Style Guide
I photograph portrait sessions the way I like to be photographed myself: outdoors, in natural light, because I love images that are clean, bright, fresh and timeless. Images that look and feel like you! That’s why I begin all of my sessions 1-2 hours before the scheduled sunset ––during the magical “golden hour” –– when the light in the sky is the softest and most flattering. If young kids or babies are involved, this might change as the best time to photography kids is when they are happiest (rested and feed).
Outfit Changes
Wondering how many outfits you should plan? I've got you covered!
Changing outfits during a session always takes more time than you expect, to maximize shooting time and give you the highest number of photos possible, I recommend the number of outfits (as follows) to keep stress low and the number of photos in your final gallery high:
Family Sessions - 1 Outfit
Maternity/Anniversary/Couples - 1 or 2 Outfits
Senior Sessions - 2 Outfits
Personal Branding Sessions - 2 or 3 Outfits
Getting Ready
When you're planning "getting ready" time before your session, give yourself a lot more time than you think you'll need.
Account for traffic, getting lost and parking, so you can prevent unnecessary stress.
Arrive a few minutes early to your session and be ready to start on time. If you want, use professional for hair and make up. They will be able to style you to look your best in the images for years to come.
Outfit Colors
When choosing colors for your outfits, I recommend selecting lighter, neutral tones and more muted shades. Bright, bold or neon colors are distracting and take the focus away from where is should be: YOU!
You can never go wrong with light neutral colors like cream, taupe, camel or light gray. The camera loves shades of soft pinks and muted blues, mixed with sophisticated light-colored neutrals. The softer, more pastel-leaning color palette fits beautifully into almost all natural outdoor environments -- and especially complements the open green fields!
In urban settings, blacks, whites, or grays compliment buildings and structural elements.
Coordinating and Mixing up the wardrobe pieces will bring even more visual interest to your photos.
Flattering Your Figure
In my experience, every woman (regardless of her size or shape) has an area of her body that she's self conscience about.
Recognizing the areas you're self conscious about when selecting your outfits is key.
Choosing flattering silhouettes and colors that complement your natural features is the best way to ensure you'll love the way you look in your photos.
Three-quarter length sleeves create an awesome slimming effect on all arms. If your dress has shorter sleeves (or no sleeves) consider bringing that cute jacket, blazer, cardigan or pashmina to incorporate into your look.
Skinny straps or strapless dresses have the opposite effect on arms on camera. For most woman, skinny straps actually make arms look BIGGER.
For shoes, keep in mind that heels elongate women's legs and force constant tension in the calves - which makes them look more toned. Closed-toed heels, in particular, look great on camera because they carry out the line of your leg all the way down to your toes.
IF you toes are showing, you might consider a pedicure before your session so you don't regret letting your toes show. If your shoes don't show at all in the dress you've selected, you could always choose neutral ballet flats to make your session more comfortable.
FOR HER
Dress Up
Remember: there's no such thing as "too dressed up" when it comes to your portrait session, so don't be afraid to have some fun!
Some clients love having an excuse to go shopping and purchase a new permanent piece (or two!) for their wardrobe - and some choose to go shopping in their closet or on Rent the Runway. Whatever works for you!
Dresses
There's nothing more iconic than a long, flowy dress. Dresses and skirts tend to look most stunning on camera because they really flatter the female body - which is probably why the red carpet is always full of so many dresses and not very many pantsuits! I recommend choosing long, flowy dresses or skirts because they're flattering on all body types, look amazing on camera and bring extra movement and dimension to your photos. Maxi (or floor length) skirts and dresses will give us the best "twirl factor", add more romance to your walking photos and look especially gorgeous when juxtaposed with nature. Cute, shorter cocktail-length dresses or mini-skirts photography beautifully as well.
My clients who choose to bring two dresses will sometimes choose one of each! I recommend avoiding pants and shorts for your session, and saying yes to the dress (or skirt) or two! You won't regret it!
Accessories
Pairing an accessory or two with your outfit can really help bring some extra dimension to your images. Whether it's a necklace, belt, bracelet, earrings, hat or scarf, bringing an accessory or two can bring great visual interest to your photos, so choose one or two that don't compete for attention when paired together. For example, if you go with bolder earrings, you might want to choose a more humble necklace, or maybe even no necklace at all.
Fresh floral in a crown or bouquet can be a really romantic touch as well!
Family Sessions - Putting it all together
Coordinating the Look
As you’re coordinating your outfit with your family, keep in mind that your outfits will look the most cohesive on camera when the color palette and wardrobe pieces coordinate, but don’t actually “match.”
In fact, we recommend that you avoid thinking about “matching,” and instead think about what “fits” together.
This will create more visual interest, and allow each personality to shine through.
Mixing Up the Colors
The goal for coordinating a family’s outfits is to visually break up the colors and shades so that you’re not all wearing the same color on top and bottom (like everyone in blue jeans with white shirts).
The more you can mix it up, the better!
I encourage you to think about planning each outfit with “dominant colors” and “accent colors” in mind. A dominant color is the color that you see the most in an outfit, while an accent has a smaller piece of visual real estate. When you’re planning each family member’s outfit, if you can aim for each person to have a different dominant color, and then tie in and vary the accent colors, it’ll look great all together.
For example, if you’re wearing a blush dress, soft blue earrings and nude heels (blush being your dominant color), then your spouse could wear a navy coat with a white button-down and gray pants, paired with brown leather shoes and maybe even a blush pocket square (making navy his dominant color).
Your daughter could wear a soft blue top with a white tulle skirt (making a soft blue her dominant color) while your son could wear light beige pants with navy suspenders and a white button down (making white his dominant color).
Now each person has their own dominant color while still incorporating a few touches of the other colors that will pull all the looks together.
This will visually break up all the colors and highlight each person and their individual personality.
Most of the moms choose their dress first, and then build the rest of the family’s outfits based on that.
Mixing Up the Pieces
If you have multiple children, don’t feel like you need to put them all in the same type of outfit.
For example, if one of your daughters wears a dress and flats, the other can wear a skirt and boots, if that’s more of her style.
If one of your sons wears a bowtie, the other can wear suspenders.
