What to Wear for Family Photography: Color Palette Ideas
What do we WEAR?!? We get asked this all the time!!
We created a style guide not too long ago, and all the information there still applies, but we wanted to give everyone a few specific color palette ideas to work with. Ideally, we want every individual to stand out while still looking cohesive with the group so generally we discourage having everyone match exactly. The goal is to have everyone coordinate but still look like they belong together.
As a best practice we also tell our clients to avoid small, dense patterns like tiny checks or stripes because these can become distorted in camera. Moreover, if one family member is in a bold print, everyone else should mostly be in solid colors. These are just guidelines of course, but usually sticking to these rules will get great results!
We always recommend laying outfits together on a bed to see how the work together. Remember to include pants or shorts, even if they are neutral in color because those colors will be seen just as much as a brightly colored shirt. If your family is having portraits made anywhere other than the beach, don’t forget to include shoes! Many moms have been undone by their son’s neon sneakers in a portrait (your photographer can tone down the color in the final image but they won’t edit out an entire pair of shoes for imaginary dress shoes lol)—so while you might not want to buy the kids new shoes for photographs, if you plan in advance maybe you can borrow some!
To help our clients visualize outfit options, we have put together a few color palettes below for inspiration. Keep in mind some of these color groups pull from background elements too, so if you will be in a park the greens of your setting will work along with the colors of your outfits.
Have fun with it, and express your personal style!
Are you happiest when you wear bright and colorful clothes? Or do soothing neutrals make you feel more at peace? Imagine what would bring you the most joy with a portrait of your family on a large canvas in your home—go with that!
Here are a few more color palette ideas:
