What to wear?

“What to wear” – most common asked question before any session. This guide will help with that. We want you to be seen first; all focus needs to go to your faces and not your clothes.
We are aiming for a coordinating pallet. Colour such as white, black, cream, natural tones colours. Please avoid logos, numbers, cartoon characters, patterns and bright colour clothes.Colours also depend on the season. For example for Autumn, warm colours would look great. E.g – mustard yellow, brown, cream and navy.

Once you book your session, start thinking of the clothes right away. You may think certain clothes will fit your kids or that one dress is clean. If you wait until the day of or day before you may run into an issue of clothes not fitting, being dirty or need to be cleaned.
First and foremost, the most important consideration is that every family member should dress in a way that that makes them feel confident and comfortable. This will help achieve relaxed and natural photos that reflect true personalities. Bearing in mind that contemporary family studio photography often involves sitting (and sometimes lying) on the floor, no items of clothing should overly restrict movement.
14D Photography allow outfit changes during the session, so don’t necessarily feel that you have to stick to one look.
For group shots, the biggest question that we receive from clients concerns family or generation groupings. Our advice is that some degree of colour coordination is great, but that families should not too worry about matching their outfits.

Try to stick to solid colours. The running theme of any advice we give on clothing, is that when the final photographs are viewed, attention should be drawn to faces and personalities. Ideally, items of clothing should not be competing for our attention in a group photograph.
Similarly, for individuals, it is ideal to wear similar tones top and bottom. Lighter colours often make sitters look bigger; so a light colour on top with dark trousers will make your top look larger (and vice versa). Using similar tones for your top and bottom will ensure one doesn’t appear larger than the other.
And for the same reason, it makes sense to select a top with sleeves at least to the elbow – because uncovered arms tend to have more skin area than faces; and therefore might attract unwanted attention. Dark socks tend to work better too.

Location:
The location of your family portrait session should be chosen to reflect places that suit your family. Decide whether you prefer the photographs to be taken indoors at our studio, or at a park, or at a place that holds special significance for your family.
Consider how the colours and patterns of your chosen garments will stand out against the backdrop of your location. For outdoor sessions, it is important to choose your outfits with the season and the location in mind. Try to select clothing that is in keeping with the weather conditions you are likely to encounter.
If you are having photos taken outdoors, think about colours that will suit the season, location, and the mood you are hoping to create. It is also important to consider your home décor; how will the colour palette of your portraits fit in with the surroundings at home?
If there is an outfit that has been purchased specially for your photography session you can take inspiration from the colours in the garment and incorporate a few of these as base colours or tones to be picked up through the clothing of other family members.
Accessories can add a pop of colour and visual interest to your photographs. You can have some fun with accessories: hats, scarves and jackets work well for outdoor seasonal portraits.
We can change looks quickly and easily using your accessories; this is important if we are out on location or if the children are getting tired.
Don’t let the accessories become a distraction from the true subjects of the photo; we want your smile to stand out, not your head band!
We advise against wearing sleeveless tops, clothing that is too tight, too short, or revealing. Children are active (even during the shoot), so we encourage parents to dress them in clothes that fit comfortably and won’t creep up or down when they strike a pose or play.
In the Studio, shoes are not always required. If family members are in a contemporary position, bare feet often look best, rather than dirty shoes. If shoes will be in the portrait, make sure they are camera ready, clean and well-suited to the portrait. When shooting outdoors, bright white socks and a mix of colourful shoes tend to be overwhelming, as do large watches, excessive patterns, and hair ties on wrists.
Props:
After we have safely captured the family group shots, we often take a range of individual portraits (typically the children). Here we are not so concerned about distracting elements within a group; so props can offer more creativity and variety – and often enhance the personality in the portrait.

To get a more better idea of clothes for your session, you can always look on Pinterest, type in ‘what to wear on family photo shoot’

If you have any questions or enquiries, please message on contact us form, will be more than happy to help