What to Wear to Your Family Photo or Couple’s Session

If you are like most of our clients, figuring out what to wear to your photo shoot can be difficult. You want to look good and put together, but coordinating all the outfits is tough. We completely understand. We’ve compiled some tips on what to wear for your family photos and hope this will help you in the process of choosing the perfect outfits. You’ll find some tips on what to wear, what NOT to wear, and some other fun tips and tricks that we’ve acquired over the years.

To Wear

1. Wear something you feel comfortable in. The most important thing is to feel comfortable! When you’re comfortable, you’re more relaxed, meaning more natural looking and confident in photos.
2. Bring two outfits for both you and your partner.
 This will add a lot of variety to your photos. We suggest you bring one casual outfit, and one dressy outfit.
3. Coordinate your outfits, but don’t wear matching ones (this isn’t the 80’s anymore;) You want your outfits to complement each other. We recommend staying with complementary colors or palettes. Earth tones, jewel tones, pastels, etc. We generally don’t recommend overly bright color palets in the mountains. Pick two to three colors and stick to them.

*Example: If you’re planning on wearing a floral design, have your partner wear a solid shirt in one of the colors in the print you are wearing. If you’re both in prints, it will look too busy.

1. Don’t be afraid to layer and accessorize. Layers add depth and character to your photograph. Don’t be scared of necklaces, earrings, or bracelets either! Bring a variety of necklaces, scarfs, sunglasses, hats, and whatever you love to wear. It should represent you!
2. Bring some flats to walk around in. 
If you’re planning on wearing heels, bring flats or flip flops so you can easily walk around when we’re moving locations. We are in the mountains and sometimes the terrain is tricky in heels.

What NOT to wear:

1. Don’t wear bright white, black matching shirts or matching khakis
 (unless you are layering with those colors) You don’t want parts of your body to blend with those of your significant other!
2. Stay away from large prints and large stripes. They will take away from the photograph and we want to focus on you. Large stripes (especially horizontal ones) make you look bigger than you are.
3. Tops with big logos or text of any kind. The contrast of text pulls focus from your beautiful faces.
4. Shirts with short hemlines and mid-drifts. While we will never body shame, you are welcome to rock any outfit you feel confident in, we find that these generally don’t photograph well.
5. Super short skirts or shorts – see above.
6. Exact matching outfits. Look coordinated, not matching.
7. Baggy clothes. Make sure your clothes aren’t too baggy or too tight. If your clothes are too baggy, you’ll look bigger than you are and messy or sloppy. When things are too tight, undergarment lines will show up extra in photos!

Embrace

1. Jeans. Jeans tend to photograph really, really well
, plus they are comfortable!
2. Cute dresses. Ones with small tight-knit patterns, lace, and stripes photograph well so do long, flowy dresses!
3. Rich, solid colors. Rich colors can really separate you from the background, especially if we’ve discussed shooting in any very green, outdoorsy locations
. (i.e. a golf course or green mountain meadow)
4. Accessories. This is the perfect time to play with coordinating your jewelry with your outfits so add some fun and bring what you love!
5. Layers (did I mention layers?) Scarves, jackets, sweaters, etc., all really pull an outfit together and help make a photo more interesting and compelling to look at.

Other Tips

1. Make sure you have your outfits picked out at least a week before your shoot. This ensures you’re not stressing out at the last minute and that have time to make a run to the store for anything that you may need.
2. Try on all the clothes. Make sure your partner tries on his or her clothes too so they are comfortable with what they are wearing, everything fits, and you can see that the outfits go together.
3. Always bring a cardigan or cute jacket. For tighter tops (or sleeveless tops/dresses), always bring a cardigan or cute jacket for layering. Layers always win!
4. (optional) Hire a professional to do your makeup. Many of our clients do their own makeup, but having a professional do it will make sure that you are camera-ready.

We hope these tips on what to wear for your photo session are helpful in your quest for the perfect outcome! If you have questions or concerns, contact your photographer or even that fashion-forward friend who knows your style to a tee. Be yourself and you can’t go wrong. (Unless you live in yoga pants or sweats, then maybe have someone help you) Happy styling!!

Makeup Artists I recommend (most travel anywhere):

Breckenridge: Weemala Breck

Denver Area: Bisou Beauty, Kim J Beauty, Divine Beauty Artists

Vail: Kacee Picot