What Do I Wear for my Photo Session?


That is by far the most asked question by my clients during our pre-session phone call.

We all want our pictures to come out amazing, and how we feel in our clothing really depicts how our photos are going to come out. If you felt out of place or uncomfortable in what you were wearing on shoot day, you’ll forever remember that feeling when looking back at your photos.


So here are 4 tips for choosing your photo session outfit.

How to Choose your Photo Session Outfit


Moms, choose your outfits first!

It's so easy to get caught up in deciding what your family will wear that we Moms tend to leave ourselves to the end! I say, "don't do it!" Mom's choose your outfit first.


How do you want your photos to feel?

Decide what "feeling" you want to achieve in your photos. Is it light + airy? dark + moody? warm + cozy? Where do you envision your photos living? Will they be in your living room on the wall? Hallway? are you printing them in black + white? Sounds like a lot to think about, but this is why you are taking professional photos in the first place, right? To make lifelong memories and you want to love looking at them every time you walk by them. Here's the good news, a professional photographer will be able to help you achieve the exact look you want!


Choose your families looks by selecting colours + styles that complement moms outfit.

Once Mom has found her perfect look, it's time to dress the rest of the family. I recommend laying out Moms outfit on a neutral background ie. white bed spread, and then start to place family members outfits around Moms and see how they connect. Do the outfits have a similar feel to one another? Do they share a common theme?


As an example, I'll walk you through my thought process for when we did our family photoshoot. I wanted to achieve a fresh + bright look to my photos, so I chose my outfit first, which was a dusty pink maxi dress with off-white polka dots. I then chose my daughters outfit, an off-white overall dress with a floral print top, and the colours in the florals included a shade of pink that connected to my dress. Now since both my daughter and I had a print in our outfits, my husband + sons outfits were solids and the colours were also incorporated in the print from my daughters floral top!

I'll pop in a shot below from my family session with Lolabean Photos to show as an example.*


Incorporate prints, but not too many!

You may have noticed that in my family photo example, 2 out of 4 people had a print on their outfit, I recommend this to keep the photos interesting, but still clean and not overly busy.

When choosing a printed piece, try and stay away from very busy prints that can look distorted or might take over the entire photo. Keep it simple, mid-size repeating prints are best, like polka dots, or mid-sized florals. Horizontal strips and psychedelic prints like paisleys may not come out the most flattering in your photos.

What if you don't like prints? that's cool too! Choosing complimentary solid outfits for photos will give a really clean + timeless look. Pick a theme, even when choosing solid coloured outfits. Neutrals, for a light + airy feel. Dark colours for a more formal look. Denim and shades of white for the classic family photo feel. The options are endless!! and if you still can't decide, Pinterest is a great resource for outfit ideas.


Whichever way you go about selecting those perfect, coordinated outfits to tell your families story, be sure that you love what you're wearing and that confidence will show.