Robyn Davie
- Jul 5, 2022
- 4 min read

What To Wear To Your Family Shoot

Hello! So you've booked your family photo session and are wondering what to wear? Well, you're in exactly the right spot!

QUICK TIPS

First up - your photo shoot is about YOU and your gorgeous family. You are going to most treasure these photos if you look back in years to come and see your family as you really are. So rather aim to wear comfy, flattering clothes, that let the personalities of each family member shine through!

Our favourite wardrobe selections are a mix of complementary colours and tones, that truly showcase your family just as it is.

Secondly, keep it simple. Always.

Your outfit should be something you'd wear to a casual Sunday picnic, not to a formal wedding. Ditch the heels (we'll going to be doing waaaay too much running around for those!), throw out the formal button-up shirt (you shouldn't look like you're headed to the office, because we're likely to do many cuddling-in-bed photos!), and avoid over-loading the kids with too many bows and add-ons.

Timeless photos come from simple, classic looks.

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JUMP TO THE RELEVANT SECTION:

So let's get into the nitty-gritty:

1. Spring/summer shoots

2. Autumn/winter shoots

3. Choosing a palette

4. What to avoid

LOOKS

"Looks" are wardrobe changes - so if your package includes three looks, we'll be shooting you in three different outfits.

However, it is completely not necessary, and you may stay in the same outfit for the entirety of the shoot. It just gives you a little more variety should you choose to use it.

1. SPRING/SUMMER

2. AUTUMN/WINTER

Winter is one of our favourite times of the year to shoot, as the light gets SO crisp, and the hugs get SO tight! We love it.

We recommend warming up your wintry shoot with hues of oranges, yellows, creams and browns.

OR going for jewel tones - turquoises and forest greens.

Warm, fun and oh so pretty!

3. CHOOSING A PALETTE

Here are some fun ideas of colour palettes to guide your shoot outfits:

BLUES AND YELLOWS:

NEUTRALS:

Neutrals also have a lovely timeless feel, and tend to be fairly easy to organise: suggest that your family wear a selection of muted tones (light blues and creams or faded denims and greys, like below):

PASTELS:

Pastels make for a dreamy colour palette, especially in the summer months!

A POP OF YELLOW:

We love how this family drew the eye straight to their sweet little girls - in an eye-catching yellow!

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4. WHAT TO AVOID

Try and avoid the following:

- the ol' white tees & blue jeans combo!

- visible wording or branding

- patterns that are very bold or harsh

- clothing that is too tight, or too loose

- too many people wearing white as it will over-expose

- black or very dark colours as it under-exposes

- too much red (as it brings out the red in your skin tone)

- lumo colours

Primarily our photos are focused on head-and-shoulders, so don't worry too much about changing pants and shoes if you are doing a wardrobe change. Especially if we're shooting at Delta Park, a quick easy change can involve a sweater/jersey, or scarf/accessories.

A few last wardrobe tips and tricks:

It is a good idea to have two or three outfits worked out ahead of time, as this speeds up the shooting on the day, and saves us from wasting precious time and light (also just check which package you've booked, as some only include one outfit change! This is also entirely optional, and is up to you if you'd prefer to just stick with one outfit for the shoot).

Please make sure that everyone is groomed and dressed in their first shoot outfit when the photographer arrives - we're natural light photographers, so all she needs to do is pull her camera out her bag and start shooting (no need for wasting time setting up lights and flashes and big complicated set-ups, yay!).

WHAT TO BRING

A lot of families ask us what they should bring along on their family photo shoot - props and the like. Ideally the less you bring along the better - especially if we're heading to a park - lugging things around isn't ideal. A small picnic (snacks and drinks keep everyone happy!), maybe a treasured toy, or some bubbles.

Using props is completely not us - we love pics to be as natural and real as possible.

FEAST YOUR EYES

Scroll through the below images to have a look at some outfits that really worked well!

Take note of the following:

Everyone wearing outfits that they feel comfortable and casual in.
No big brand names or writing on the shirts/tees pulling the eye away from the subjects' faces.
Lovely complementary colours.
Personalities shining through!
No high heels or buttoned up work shirts in sight :)
And most definitely, no blue-jeans-and-white-tees, yay!