caramel corn with white chocolate and almonds
finding open shade
kristen duke summer favorite things giveaway bucket
Fudgy Vanilla Brownie
neon orange anchor

What to wear for family portraits

I’ve been chatting on my facebook page, helping my readers plan for their family  portraits. I LOVE designing clothing for a photo shoot, especially the challenge of coordinating, instead of matchy-matching with a family.  The bigger the family, the more fun the challenge!  I was helping a friend shop last week for clothing for her family portraits, because the idea just overwhelmed her.  She decided on grays and blacks (great for winter photos), and I suggested a splash of color…but what color?  I’m still not sure what they will go for, but I am building this post around grays and blacks and a splash of color.  Here are some fun clothing suggestions ideas I’ve found  online:

A touch of YELLOW…

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Now, before you get all crazy about where to buy this stuff, the link above is from a year ago, and the items are likely unavailable now.  BUT, use this as a guide…mom doesn’t need a yellow leather jacket (though it pretty much rocks) but a yellow cardigan would work.  I love how the little girl just has a touch of yellow in her headband and the shoes.  Yes, shoes matter!  The investment for family portraits aren’t JUST for the photographer/prints, but in cohesive clothing and bringing it all together for an overall beautiful look. I shop and buy and shop and buy and return, return, return after I have what I want.

Here is a splash of yellow on REAL people:

love those peekaboo yellow tights, hint of yellow shoes, yellow shirt poking out of the mans plaid shirt–LOVE!

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A touch of GREEN…

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A touch of RED…

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OR

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A touch of TEAL…

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And check out these handsome people pulling it all together from this inspiration board:

recognize anyone?

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See…painless, right?

Kristen Duke

Kristen Duke

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Kristen Duke
Kristen Duke
Kristen Duke

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Comments

  1. 1

    Great, great suggestions Kristen. We did a family portrait last year (the first one in 19 years – many regrets about that) and didn’t think about coordinating us until the day before. It worked out wonderfully, but I truly hadn’t thought about it. We’re going to give my parents the gift of a family session, including my brother and his family, for Christmas and your suggestions are just terrific!

  2. 2

    I couldn’t live without ‘what to wear’ guides! I designed our entire wardrobe based on suggestions like these from pinterest! ;)

  3. 3
    Julie Bogoevski says:

    Hi Kristen, I love reading your blog, where can I get these, what to wear suggestion sheets to e-mail to a client before a family shoot, do you buy them from somewhere or make them up yourself. I know I have seen them on other photogs sites but can’t figure out how to get them so I can use them with my clients. Thank you so much for sharing ! Julie

  4. 4

    Hi Kristen – great round up! I’ve actually pointed clients in your direction before on how to coordinate. I finally got to apply it to my own family! It even includes a dress that’s in the Red board above. Check out the purple fall outfits I picked, I also linked back to you :)

    http://adaywithlilmama.blogspot.com/2011/11/coordinating-fall-family-portrait.html

  5. 5

    Hi Kristen – great round up! I’ve actually pointed clients in your direction before on how to coordinate. I finally got to apply it to my own family! It even includes a dress from the Red board above. Check out the purple outfits I picked, I also linked back to you :)

    http://adaywithlilmama.blogspot.com/2011/11/coordinating-fall-family-portrait.html

    Mindy

  6. 6

    I love the post. The color and style are perfect. This is not only the photography but fashion and design. ” A Touch of Red” is my favorite now.

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