Having photographed family portraits for more years than he’d like to admit, Henry has been producing relaxed and professional family portraiture that become family heirlooms. Over the past 35 years that our studio has been in business (family business FTW!), we have been privileged enough to have photographed many of our clients’s families for the past few decades and we truly enjoy seeing babies growing up to cute kids then to teenagers then photographing their wedding and seeing this cycle continue again! We photograph your family portrait session either in our professional portrait studios with many sets and backgrounds ranging from contemporary to the classics or on location at your residence or an outdoor location. If you need some idea of that to wear for your family portrait session, scroll to the bottom of this post to see some of our tips.
Taking the time to properly prepare for your Family Portrait session is as important as the photography it’s self. Some of the things to consider include the skin tones of those being photographed, weight, height, and even hair color.
- Coordinate outfits. Everybody in the portrait should wear items that complement each other in style and color. It is not necessary for all clothes to match, but they must make sense together. For example, if dad wears a suit and grandma is wearing shorts and a t-shirt, the portrait may look unbalanced and poorly planned.
- Pick clothes appropriate to the portrait’s setting. An portrait in studio with an outdoor backdrop of fall leaves lends itself to casual clothing like khakis and crisp white shirts, or jeans and sweaters. A studio portrait with a plain colored background lends itself more to formal or semi-formal attire.
- Stick to solids and subtle patterns. Bold stripes, large designs and polka dots can clash and reduce the quality of a portrait.
- Dress in timeless clothing for your family portrait. Let your age, rather than the clothes you wear, date the portrait.
- Have appropriate shoes and socks. We take many variety of poses during the session including full-body shots, so if you wear sneakers with your dress, you’ll probably feel silly. If you plan to change clothes, bring shoes and socks to go with each outfit.
- Wear colors that translate well through photography. Dark colors like navy blue, black and earth tones look especially nice outdoors. White clothing can get lost against a white background, and dark clothing against a pastel provides nice contrast. Bright shades of yellow, orange and pink can alter skin tones and are not ideal for photographs.
- Clean and iron all clothing before the portrait. If your clothes wrinkle easily, change just before the sitting.
- Dark colors are slenderizing, so when deciding what colors to wear for a family portrait, you may want to take that into consideration.
- With young children, look them over from head to toe. A baby or toddler is likely to be posing on someone’s lap, so their entire outfit will be in the picture.
Thanks for stopping by! Please give us a call or send a quick note if you have any questions regarding my services!
Lucy’s Photo Studio | Henry Wang’s Work | email: memories@lucy-s.com | Call or Text us at 626-287-1112 for an Appointment