What shall I wear to my family portrait photoshoot?

So, you've booked your photoshoot, but what to wear?

I've seen all sorts of things over the years, and whilst it's isn't really a life or death decision, a bit of thought about it might be the difference between an "okay" picture and a lovely one.

My main suggestions for what to wear centre around two things: 

1. Feel comfortable and confident in what you wear.  It might seem like a good idea to get him dressed up in a fancy suit and bow tie, but your 3 year-old isn't going to appreciate it, and will most probably spend the whole time trying to escape from it.  Same for headwear - hats and jo-jo bows might be cute but you'll spend a lot of time keeping it straight and sorting their hair out after they've removed it a dozen times!  

Simple Tshirts and jeans will do the job just fine. 

2. Think about patterns and colours. Avoid anything too distracting.  It's all about the people, not their clothes.  Big bold patterns and large logos emblazoned across the chest are a big non-no for me. Save the sportswear for gym/playground.  Same with colours - keep it subdued, neutral and hopefully coordinated with each other.

Spot the odd one out! Shooting outdoors in cold weather, you might not have a vast selection of coats to choose from, so it's a bit trickier.  A bright red coat looks great for an individual, and works well against this leafy background, but in a group shot the red says "look over here!"  

Whilst the overall scheme works quite well together, a plainer T-shirt would have been less distracting.

Here, we see some patterns, but nothing too bold and the neutral colours work nicely together.

Blue, white and grey colours work well together here in this garden shot.

So, keep it simple, uncluttered, and nothing too "out there" and you'll be just fine!

If all else fails, we turn it black and white!