What to Wear to A Photoshoot - Styling Tips!

What to Wear to your Photoshoot

What Help Deciding What to Wear to a Shoot?

We have a lot of clients who may have this question: “What should I wear to my photoshoot?” Always be sure to ask your photographer this question, because it’s one we love to be asked! Photographers edit and look through hundreds to thousands of photos per month or year, so we all have a good idea of what may look the most flattering for your final gallery. We have no problem providing inspiration for you.

Tips from the Mayfield’s:

Choose a color pallet!

Whether you are taking single portraits of yourself, a couples session or your new yearly family photos, choosing one color pallet is the right way to go. When choosing a color palette, different tones of color can mix together and compliment the photos and each person in them. If colors clashed, you would notice the awkwardness in your photos! 

If your session is during sundown, your photos will have a natural golden glow. At this time, oranges, browns, burgundy or other neutral or pale tones will compliment the glow of your skin and your overall photos. We typically advise to steer clear of whites (unless it’s a white tee under a button up, dark jacket or cardigan), neons or other unnatural colors. These tend to distract from the overall photo and can negatively reflect colors. Dark clothing compliments bodies the most and causes eyes to focus on you.

Hair, makeup and nails being done is always a yes! It always makes the final look pop when these and accessories also fall within the same color pallet. If one of you is wearing gold accessories, it’s safe to all wear gold accessories. If silver, keep it all to silver.

If you're someone who wears glasses, it may be best to take them off for your session unless they are non-reflective.

Choose a clothing style. 

If there are multiple people in your session, keeping the same style helps keep the overall “look” stay together. If one person is dressed casual while another is dressy, it may look just a tad off. We do however want to encourage every one of our clients to express who they are through they’re clothing. If you love to have a fashionable style, we encourage all to bring their favorite outfits to capture their personality throughout their session. Whether it’s boho dresses and hats, a retro/vintage style, or being completely dressed up in the most casual place, we love it! The most enjoyable sessions to shoot are the unique one’s unlike any other. Don’t be afraid to be yourself with your photographer! 

If you may be worried about appearing more slender within your photos, we recommend not wearing spaghetti straps, short sleeves, shorts, clothing with patterns/prints, overly wide necklines, ruffles around the abdominal area or bright colors, especially white. The more simple the better!

Share your outfit thoughts with your photographer.

If you share your outfit thoughts with your photographer, it may make it very easy for them to know the perfect place to take you. If you choose to wear an outfit consisting of blue jeans, a cowboy hat and cowboy boots to your shoot and your session is set to be at a more modern or fancy location, chances are your photographer has another spot in mind that would look perfect with your outfits to bring the photos together. Always choose your outfit, then choose the location based on what you want to wear! Your session should revolve around you, your occasion and who you are, not the other way around.

Keep your photos timeless.

When looking through a photo album, there are a few things that could “date” a photo. We encourage our clients to refrain from wearing or using things like cell phones, iWatches, current clothing-fads, logos or anything that may permanently mark the year and time of your photos. New technology and styles of clothing are released yearly as time evolves. When you look at your photos without anything that dates them years from now, it wouldn’t be as easy to tell when your photos were taken. The small effort to be sure your photos are timeless may be rewarding in the future, unless you have portraits taken yearly.

When it comes to what to wear for your session, ask your photographer for inspiration and/or show photos of your own ideas! Don’t be afraid to be unique to your personality to show through the photos you take. Choose a color pallet that will compliment your photos and coordinate with anyone else who may be in your group. Most importantly, don’t forget to be confident and have fun with every frame taken!