Session Planning & Prep

1. Coordinate, don't match. The days of everyone matching are over. You want to complement each other’s outfits by choosing colors that work well together. I find that if everyone is wearing the same color, people will all tend to blend in together and there won’t be too much pop and life to the images. 

2. Limit patterns but embrace texture! When picking patterns, choose smaller ones that won’t pull attention away from the main subjects, and limit patterns to 1-2 people.  Busy plaids can be distracting, but vertical stripes can look great. When thinking about texture, choose a few different fabrics that will give photos some visual interest such as lace, corduroy, denim, swiss dot, and knits.

3. Be comfortable, but don't dress like it's any other day. Family photos are an investment and probably something you only do once a year. For the ladies and girls, consider maxi dresses or maxi skirts. This helps me create movement in your images. Mini dresses can limit my posing options.

4. Stay away from solid whites. I know a go to option can be a solid white button up for men. Instead, choose a cream or oatmeal color. This helps slightly warm up the overall tone of the images instead of the cool tones that white can cause. This is VERY important with my editing style. Bright white will either look blown out or have a weird hue of blue or orange. Honestly, this might be my most important styling tip. Avoid bright white!

5. Don't forgot about shoes! Avoid any sneakers or shoes with bright colors. Casual brown or neutral colored shoes work for every color scheme. 

6. Dress appropriately for the weather. This is a big one in the fall. October can still be pretty warm and I know if you are booking in the fall, you are probably wanting fall vibes all around. If you have a September - October session booked and are planning for sweaters and long sleeves, I also suggest having a back up option incase the session falls on an 80 degree fall day. Trust me here. I am guilty of dressing my family up in very fall attire on a very hot October day. 

7. Professional hair and make up can go a long way. Need make up artist suggests? Let me know!

8. Take advantage of my client closet! Don't see exactly what you are envisioning? Check out Baltic Born and Joyfolie for dresses & Old Navy for the guys and little boys. Some other favorites are Target, Carter's Little Planet brand, and H&M. 

9. Are you a member of my VIP group on Facebook? I post styling tips here every Monday. Join the group here and search #stylingtips to see all past posts!