This year, 2018, was the first time EVER that I’ve purchased new clothes specifically for a photo session. I always work with what’s in my closet to make sure that I’m staying true to who we are, but for this year, I knew we were doing our photos on a beach, and I had a specific look in mind for that setting! Unfortunately, nothing in my closet matched that. So, I purchased some new clothes off of Amazon for me and Lily and I LOVE the way it all came together! I had my sweet friend Staci as a sounding board as I was finding different options of what to wear, because she knows fashion way better than I do, haha!
But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve about HOW to pick out outfits for photos! These seem to be the source of a lot of stress for people, and I am often asked my families and couples for tips on what to wear! I love it when they send me photos of their ideas to get feedback before the session 🙂
The first tip that I have for you is to find at least ONE thing in your closet that you love!
Steven has this purple button-up (button-down?) shirt that we found at Goodwill a while back and I am obsessed with this shirt on him. I think it looks so damn good! I knew that when he wore this shirt at our family Christmas party this past winter that I wanted him to wear it again for family photos! I based our outfits entirely around this shirt! I also wanted to keep the photos casual, so he wore his favorite jeans (which I also LOVE) to go with the shirt, and I was wearing a casual tank top, so it worked out really great! If you can find at least one thing that you really like, it makes it much easier to plan the rest of the outfits!
The second tip is be comfortable in what you’re wearing!
If it’s too small or too big, you’re going to be pulling at it the whole time and you’re going to be self conscious. That’s something that will really show up in the photos, and you don’t want to look back on them and think: “ugh, I hated that dress.” Make sure it fits well, and make sure it’s comfortable! It’s the last thing you want to be thinking about while you’re having your photo taken 🙂
The third tip is to complement colors instead of matching completely!
I love it when families will choose one color that shows up in different ways across the outfits!! When it’s done well, it looks SO good!
Want the rest of my tips?!
I created a FREE SIX-page guide just for you! It’s full of my best tips (based on my own experiences having photos taken, as well as based on the families and couple I’ve photographed myself!) and two full pages of examples of outfit ideas! I talk about how to deal with patterns, what to do if you’ve got more than one family in the photos, as well as some other tidbits that you might not have thought of! I’ve shared this guide with a few close friends of mine and got amazing feedback on it, so I know it’s a good one!
Linda is a Boston-based photographer specializing in weddings and creating family legacies. You can see more of her work online at lindabarryphotography.com, on Instagram, or on Facebook. If you want to reach out directly: linda@lindabarryphotography.com. To sign up for the monthly newsletter full of encouragement and real life, click here!
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