Dress Guidelines
Memorable portraits take careful planning, and the clothing you choose is very important. These guidelines will help you to make clothing decisions that will enhance the style of your artwork.
1) Clothing Selection
One of the major keys to a successful portrait is proper clothing selection. We want you to look your absolute best! Remember the objective of this portrait: a beautiful, sensitive image that shows relationships and personalities of each person in the portrait. Because you want your portrait to stand the test of time, and not appear dated by fashion fads, your clothing choices should be simple and classic.
2) Faces, Not Clothing
Our goal is to produce a timeless portrait for you. The subtlety of your clothing is very important. Complementary colors make a large group blend together and create a feeling of family unit. No one person should “jump” out of the portrait because of the color or style of clothing, so when selecting clothing, work for simplicity, balance and color coordination. Simple, timeless outfits photograph best because they are not distracting. This allows the viewer’s eye to go to the faces in the portrait. It is faces, not clothing, that should dominate a portrait.
3) Skin Highlights
Whether working with light or dark complexions, the objective always is for the face to dominate the portrait. Accordingly, skin highlights must be the lightest, brightest, most intense areas of the portrait
4) No Distractions
Remember, dark colors are more forgiving and light colors tend to show wrinkles. Please avoid loud Patterns, Stripes, Plaids and Sports Logo’s as these will distract your eyes from the faces of your family members.
5) Comfort
In general, three-quarter or long sleeves work best for both ladies and gentlemen. Clothing should fit comfortably, and you should avoid clothing that restricts movement or sitting positions. For example you may be asked to try sitting on the floor, or on the edge of a chair to create an attractive angle. Your clothes should not restrict these actions.
6) Babies
Babies; one of our favorite subjects! Babies are so sweet and soft. Please remember this when selecting clothing for your baby’s portrait. We suggest plain, simple outfits without big collars or ruffles to get in the baby’s face. Bare feet are adorable, shoes or socks often make the feet look large and out of proportion, after all bare feet, chubby legs and arms are what a baby is all about! It is a good precaution to bring at least one extra outfit in case of an accident. You may want to dress the baby at the location to prevent any mishaps on the way.
7) Children
Children; we love to capture the simplicity and innocence of childhood. It is our goal to have your child be the most important and prominent element of the portrait. Often we will work with just the child, with few or no props at all. It is the simplicity of the clothing that will “make or break” the portrait. Your child will be much happier if they are photographed in comfortable clothing. This can be either casual or a dressy look.
8) Well Fed, Well Rested
One last and very important item is to insure that everyone (especially young children) at the portrait session be well rested and have eaten prior to the session. Nothing spoils a portrait session faster than a tired or hungry subject.
