What to wear for your family photoshoot

The most common question I get asked when people have booked a family photoshoot is what should we wear?

Firstly the most important thing is that you and your children feel comfortable. The last thing we want is for you to be very formal and everyone feels stiff. We want your family to be true to themselves. However I have put together a few tips that might help you decide on the perfect outfit.

Feel comfortable

Please dont feel like you need to dress smart for your photoshoot, simple jeans/short and t-shirt or a light floaty dress or light shirt work really well for outdoor or at home or garden family sessions. Your Sunday best will feel to formal and make it hard for you to feel relaxed in the moment. This is super import with kids, they need to be happy and comfortable with what they are wearing. Putting them in something they don't like and is not them will start the photoshoot off on the wrong foot. I want my family photoshoots to be fun and this starts with everyone feeling comfortable.

Think about your location

Another concideration when thinking about what to wear is the loaction, the backdrop that we will be shooting against. Go for shades and tones that complement the location we are shooting at.

In spring and summer there is a lot of bight green around at this time of year so, consider complimentary pastel hues as well as natural shades. Dusty rose pinks, soft blues and dove-greys are beautiful spring-time colours and work particularly well when shooting against cherry blossoms or bluebells woods or even the beach. 

For outdoor family sessions, consider the season and time of day you are having your photo shoot. For autumn shoots shades of dark blue, rusts, burgundy and mustard work particularly well as do natural tones like camel or taupe. For warmth consider knits and accessorise with a scarf rather than heavy winter coats. It's really important that you don't look freezing so long sleeved thermal tops are to keep everyone warm. Think layers! We can bring coats and take them on and off if the kids need to keep warm.

Coordinate but don't match

A good idea is to try to coordinate so that everyone in the family is wearing clothes for a cohesive look . Choose 3 or 4 colours that all work well together but don't match. Essentially you could pick from the autumn colour palette so you are all tonally similar but not matching.

Not everyone suits the same colours and its important that you let everyone's personality shine through, so they can pick the shades that suit them best.

Go for neutrals and pastel shades

I am not really a fan of bright primary colours in family photos, bright colours can colour cast on faces so they are best to avoid. we don't want to distract from your beautiful family.

Avoid brand logos and busy patterns

Brand logos and busy patterns can be distracting in the photos, at the end of the day we want your family to be the focus, not the logo on their t shirts.

Don't Forget about your feet!

For autumn and winter shoots, wellies one little ones can be great, it also allows them to have some fun in the muddy puddles- this is always encouraged lol.

Summer at the beach is best to be barefoot, it's so much more relaxed and let us to have fun in the surf at the end. I am always happy to get involved in this and often go home wet up the knees in the summer.