SHOOT guide

We recommend women wear medium or long dresses as short dresses will be a challenge when we do any seated photos. Maxi dresses give you something to twirl in plus it covers your legs when you sit.

Consider colour and seams in undergarments. The right colour and the right type of underwear for whatever outfit you’ve chosen. Make sure there is no pulling / cutting in on you, no tight elastic etc. Do an underwear check to see if you have undie lines showing. This is particularly relevant for maternity shoots. If you don’t want bra straps showing choose clothes that properly covers your undergarments, in all types of movement scenarios.

Strapless dresses can pinch in, you’ll be moving around a lot, not standing still in the ‘perfect’ position. You want to be able to sit/ stand / twirl in it.

Remove scrunchies and hair-ties on wrists

For ladies

Keep it casual and comfortable, most guys don’t wear dress shirts, especially in their downtime, so sometimes this has them feeling over dressed. Linen, loose cottons on collared shirts, breathable fabrics, or a T-shirt with an open shirt over the top will help look less business-y. Empty those pockets of phones and keys!

for gents

For little girls – Avoid large sleeves, collared shirts and flutter sleeves on girl’s dresses/rompers as these can flip up and cover little faces from certain angles. Try the outfits and accessories on beforehand and see how they wear with movement and a little handling. Dresses will fly up, or ride up when a child is being carried so if you aren’t comfortable with a little flashing, go long, or pop something underneath.

FOR GIRLS

Pants and shirts for very young boys are cute but not always that practical, as soon as you pick them up the shirt rides up and get creased, the pants ride down tags are out and the nappy is out, it’s fussy and can waste time. ( If you’re committed go for it) but rompers and all-in-ones are so much easier! They can be thrown up and around without worrying about adjusting the outfit to cover nappies etc

FOR BOYS

Colour Sets the Whole Mood

How to Make Everyone’s Outfits Work Together

things to avoid

Choosing one outfit is hard enough right?! Let alone for a whole family! Our strategy is to lay it all out so you can see how the colours and textures work together. Our tip is to  pull out all the possible options you like from your wardrobe and then narrow it down by pairing things up or seeing where the gaps are. Take photos as you go and then you can flick through these to compare which option looks better. Once you have the final options you can clearly see any bits and pieces that might be missing. 

Another great way to match tones is to choose a favourite piece of clothing or the one piece you know for sure that someone in the family will wear and build everybody else’s garments around that. If Mum’s dress or top has a print, match the colours in the rest of the family’s outfits.

The colours you choose to wear will change the whole look and feel of your photos, and really depends on the story you want to tell. We love to work with warm, earthy and neutral tones. Think olive, rust, beige, dusty pink. However, these are your images, so if your favourite top is bright blue, wear that!

For family portraits and larger groups, our advice is to colour coordinate tones but not to all wear the exact same colour. A really bright red does not tend to photograph well. Neither does black as all the details get lost in the shadows. Dark gray, dark wash jeans, and dark olive are great substitutions for black. On the opposite end, wearing bright white can cast bright spots onto faces in certain light, or look blue rather than white. Off-white and cream are great, though, and also white lace is fine because it has so much texture.

With babies and toddlers pop them in a nappy cover to cover their nappies.
If you have a spilly baby you might like to have a spare outfit just in case!

FOR  BABIES