No matter if you’ve booked a cake smash, engagement session, or its time for those annual holiday photos - there are a few things you can do to ensure this is the easiest, and best, portrait session ever.

NO STRESS ALLOWED
It sounds silly, but the absolute worst thing you can do is show up a photography session stressed out, tense, and anxious. Being stressed out and anxious will have a bigger impact on the photos than being late or wearing the wrong outfit. We’re pretty good at getting people out of their heads and make our sessions as fun as possible, but it never hurts to give us a helping hand by being as relaxed and laid back as possible!

Our job as photographers is to capture images where you look happy, relaxed, comfortable - in short, your as your best self. Great light, a beautiful location, and stunning outfits can do a lot to make your look your best but the most important element of a photo session will always be your facial expressions and body language. In short - how you feel is how you’ll look.

This goes double for your family. If you are worried about your kids looking good the best thing you can do to ensure that is to not stress them out and let us work on getting the better parts of their personality to show.

PLAN YOUR OUTFITS CAREFULLY
The perfect time of day, the right location and the right outfit are key pieces of a beautiful photo session. We have already scouted many different locations to find the perfect ones to shoot at, and we always schedule our shoots during the best light of the day. Once you decided on a location for the session (our backyard and the river are gorgeous nature locations) it’s time to select an outfit.

For women we suggest dresses and skirts: they are flattering and look stunning. Long, full-length, flowy dresses and skirts look amazing on camera because they bring extra movement to the photos. Especially when juxtaposed with nature, like the desert, forest, plains or beach. Consider softer fabrics like chiffon or tulle which allow for beautiful movement in the images.

Three-quarter length sleeves create an awesome slimming effect on all arms, so be on the lookout for an option with a longer length sleeve. You could also bring a cute jacket, blazer or cardigan along, too. Skinny straps or strapless dresses have the opposite effect on arms on camera, so we recommend avoiding those whenever possible if your goal is a set of slimmer-looking arms.

For men, solid shades of gray or navy are a strong compliment to most women’s outfits, whereas pinstripes or plaid patterns tend to distract the eye. We also recommend staying away from graphics and logos. Long, fitted pants and closed-toed shoes are the most sophisticated and masculine looks for men.

When choosing colors for your outfits, we recommend selecting softer, lighter tones and more muted shades. By avoiding ultra-bright, bold colors, it will help bring all the attention to your faces and let the eye focus on the way you feel about each other. The camera loves shades of soft pink and muted blues, mixed with sophisticated light neutrals like heather gray, creams, leather brown and white. That softer color palette fits beautifully into almost all natural outdoor environments.

As you’re coordinating your outfit with your family, keep in mind that your outfits will look the most cohesive on camera when the color palette and wardrobe pieces coordinate, but don’t actually “match.” In fact, we recommend that you avoid thinking about “matching,” and instead think about what “fits” together. This will create more visual interest, and allow each personality to shine through.

If you have multiple children, don’t put them all in the same type of outfit. For example, one of your daughters could wear a dress and flats, while the other wears pants or a skirt and boots. One of your sons could wear a bowtie, while the other one wears suspenders. Mixing up the wardrobe pieces will bring a great visual interest to the photos

At the end of the day, the key is to feel great in whatever you’re wearing. How you feel will show on your face in the images.