When booking a session, clients often ask for advice on clothing. To to helpful, I thought I’d made a visual reference guide since everything is better with pictures. Even for family photos that you take yourself but you want to look a little more polished, these tips can help pull the image together.

Some photographers will tell you to show up in whatever you normally wear, but I have a more stylized style and aim for my images to not only capture a memory but also to create one, and I want that memory to be visually stunning. You should look like yourself, but the very best version possible. Here are some general tips to make that happen:

1. Show your personality. Wear clothes that make a statement about your taste and style. You can see in these next two photos that Brittany and Dani, both photographed for their high school senior portraits, have distinct styles that they pulled in through their clothing and accessory choices. Brittany is a little more country, and Dani is a bit more (indie) rock and roll.


2. Dress up! For most sessions, you have the option of wearing two outfits, so make one of them fancy. I love dresses on ladies and suits–or a contemporary interpretation of a suit–on men, especially for engagement sessions. A dress can be anywhere from a ballgown to classic cocktail dress to a sundress, depending on the vibe you are going for. Not a suit type of guy? Opt for a nice button-up and dark-washed jeans. Maybe even throw in a vest, a cardigan, or motorcycle boots for some flare (see tip #1). Both Tiffany and Baron in the first photo below and Jillian and Tim in the second photo mastered the art of dressing up for their engagement sessions while keeping true to their personal styles.

3. Look pulled together.. If you are more of a casually dressing person, you are welcome to go in that direction (especially for your second outfit), but you still want to like you made an effort. Make sure all clothing is in good condition, has no large logos or writing on it (it’s really distracting), and jeans are best if they are dark-washed.

4. Create continuity. If you are doing an engagement or a family shoot, you want to be consistent by all dressing in the same general style. One of you shouldn’t be in a suit while the other is in jean shorts. Color can also help create continuity, which I’ll get to in a moment. You can see in the family photo below, that Shannon, Dixon, and Mckenzie are all dressed casually but they looked pulled together and unified.

5. Think about color. In a couple or group photo, similar clothing color can be great for creating visual unity. In a portrait of a single person, color can still add visual interest. There are several ways to approach color.

One is to go neutral. In the photo above of Shannon, Dixon, and Mckenzie, the clothing is all neutral or near-neutral. What are neutrals? White, brown, tan/beige, gray, and black. Near-neutrals are colors that read as neutrals and can easily be mixed with other colors, such as blue jeans and the light blue jacket Mckenzie is wearing. Other near-neutrals are army green and very light pink.

Another similar way to play with color is to wear mostly neutrals with a few pops of a similar color. In Briana, Caleb, and Cian’s photo below, Briana’s dress and the brown and white in Cian’s shirt read as neutrals. The pop of orange in Cian’s plaid shirt nicely coordinates with the red-orange of Caleb’s shirt.

If you want to embrace color, choose colors in a grouping or use a color scheme. To choose colors in a grouping, you simply pick three main colors that look good together, and then use variations of those colors throughout your outfits. A classic example everyone can recognize would be red, white, and blue; this would create a preppy look.  You don’t need to use only one blue; you could use navy blue and baby blue for example, or more than one red (pink is even a tone of red). You can mix and match lightness, darkensses, and intensities of the three colors you choose. Other examples would be orange, red-violet, and beige and yellow, orange, and white.

Color schemes are a little more sophisticated and complex way to use color, and without giving you an entire Art 101 course on color theory, they are based on relationships on the color wheel. One example is analogous colors, which are three to four colors in a row, such as red-violet, violet, violet-blue, and blue,  like the Bourda family is wearing below. Kim is an art teacher, so I would expect no less.

To keep it simple, you can think of analogous scheme as wearing colors similar to each other, but not exact, such as Angela and Wing did for their San Francisco engagement. The colors in his outfit pick up on the color is her dress, a nice touch.

Another classic color scheme is complimentary colors, which are opposites. The main pairs are red and green, orange and blue, and yellow and violet. The combination makes each of the two colors more intense. You can see an example below in Amy’s navy blue dress paired with Derrick’s blood orange jacket. The stripped blue and white shirt also adds visual interest.

Some other basic colors schemes are warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) and cool colors (greens, blues, violets/purples). If playing with the idea of color schemes is overwhelming to you, just use some of the other tips on color I have given.

6. Wear an outfit that compliments your shape. You could have the most stylish outfit in mind, but if it is ill-fitting or doesn’t accent your best features or ones you want to show off, it’s not a great choice for photos. Are you worried about your arms? Wear floaty sleeves that cover them. A short neck? Wear an outfit with an open neckline. Do you want to show off your belly bump for maternity photos? Wear some tight across your belly that will the emphasized the roundness of your belly, as Sara did in the photos below. Her dress draws in below the bust line to add definition to her belly. The dress also flows beautifully around her arms, de-emphasizing them, since she wants the focus on her belly bump.

Some other final tips:

7. Don’t be afraid of pattern as it can really add a visual kick to your photos, but either only use one or make sure the colors in the different patterns coordinate perfectly.

8. Bring in accessories and/or layers to add visual interest and create multiple outfit options.

9. Bring an extra outfit for babies or small children, just in case :).

10. For ladies, it’s not clothing, but just as important, consider getting your hair and makeup professionally done. If this isn’t an option, wear your makeup heavier than normal so it reads on camera. Put generous amount of hair product and/or spray in your hair to minimize flyaways. And bring makeup, a brush, and hair spray to your session for touch ups if needed.

I hope these tips help you! If you have any other suggestions or questions, please leave them in the comments below. Thanks!