So you’ve booked your shoot….


You’ve finally gotten around to booking in that family photo shoot you’ve been procrastinating about for ages- yay! You’ve agreed on a location, date and time with the photographer, you’ve made sure everybody you want on the shoot is free, you’ve paid the retainer and signed the contract. But what do you all wear?

Here’s the lowdown-

Personally I’m a fan girl for muted, neutral colours such as cream, oatmeal, blacks, greys, berrys, khaki, ochre and rust. They’re timeless on photographs and when teamed together make a gorgeous colour palette and work beautifully in family shoots. As well as looking good in any environment they also put the focus on the people in the photographs as opposed to the attention being drawn to garish colourful clashing patterns and character clothing.

Don’t be afraid to mix and match the colours and accessorise with hats, jackets and scarfs (weather dependant of course).

I totally get those colours aren’t everybody’s cuppa tea, and if you’re not really feeling the neutrals and fancy introducing more colours and a bit of punch to your shoot , then you could go for complimentary colours (they’re the colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel) or even go for full monochromatic, there really are no rules!


Looking into colour wheels is where it can start to get a little complicated, there’s so many different types of colouring groups and you could look into colour theory until it starts to makes no sense anymore and you begin to question what life even is (I speak from experience). As a general rule of thumb, if you pick something you want to wear that’s green, take notice of the shade. If you then remember that your daughter has got a lovely dark lavender dress (and if your item of clothing is a darker green) chances are they will go together well as they are a similar tone and also complimentary colours. Likewise if your husband wants to wear a light blue denim shirt and you’ve got a lovely pale orange jumper, chances are you’ve got yourself a good combo. Grouping similar toned garments together is another good way to pull together a cohesive outfit selection. (I’ve popped some example palettes at the bottom to better demonstrate this)


I always advise my clients to think long term. You’re paying good money for photos that capture your family just as they are right now, a snapshot in time that could potentially be passed down and seen by your great great grandchildren. The only thing I would strongly advise against is children’s character clothing (I will die on a hill for this) I get it- my kids love Spongebob and Peppa to death and wear all kinds of character clothing most days but I really don’t want to be looking at that terrible little pink pigs face every time I look at the photos), bold in-your-face patterns and any T-shirt’s/jackets with a name or brand written slap bang over the top of it, just because they date incredibly quickly and nobody wants to look back on pictures and cringe at what they were wearing. Clashing colours aren’t ideal (for example, if Nanna is wearing a bright pink dress, try to avoid somebody else wearing red).


Ultimately, the most important thing is that you all feel amazing, confident and comfortable in what you are wearing and that you are adequately dressed for the weather and the terrain. Heels might not be the best choice if we’re marching up hills or giving kids piggybacks and you deffo don’t want to be wearing your big coat if it’s 21 degrees out. I’d always advise bringing along some sun cream and drinking water if it’s hot and make sure you and the kids are togged up if it’s cold. Most importantly, don’t stress. If you’re unsure please don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for advice, we want you to love your pictures, look and feel amazing and will do what we can to make that happen!

Complimentary


The main stand out colours in this image are the tealy blue and the rich yellow. Blue and yellow are opposites on the colour wheel so they are complimentary colours.

Monochrome


Different shades of the same colour. In this instance the main colour is black, with greys and silver. A classic combo that doesn’t look out of place anywhere.

Warm tones


Grouping together similar colours is a lovely subtle way to get matchy-matchy with your family without looking too obvious. When used with different layers, textures and accessories it can really create a whole mood.

Cool tones


I don’t believe these colours are similar at all but they do all have a cool undertone which ties them all together beautifully to create quite a lovely colour scheme.