“What should we wear?” is the top question I receive from clients.  Now, I’ve already covered how to “style” your session to look the best in your pictures, but I haven’t gone into detail on “coordinating” everyone for the pictures.  When you have more than two people in a shoot, this can definitely cause some stress in the wardrobe department.  Don’t fret.  Here are 4 simple steps that you can make when organizing your outfits for an upcoming photo shoot.

1. Stay within a color scheme.  Choose 2-3 colors for your tops and stay within this color palate.  Don’t feel like you need to lock into the same shade of the color, the more people in the photograph, the more shades of one color you may be able to get away with.  With two people, look at doing 2 accent colors.  The best way to do this is to have one of you in a muted tone and the other in an accent tone that stands out.  A great example of this would be to have the gentleman in a dark grey sport coat, with a light blue button up underneath and lady in a pretty pink dress.  For three or more people in a photograph, you can always pull in a 3rd or 4th color.  Recently my family (of 14) got together for a photo shoot and we coordinated with my maximum number of colors of 4 colors so we could have a good range of colors in the photo and didn’t look too “matchy matchy”.  Our example color scheme was shades of grey, blue, aqua green and shades of pink (which the featured image shows).
2. Add a pop of color.  By adding a little jest to your colors, your pictures will come out dreamier than ever before.  The easiest way to accomplish this look with the ladies is to accessorize.  Necklaces, scarves, bracelets, etc. can add a lot to your photo.  If you do not plan to accessorize much on your end, but have children in the picture, you can also look into adding the pop of color somewhere in their outfit.  By putting them in a plaid, ornate design or floral outfit that you “can’t pull off,” you will help bring in the color of your outfits especially if everyone else doesn’t match.
3. Don’t get lost in the scenery.  Forests of green and golden fields of yellow are the most common.  Find the color that compliments your scenery nicely.  If you have a light background of yellows, a purple top will really pop.  The one exception to this rule would be if you were taking pictures in a specific scenery on purpose.  What comes to mind is a light and airy beach scene and everyone is in lighter, beachy clothing where the colors accent the surroundings.
4. Be post-savvy.  Where do you plan to hang your pictures?  Choose colors that will stand out against the paint on the wall or tone of your desk that you plan to display your pictures on.  If the wall, table, desk is dark, maybe you wear something lighter in shade (think pastels).  If the wall, table, or desk is light, maybe you wear a bolder shade (darker colors).  The last thing you want is to have your guests not even notice your photographs hanging on the wall when they come over because they blended in.  🙂

And, always, always, always feel free to apply a couple of these tips together to really help your photograph stand out.