap. Here are some examples of what works. Take a look and then leave a comment below with about a “not so successful” portrait outfit you’ve worn, seen, or heard about. And feel free to share this post through your favorite social media tool so your friends can “dress for photograph success” too.
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