What to wear to your family portrait session

Family portrait season is fast approaching! Can you believe another year has passed? What better way to celebrate another year with your adorable family than with portraits, and no, I don't mean the flat lighting, smile for the camera, say cheese, portraits. Lets think of something a little more... you. Well, as you contemplate when and where and who to go with for your portraits you may also be worrying about "What should we wear?" You are in luck! Todays post is all about what to wear to your photo shoot!

Some families like to be completely matchy-matchy, and that is fine if that is you.

My personal opinion is to find a theme, a color pallet that allows each individual family member to be, well, individual. So, you are feeling brown, great, go with it, find shades of brown and tan that compliment each other. You will want to throw in a second or third color to accent the brown (or whatever your main color choice is). Pink? Teal? Baby-blue? Pale yellow? Mix it up. Have some accessories that bring a pop of different color so you don't look too much like mud...

Tell your photographer what your theme or color pallet is so that they can add some props or find the perfect location for you and your style. Remember, your photographer is (or should be) an artist and with some information from you as to what you are thinking they will be able to create a work of art that you will be proud to hang on your wall.

Think about your home. Do you have a decoration theme? A color scheme? This is a great way to compliment your home with your family portrait wall art! Say your living room has deep reds and soft pinks. Well, plan your outfits around that and it will totally match your home decor!

Perhaps you don't really want it to match your house. Totally cool. Just think about what may help your family express themselves in a way you are comfortable with.

So, here are some ideas:

Sweaters. It's a theme, it's cute and here is an example:

Here is an example of a family that went with a color pallet they really liked:

So, my advice, try to be creative with your clothing options. Each of you is individual and different from one another, express that. There is NOTHING wrong with studio photography, I personally love to do it, I just don't have the facility to do large families yet. Outdoors is always beautiful and you can get natural ambient lighting mixed in with flash and studio lights to give your family portrait even more character. I am not a pro when it comes to fashion and clothing options, I just know what looks good in pictures. We should all try to think outside the box every now and then and see what happens!

I am currently booking family portrait sessions at Maymont in Richmond, Va. There are SOOOOO many opportunities there with so many different gardens that we can for sure give you something unique and gorgeous! If you want to see what it looks like go back to August/September of 2010 here on my blog. I did a renaissance photo shoot there. We didn't even make it to all of the gardens, so there's more!