What to wear (and what not to) for your family photo session
So your family photo session is booked — hooray! What’s next? If you’re like many parents, you may find yourself asking the age-old question, “What should we wear for our family photos?”
My best answer for this is to wear what you feel good wearing–and can move around in freely! The photo shoot is about you and your people, not the clothing.
That said … clothing that distracts from the people should be avoided.
Here are some general guidelines I encourage you to consider as you contemplate what to wear for your family photo session.
Avoid clothing with…
- LARGE WORDS or logos, graphics, or characters
- Bold lines, stripes, or high-contrast patterns (subtle patterns are fine!)
- Shiny fabrics
- Bright white
- Contrast that visually cuts you in half (white top/black bottom)
- Very bright, unnatural colors, which can cast undesired color onto the skin
- Flesh tones too close to your natural skin color
- Clashing reds – one person in a warm red tones and another in cool red tones (or pinks)
- MOSTLY GREEN tones if you’ll be having your photos taken in one of our lovely outdoor open spaces or parks (you don’t want to be camouflaged)!
What often works best for family sessions is clothing…
- In soft and classic colors, especially for groups – burgundies, all shades of blue, grays, and flattering pastels or neutrals (but not your skin tone) 😉
- That won’t bunch up at the arm pits, ride up, or pull apart between buttons when raising your arms (have I mentioned you’ll be moving a lot?!)
- That conceals under garments and bra straps–especially when moving around a lot!
- Family outfits that are similar in colors/shades, but are not identical
- In balanced patterns and brightness – no one outfit is fighting for the most attention
- That can be worn with comfortable shoes you like—for outdoor sessions we’ll be busy on our feet!
- With accent colors that speak to the season – eg. in the Bay Area we don’t always get autumn colors, but we can wear them!
- In colors that will display well in your home! 😉
You’ll find some visual inspiration of great combinations of outfits for outdoor, freestyle family photography sessions on my Pinterest board, and see real examples of what other families have worn to our sessions on my family photo session page, in my family photography portfolio, and in my Instagram feed .
See more important tips below…
Does anyone in your group wear glasses?
Please let me know ahead of time, as it’s helpful in my planning. Especially in case those would be SOLAR-sensing / darkening glasses. If so, please let me know if you have a different pair that are not that might work instead.
Why no twin/matching clothing for your family photos?!
(This is not a hard and fast rule, BTW!) Identical matching shirts can distract from the best things happening in your photos and throw off the balance in your shots. A better strategy is to choose outfits in colors that go well together without being identical—and without one standing out far beyond the others (see “what often works best” below).
A better strategy can be to pick a matching accent color that may appear in in someone’s scarf and someone else’s pair of pants, for example. And one more tip:
Ready for your close up?
Before your family photo session, do a quick inspection to make sure clothing is:
- Free of distracting creases (eg. shelf folds)
- Free of noticeable pet hair, lint (or your hair!)
- Not harboring surprise smudges or stains
- Not advertising something other than you (eg. a designer brand, sports team, or character)
I hope you’ve found these tips helpful in planning what to wear for YOUR family photos. If you want to run any outfit ideas, questions, or snapshots by me ahead of your session, feel free!
