My goal for my sessions is to take a lifestyle photography approach. This means I am focusing on capturing true spirit and emotion. I will provide some lightly posed images but the majority of the gallery will aim to document your true self.
Some children are not used to and therefore often scared at photo sessions, but please refrain from disciplining during the session. Too much correction often produces unnatural angry smiles. If a child is struggling to cooperate, please allow me to talk them off the ledge.
Prospective clients might think that the beautiful “candids” in a lifestyle photographer’s portfolio are taken in a totally hands-off documentary fashion. I’ll let you in on a little secret: *most of the time* they are 100% prompted. That doesn’t at all mean that the emotions are not genuine! It just means that candid expressions come from specific things I am telling each family to do! You’ll see a large majority of this style image in your gallery. The best advice I can give is to be a slightly more happy/romantic/fun/affectionate version of yourself. You will find me taking pics in between "poses" - during these moments, there's no need to look at the camera or remind anyone in your group to smile and look.
I’ll begin by telling you that this is my personal preference after photographing tons of families in all kinds of outfits. I want you to wear what you want, but also what will look amazing in your family photos. So if you are wondering what patterns look great, and which don’t photograph so well, read on and I’ll explain!
We will start here, because there are tons of patterns that will look great that you could wear, so it’s easier to explain what I don’t think looks all that great.
Dark against light: Patterns (especially small ones) that have a dark color against a light color can be very distracting. I’m mostly talking about geometrical patterns, here.
Small, close together stripes: This just tends to look trippy in photos, and sometimes gives this weird effect called moiré that you don’t want. Trust me. Stripes are especially bad when combined with the above problem pattern (dark against light).
There are lots of great patterns to wear that will look great in family photos, I couldn’t list them all or even think of them all! But here are some of my tried and true favorites.
Florals: You can find so many different kinds of florals that look amazing in photos! Smaller, spaced out floral patterns look awesome, and so do larger florals. I also really love a simple floral pattern where the background is one color, and the flowers are another. You can even find floral patterns that are busy but still look great!
Stripes: I love stripes as long as they aren’t skinny and close together. Thick stripes, or skinny stripes that are spaced out look amazing.
Subtle Shapes: Subtle is the operative word here. If you’re going to have a pattern like this where the shape repeats throughout the item, you want the colors to not be too different (So don’t do black and white or something like that). I love lighter color shirts with a white shape like this dad’s shirt:
Textures can really add a lot of interest in your photos, but in a more subtle way. I am obsessed with textures and I suggest you add as much texture as possible! You can’t have too much (unlike patterns). Some textures I love are lace, corduroy, knits, chambray, gauzy or crepe fabrics, velvet, swiss dots, and waffle cloth.
The trick to choosing patterns for your family photos is that you don’t want to have too many and make your photos too busy. Usually I’d suggest sticking to one or two patterns and have solid colors and textures for the rest. But there are exceptions to that rule! I’m always available to help all my clients figure out clothing, so if you have questions, I’m here!
Sometimes you can get away with having two or three floral patterns, you just have to make sure the patterns are different enough. For example: One smaller floral print, and one larger.
Or don’t wear patterns at all and stick to textures! Wearing lots of textures looks amazing in photos.
Check out my Pinterest Board for more ideas