What to Wear for Beach Portraits
Beach Vacation? Check! Family Photo Session while you're there? Booked! Now--What do we wear?!!? This is a question we get asked A LOT. Well, honestly--like any art form there are some general rules about what looks good for the camera, and what works out on the beach. However, like any art form, rules can be broken! That being said, there are some general guidelines that we offer to our clients, and they tweak those guidelines to their personal style accordingly. Beach Portraits are timeless, and those memories need to reflect both your good time AND your new golden glow!
Surf City and Topsail Island are like most other NC beaches, the sand isn't super white (in fact it often can look rather gray) but it does a great job of reflecting sunlight all around and giving a light airy appearance in photographs. The color of the ocean will vary with how blue the sky is and how bright the sunlight is---but generally speaking, a beach portrait background is blue and beige...ok that is probably very obvious, but the point is, that is a pretty neutral color palette to work with. If you are at a park with vivid flowers, bright green grass, or brown tree trunks...you are trying to match yourself to a larger assortment of colors. Coordinating your family to a blue ocean and beige sand is much easier. Now think about how you would like your portrait to look--do you want bold and bright, or subtle and classic? Whatever your preferred style, we’ve got you covered--we compiled a style guide with a few tips for looking ah-mazing on the beach! By far, we think the best way to look good is to wear something that makes you FEEL good, as your smile shines from the inside out! Our suggestion is to start with one key outfit (the little one's heirloom dress, or mom's gorgeous sundress) and start finding other outfits that coordinate from there. Usually, for a contemporary look, you do not want everyone matching exactly. Instead, aim for "coordinating" -- light pinks with light blue, or light blue with grays and medium blue. Sunny yellows, with soft peach and whites--there are tons of options!
Go get your favorite Pinterest-worthy outfit and get started! We can't wait to see how amazing you all look!
