When you decide to take family photos, the next most important thing besides choosing your location is dressing for your location. Here are some things to keep in mind when coordinating outfits with your backdrop.

Color Coordination

First, we color coordinate with the scenery around you before attempting to coordinate as a family. Once you have an idea of what would look best and which things you want highlighted, then you can move on to that next step. As a rule of thumb neutrals are always a great option and a safe bet, but color is also encouraged. At locations where the backdrop itself is something you really want to highlight, I encourage neutrals or light colors that will blend in a little more and let the location shine. For other locations in nature, I like colors that contrast the background so that you stand out. For industrial locations or locations with harder surfaces (like stone, brick, or wooden doors), I like softer materials to contrast the background.

Family Collaboration

When thinking about dressing for your location, your next step would be figuring out which color families to use when coordinating outfits together. Keeping things fun and true to your personality as a family is also very important to consider when figuring out color palettes. Are we doing pastel colors? Pick two and pair with a neutral! Are we doing warm colors or cool colors? What this family did is such a great example! Pairing neutrals with soft colors and adding in that cute floral. It was perfect in matching the location with the softness of the colors mimicking the softness of the almond blossoms.

Their daughter’s hair had just started to grow longer and she had the most amazing red curls. Mom wanted me to make sure that I got photos that highlighted her hair. She wanted those memories of her little girl exactly as she was. Those are exactly the type of details that I love capturing for my clients.

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