Choosing Clothing Colors for Your Photoshoot – Tips on where to start with your wardrobe
So you’ve booked your photo session and now it’s time to start thinking about choosing clothing colors for your photoshoot! This is the best starting point instead of thinking of what to wear!
– Start with choosing colors that complement your skin tone. Here’s a great article from Instyle that helps you figure out what color looks best on you: https://www.instyle.com/how-tos/how-to-find-best-color-to-wear-for-your-skin-tone
– Once you know what colors look good on you, think about the overall color scheme but start with mom. Since Mom tends to book sessions, start with choosing the color for mom which makes it easier to then think about the rest of the family.
– Color wheel. This is a great way to guide your colors. The color wheel can help you create complementary, analogous, or contrasting color schemes. What does that mean? Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel. Analogous colors are next to each other. Contrasting colors are far apart. Check out Canva for their color wheel as a great starting point: https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/
– Location. If you’re having your photoshoot outdoors in the redwoods, you don’t want your palette to be browns. If you’re having your session at a colorful location with bright murals, you might want to stick to neutral colors than bright and bold. This applies to seasons too. If our session is in the fall you might want to aim towards warm, earthy tones. In the spring, you might want to choose bright, jewel tones.
– Lay out. Before you finalize anything, lay out all the clothes, accessories, shoes (including socks), to see how everything ties together. This helps to see if anything clashes/too many patterns/etc.
The one thing I love to emphasize with sessions is that no matter what colors you choose, the most important thing is to wear something that makes you, your family, and your kids, comfortable! If you feel good in what you are all wearing, than it shows in the pictures 🙂
Also, here are some extra tips on what to avoid plus with the reasons of why:
– Avoid wearing white. White can be unflattering in photos, especially with fair skin.
– Avoid wearing too much black. Yes, black can be slimming, but it can also make you look washed out.
– Avoid wearing too many patterns. If there are too many patterns, it can be distracting in photos.
– Avoid wearing clothes that are too tight or too loose. You want your clothes to fit you well.
– Avoid wearing anything with logos or text. Logos and text can be distracting in photos.
Hope this helps you plan with choosing clothing colors for your photoshoot. Are you ready for your session? Let’s connect, let’s play!
Kim Ebbets of Photos by Kim E is a Bay Area | San Jose photographer who makes your family shine with authentic, fun images!
Located in the Silicon Valley | Bay Area | East Bay | San Jose | Morgan Hill | and is available for travel.
