Amy Shertzer Photography | Los Angeles Photographer

Just as soon as a session is booked, I always get asked “what should we wear?”

I respond with a few basic rules, mostly emphasizing that you pick things that express your personality and style.  It’s best to go with “coordinating”  rather than exactly “matching.”  It’s also best to avoid logos or pictures. . . the eye tends to go straight for those things, rather than the subject, when looking at the pictures.  And you should choose varying colors and textures to create visual interest.

Some simple hints, but it can be daunting when standing in front of your closet (and your spouse’s and kids’).

Tomorrow, I’m going to find myself and my family on the other side of the camera when a fellow friend and photographer and I trade family photo sessions.  And ever since we discussed the idea of doing a swap, I’ve had the thought of, “what are we going to wear?!” in my head.  So, I can certainly empathize with my clients when they ask me the same question!

I thought I’d share my process for making this all-important decision, showing you some of my choices and options, with the hope that it will help you with your own decision when it comes time for family photos!

So, the basics:  we have Mom, Dad, 3-year-old boy, and 1-year-old boy; and we’ll be doing  outdoor photos on a ranch, with a very “western and Montana” feel.

The not-so-basics are that I want a relaxed and casual, yet pulled-together, feel for the photos.  These are images that I want to display prominently in our home, likely as a large canvas.  I want us to look good, but to look like our own genuine selves on our best day.  Since I plan to have these photos hanging up, where we’ll see them daily, I also want to be sure that we’re wearing colors that we like.  And colors that coordinate with our house.  It may sound silly to dress to match your furniture, but picking outfits based on my son’s favorite dinosaur t-shirt (which is bright primary colors) would mean that we have photos that really clash with the more neutral tans, browns, and earthy blues and greens in our family room.

This is our first option:

I started with the denim romper for the baby, which I think is adorable, classic, yet a bit whimsical.  It goes well with our western theme without being costume-y.  Next, came the shirt for Dad, which coordinates with baby’s outfit and is completely his style.  Next, I found the cute dress for myself at Target.  It ties in with the other outfits, but adds a nice pop of color and pattern.  Finally, I realized that the madras tie that came with the shirt for the 3-year-old (from Old Navy) picked up the same colors as my dress.  I think this is a promising selection.

For a slightly different look, I pulled this together:

Dad and Baby outfits are the same, but I chose a more neutral dress for myself.  It’s still got a pop of color and the linen-like fabric adds some nice texture, but it isn’t quite so busy.  For the 3-year-old, I thought the seersucker shorts with a white polo complimented the more subdued color palette of this selection.  Another great selection.

Our 3rd option:

This is the colorful one!  A bright, colorful outfit for each of us, that when pictured together, looks pretty sharp!  Two things to consider with this group of outfits is how they will look when photographed in groups of two. . . family photo sessions aren’t strictly limited to photos with every member of the family in each photo.  I do photos of the siblings together, photos of each kid with mom, each kid with dad, dad with all the kids, etc.  Will these outfits work in all those combinations?  The second thing to consider is that while these outfits all came from our closets and are all things that we do wear and like, the group as a whole doesn’t reflect our true personality.  Bold and bright doesn’t really describe us. . .  we’re more laid back, happy, friendly, relaxed.  Like those blues and greens and tans that I mentioned fill our home.

Now, I don’t want you to confuse “relaxed” and “laid back” for boring.  The clothes we decide to wear are going to be documented and displayed for a long time to come.  And the best images have some good visual interest.  Notice how the feel of these next groupings change just by switching one outfit for something more colorful. . .

Baby goes from dark blue romper to orange plaid shirt:

3-year-old swaps out white shirt for bright green:

Mom trades white for a light blue shirt:

So, what’s it going to be for us?  Well, you’ll just have to wait for a sneak peek from Suzie to find out!  (Honestly, I haven’t decided yet, but I think we have some fabulous options to choose from!)