This post was suggested to me by one of my Instagram followers. I’m always so happy hear from you guys to be able to deliver upon your requests. We took some photos at Joshua Tree National Park last year and I had great intentions to send out Christmas cards but I never ended up doing them. We just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary so I’m making it a top priority to get family photos taken this year. That being said, I’m currently trying to decide what to wear so hopefully this post will help!
*note these photos were taken with my Sony A5000 camera with the stock lens by my mom (you can do family photos on a budget!!). I edited with my Milennial Pink Preset from Dreamy Presets
Read More About Our Anniversary Trip here
8 Simple Tips for Choosing What to Wear for Your Family Photos
Setting
Before making any sort of decision on what to wear, think about where you’ll be taking your family photos. Think about the landscape, backdrop and colors of the area. It’s also important to consider what is most practical to wear in that particular setting. For example, wearing red plaid shirts might look a little out of place in a beachy photo.
Color Palette
With the setting in mind, decide what colors will compliment your setting. You don’t want to blend into your background but you don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb either. Your photos will look best when there is contrast between what you are wearing and your setting.
Pick an Outfit You Love First
It doesn’t necessarily need to be the outfit that you yourself will wear either. Your inspiration can come from anyone in the family’s outfit. Once you find that “star” outfit, plan everyone else’s look around that theme. Also be mindful of the climate and time of day you will be shooting photos. You don’t want to be freezing or drenched in sweat. We all know this is a recipe for disaster when it comes to getting small children to cooperate.
Coordinate and Compliment vs. Matching
If everyone is wearing the same thing, the photo will not have much appeal and you will mostly blend together. With your chosen color palette, mix and match amongst your family. For last year’s family photos we chose white, grey and denim as our colors. Jeremy wore a chambray shirt and grey shorts, I wore a white long sleeved dress, Brooklynn wore a grey long sleeved dress and Rylie wore a white dress with a denim vest. Use the same idea when deciding to incorporate patterns into your mix.
Be Mindful of Your Pattern Ratio
Certain patterns can photograph oddly and be quite distracting in a photograph. Try to limit the amount of pattern to 1/4 to 1/3 of the people in the photo. For a family of 4 limit to 1 person and for larger families a few more patterns will work. lt’s also a good idea to keep your patterns subtle and traditional and not too wild. Sure, we all know leopard is super trendy right now but be careful not to overdo it.
Read More About Ways to Style Leopard Print here
Choose Timeless Over Trendy
If you’re planning on hanging these family photos on the wall for a while, you’re going to be looking at them every single day. You don’t want to be decked out in current trends from head to toe which can instantly date the photo. Choose pieces that will look great even as time goes on. This is why I personally prefer to base my color palette around neutrals with pops of color and texture for interest.
Make Sure You Feel Comfortable and Confident in What You’re Wearing
When you don’t feel comfortable in your clothes, it shows up in the photos. Make sure you feel great in whatever you choose as it will make the whole experience better. Buy your outfits a few days or weeks in advance to make sure everything fits properly and you like the way you look in them.
Pre-Photograph Your Outfits Together
I know this sounds silly, but before you get your actual photos taken, do a trial run. We did this with a tripod last year to help us decide what to wear. This will help you to see first hand how all of your outfits look together and make any changes before picture day.
Since these photos are all a year old I’m only able to link similar products for you, I do apologize. However, I hope this helped and I can’t wait to share this year’s photos with you all.
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