What Should You Wear?

Choosing Clothes for a Photo Shoot

You’re planning to get your picture taken soon. You have everything ready to go – the appointment is made, and everyone is ready to show up. Except for one thing. What on earth should you wear?

Choosing clothes for a photo shoot can be a real challenge. You don’t really want to go buy all new outfits, but you definitely want everyone to look good! How do you figure out what to dress everyone in? Where do you start?

I would begin with choosing a place to display your finished piece. Too many people start with the photograph and just look around for a place to display it that looks okay. I suggest, instead, you start with the display location that you’re looking to fill, and design your portrait from there.

-       What color is the room?

-       What color are the accents?

-       What textures do you see? Woods? Fabrics? Glossy surfaces?

Once you’ve zeroed in on these features, it’s a lot easier to start choosing your clothes. If your display area has a warm, dark feeling, with heavy textures and earthy tones, you probably don’t want bright blue, red, and green colors with shiny patent leather shoes. You’ll want items like wool sweaters, cotton shirts, furry hats and muted tones throughout. You might want an accent color for emphasis – maybe on the kids so the attention is drawn more to them. Okay, so you have a style you’ve decided on, but how do you choose the colors?

1. Begin with the main color in the room you’ll be displaying the image. Is it white? Is it blue? Yellow? Green? Define the main color and mimic that.
2. Look at a color wheel or some sample color palettes to begin understanding how colors go together. Zero in on the ones that feature your main color
3. Look for patterns in the images you’re finding, and notice which colors are paired with your main color most often. Do you like the look? If you hung your sample image in your chosen display place, would it fit in?

Once you’ve reached this point, you’ve got your colors. Look through your clothes for appropriate textures and colors, and voila! You’ll have your outfit chosen in no time. Chances are good you’ll have some options already in your closet. If you don’t like what you see, at least you know what you need to buy.

How to Dress for Portraits

This little guy was dressed so well for portraits! He looks stylish, coordinated, and clean. But what I like most is that he’s comfortable so he can relax and focus on being himself. There’s enough distraction with a camera around; who needs uncomfortable clothes on top of it? I always aim to reflect the moment, and the subject for who/what it is. These parents knew that to have a comfortable portrait that reflects their son’s real essence, he needed to be relaxed and comfortable.

And while we’re here . . . there’s a lot to ponder about the composition in this photograph; especially the use of lines.