A holiday family photo is a tradition that a lot of families have or want to embrace. And not only for the holidays – people are increasingly enjoying beautiful photos and want their family to be captured in images that will look amazingly framed or as a gift. Read this article to learn more about how to look cohesive and cute in family pictures!
What to wear for a family photoshoot
Unfortunately, clothing for a family photoshoot needs to be carefully selected and curated. It cannot be a situation of “wear whatever you like” if you want to receive beautiful, coherent photos that look like from a magazine.
1. Talk to the photographer
First thing first, you need to talk to the photographer and learn more about the place where the photo shoot will be. Maybe you even pick out the place together. It is important to know the place because you need to dress appropriately. If you are taking pictures in the countryside, a suit and an evening dress won’t fit the situation and the other way around – casual jeans and a t-shirt won’t look good in an elegant city venue.
2. What season is it?
The next step, be aware of what season it is and dress accordingly. The only exception – is if you are shooting winter holiday photos in the summer, wear that jumper even though it is summer. But otherwise, make sure your outfits are season appropriate. If it is an indoor photo shoot, the options are more flexible since indoors, we often wear short sleeves and thinner clothing, even in the wintertime.
3. Finding clothes
Once you have an idea of the place and have determined in what season you are shooting the photos, it is time to start looking for the actual clothes. Of course, the ideal option is to find everything in the closet, but realistically you might need to find some items, especially for the shoot. It doesn’t mean you have to buy them – you can ask your friends, rent something or buy thrifted items.
4. Wear colors that look well together
To have a coherent look, it is important that all your family members wear colors that work together well. It doesn’t necessarily need to be the same color, but it is best that the colors are from the same theme and tone group. For example, pastel colors, neutrals, warm colors, or cold colors. They can also be analogous colors. It is also fine to have a pop of color in the group, just make sure you have it in someone else’s clothing as well. For example, a son has bright orange shorts, and a mother has a scarf or necklace in the same color.
Also, remember to not mix and match too many colors. Three or four colors in your photoshoot clothing color palette will be good enough!
When thinking about colors, also think about the environment you will have the photoshoot. You don’t need to have the same colors in your outfits, but you need to coordinate with the space, so you look like you belong there.
5. Unifying pattern (but don’t go overboard)
There are some people who enjoy solid colors and others who enjoy a pattern here and there. If you are one of the latter, you can go on and choose a pattern for the photoshoot clothing. It can be plaid, flowers or stripes, or anything else. If you choose stripes, just go for wider once, since thin-striped clothing items can have an optical illusion effect in photography. It also applies to a small checker print.
You don’t have to dress the whole family in one print. For example, the dad can have a shirt in the chosen print, the daughter can have a hair accessory, for example, a hair band in the same print, the son – shorts, and the mother – a scarf or belt. That way, you all will have the same print somewhere on you. It won’t look overwhelming but will be cute and coherent.
6. Coordinated printed items – hoodies or t-shirts
If you want to, there is no problem wearing coordinated, custom-printed items, whether they are hoodies or t-shirts. Sometimes it is fun to coordinate like a true team! Here are some cool ideas on what to write on the garments:
- Your family’s last name.
- Everyone’s first name.
- The motto of your family.
- Fun roles you have in the family, for example, for the holidays – Elf Moma, Elf Dad, Little Elf 1, Little Elf 2.
- Fun t-shirts, for example, the parents have a t-shirt that says “copy”, and kids have “paste”.
- If you are a sports fan, make matching shirts just like your favorite team’s.
If you are interested in matching custom-printed items, check out printseekers.com! It is a print-on-demand business that has high-quality items and prints, great customer service, and good reviews.
7. Footwear
Even though it might sound silly, don’t forget about footwear. Not only that, footwear needs to be as fresh and clean as possible. Well-worn shoes that still look good in real life might look a little bit more dreadful in professional photos. Footwear might not be necessary if you are having a shoot in your home or any other apartment. For summer outside shoots, barefoot also could be an option.
Tips for kid’s clothing for a photoshoot
Having kids all nicely dressed up can be a challenge. Festive clothing is very rarely loved by young kids, and even if the photo shoot is in a casual setting, if a kid is going through a specific clothing phase, he or she might not want to put on what you have decided for them. Nevertheless, here are a few tips on how to make an outfit easier on the kids.
1. Don’t use accessories
Or use as less accessories as possible for small kids. A hairband is fine since it doesn’t bother, it might even help a kid feel more comfortable. However, hats, headbands, gloves, scarves, and even jewelry might be a bad idea since kids often will lose and misplace them or even will try to actively get rid of the accessories (depending on the age). Bigger children, of course, are fine with extra elements that make an outfit look put together.
2. Put on shorts under a dress (or avoid dresses altogether)
If you have young girls, you might want to have them in the photoshoot in cute dresses. But one thing to remember is that short dresses can ride up, and girls can whirl around and sit in a way that reveals undergarments. And it is usually not the look we want to have in a photo shoot. A solution for it is shorted under the dress, or you can avoid dresses and, for example, choose cute overalls. Another option is to go for a longer dress, but make sure it is still girly, and your little one still feels comfortable.
3. Don’t do an outfit change with small children
When a photo shoot is booked, we want to take full advantage of it, and sometimes the thought of having different outfits (so it looks like a different photoshoot) comes into mind. It is a good idea! If you don’t have small children. It is a hassle to have them put on that one outfit (and to keep them still during the shoot). They will not be happy about an outfit change, which might result in tears and an overall scene.
If your kids are more grown up – you can definitely include an outfit change if you want to!
In Conclusion
At first, a family photoshoot might feel like a lot of work, but in the end, you will definitely be happy with the result. And the best part is – you will enjoy the fruits of this photoshoot for years to come, so it is definitely worth putting in a little bit of effort to make everyone look nice and put together. Good luck!
