Its spring time and along with spring cleaning I know lots of people love to get their updated family photos with all the beautiful spring colors! So maybe you have booked a photo session and maybe you are overwhelmed with the thought of planning your family photo session in your backyard with your own camera, either way, these tips will help you and your family look their best!!

So you have decided on a date for your family photos, now comes the hard part of figuring out what everyone is going to wear! As a mom of three daughters this is always a huge job!! So in an effort to make things easier for you, I have outlined a few tips on how to lay out the perfect coordinating outfits that will take your photos to the next level, justl like they came out of a magazine!!!

If your home has a signature color scheme try and figure out what that is and what colors compliment that space. If you know there is a certain place you want to hang that family portrait start in that space! Once you identify the colors of those rooms, see if one of those colors look good on you? If not, is there a color that you love to wear that would work well with the colors in that space? For example look at this photo from Pottery Barn. If this was your space and you had a family photo on the wall you may want to find outfits with a light blue, green, yellow, white and a shade of brown, with a cute ridding boot of course ;) - A photo with your family is those colors would compliment this space so much more than a family in orange, pink and purple (even though I doubt most families wouldn't have all those in one photos together lol).

Next tip and this is a BIG one!! Parents, always start with you!! I know its easy to put ourselves last and find the cute item for the kids but its actually so much harder to make you match the kids instead of the kids matching you! For me, if I like the way I look in the photo I am more likely to print it and keep it around the home, post it to Instagram and/or Facebook (and tag Katy Short Photography of course!). So start with those colors you found around your home and find a dress or top you love and feel confident in!! Then, if you have young kids this is easier to find items that they look good in because they always look cute and there are so many options for them!! If you have teenagers who are wanting to decide what they wear the next steps will help you give them guideline so they can find what they want while still giving them guidelines on color and pattern. The goal is that the family still looks like a cohesive unit and everyone is happy with what they are wearing! But first, find something you love and feel GREAT in!!

Keep patterns to a minimum...... If everyone has a patten on the shirt (like check, flowers, polkadots, etc.) the eye doesn't know where to look once the photos are printed. I always say keep it to a 3:1 ratio, so if you have just started growing your family and have one child, its best to put them in a pattern bc they are usually front and center. If you have a family of 5-6 you can have 1-2 of them in a pattern and everyone else wears a solid color. So back to that teenager, you can now tell them that they need to wear something with blue, green or yellow and it can or can't have a pattern. Now that they have the guidelines and are still feeling like they are in control of what they wear, will hopefully makes for a happy and smooth process.

An oldie but a goodie before we had our third!!

Another great tips is, accent with a fun pop of color! If you have a little girl with yellow pants, then its fun to have mom wear a scarf that is the same color. Or if a little boy has a teal shirt under a navy blue vest then mom or dad could do a shirt in that teal color. But try to limit the bright pops of color to one or two items. Like in this example the twins are in a pattern with a little yellow so big sister got to pop in an all yellow dress! Nailed it!

Don't put everyone in one color! There was a huge trend in the 90's where everyone wore white and it needs to stay in the 90's lol! A few years ago we gifted my in-laws a photo session with a local photographer for Christmas (they LOVED it by the way! So if you have that person that is hard to buy for, contact me about gift cards!!). Well the second year we did it, my mother-in-law wanted all the boys in the family to be in blue and the women in pink. Everyone in their family (three boys) have blue eyes and the blue shirt makes their eyes pop. This is great but the problem was that everyone wore all different shades of blue and pink. When this happens you are drawn to all the different shades and how the colors don't really flow, so when I see this I don't focus on everyone's faces in the photos instead I notice all the different blues. So whats interesting is by making everyone the same, it takes away from everyone's faces in the photo. I will say there is one exception to this and its if you have twins/triplets/ quadruplets..... in that case they are always cute when they are dressed the same!

Photo Courtesy of Melissa Butler Photography

I hope this helps you and your family look their best and take away some of the stress of having an upcoming family photo session! As always, when your a client on KSP I am here to help you from start to end to make your photos your best ones yet. Please don't hesitate to ask questions or send me your clothing laid out to see if it will all work together and in the space we planed your photo session.

About the Author:

Katy Short started as a family photographer about 4 years ago but does any and all things from engagements, to weddings, to newborns and family portraits with young and grown kids. She loves God, her Mr. Fix-it husband, three daughters, anything with chocolate. She is grew up in southern Louisiana but loves that she gets to call Mooresville, NC home and she secretly hopes to be able to move back so her daughter’s can experience all the unique things that make Louisiana special.