Portrait Shoots
LOCATION & STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY
What to wear?
IF trying to dress your family for your shoot is proving super stressful, then here's some tips on what really works.
Essentials
6 Main Tips
The main tips when choosing your photo shoot outfits...
1. Consider your location or backdrop
2. Co-ordinate Colours
3. Avoid busy clothes or tops with logos
4. Choose a colour scheme
5. Keep clothing simple for timeless photos
6. Wear what makes you comfortable
Location Portrait Shoots
Accessorisies
Consider your location
Dress for the weather
Definitely consider your location when choosing your outfits. My main locations are Walltown Quarry, the woods and with an Autumn backdrop later in the year. So always take this into consideration when choosing your colour schemes. Especially if they are busy backdrops it's great to keep clothes simple and then you stand out.
Dress for the temperature. In the autumn/winter months it's much better to have warm children in coats than a little shirt and shivering. Trust me they'll comply and enjoy the experience a lot more if they're warm. So bring them a coat along and we can get a mixture of coat on and off.
Hats, coats, wellies, headbands and tutus all make great accessorises and can add variety to your photos as they are easily taken off too. Wellies are definitely a great idea for little explorers who love splashing in puddles and streams.
STUDIO Portraits
What the hell to wear?
Family
Cake Smash
Siblings
Newborn
NEWBORN
FAMILY PHOTOS
WHITE BACKDROP...
BLACK BACKDROP...
GENERAL TIPS...
I usually like to add in a couple of family portraits on the white backdrop. For this set up, white clothing or a natural colour palette look great. And baby is super cute stripped down to their vest or naked for these. Or if you love the white backdrop we can use this for all you family photos.
I love the black backdrop for my family shots because it takes away from what your wearing and really focuses on yourselves and your newborn. So dark colours really work especially black. And these look great in black and white too. Timeless portraits that you will look back on and love forever.
 I do love it when we get baby naked for these photos too. But of course that does often have it's consequences for you ;) So feel free to bring baby an outfit along for the family shots. Or if your feeling brave we'll get baby stripped off for these too. When choosing your outfit for baby remember not to put on anything that swamps/hangs off them. We really want to see baby. Get those little hands and toes out. And choose an outfit that co-ordinates but makes them stand out and of course your favourite outfit that they look SUPER CUTE in!
I do also offer the option of the white, grey, cream and brown backdrop too if you would rather those.
Always consider your backdrop first when choosing an outfit.
When choosing your families outfit select outfits that co-ordinate. You can do this by choosing a colour palette and selecting 3-4 colours to use. Think in terms of tones: blue tones, earth tones, neutrals, pastels etc. Then you can have different styles but the whole family with co-ordinate and connect in the photograph.
Don't stress about footwear for parents. You won't see your feet as I tend to do a close up crop. However your children's feet may appear at some point. So definitely consider their shoes. Or even better get their bare feet out. It's more natural and definitely more appealing to the camera then the soles of their shoes.
WEAR WHAT YOU'RE COMFORTABLE IN...
Remember you've just had a baby and your wardrobe will be all over the place. So firstly wear what makes you feel comfortable. I do capture the family photos first so if you do want to get changed after those into something that's better suited for feeding you of course can. Also the room will be nice and warm! So keep this in mind when you're layering up.
Newborn & Siblings
BABY'S OUTFITS
SIBLING PHOTOS
My best advice is don't get carried away and expect to have them in lots of different outfits. I know it's really easy done. Because let's face it all baby clothes are cute! Feel free to bring a few outfits along if your not sure and want my advice. But baby will not enjoy all the outfit changes. And my photography is more aimed at photographs of them nude in blankets, wraps which are a lot easier to change and disturbs them much less. I would advise one outfit or two at the most. Check you like the outfit before you come. And feel free to bring along any blankets, wraps and little headbands or hats you have if you desire but I do have lots to choose from.
For sibling photographs I tend to do a shot from above on the grey or cream fluffy mat depending on which colour scheme you go for. So outfit wise for this, remember to co-ordinate to the colour you've chosen for your backdrop and to each other. Or you can go really natural and boys go topless with jeans on and have baby wrapped up in one of my studio wraps. I also tend to do another set up of them together if big brother or sister is still enjoying/playing along. So you could have a mixture of both.
Let's get naked
COLOUR SCHEME
The main aim for my newborn photographs is to get those cute natural shots of baby with no clothes on with different wraps and blankets. Of course you'll find your baby doesn't like to part with their clothes. So what tends to work well is if we get them stripped down to their nappy, wrap them up in a blanket and give them a feed to help them go off into a happy milk sleep in a nice warm room. And once their nappy comes off, don't panic, accidents of course happen and I'm very very used to it.
I do like to keep my colour schemes natural for newborn photos so I mainly use white, grey and cream blankets. And we can continue these colour schemes with the props or incorporate different colours with the hats, headbands and wraps. If you do have colour schemes in mind it's great to discuss them beforehand then I'm ready to go. If your not sure what colours then consider what will match your walls at home that the photos will be hanging on. Check out the newborn gallery for examples of different colour scheme.
STUDIO
PORTRAITS
NEUTRAL CLOTHING
Neutral clothes are timeless and simple to do. Wear a combination of creams, tan & grey. It works with most set ups and the soft neutrals brings the focus back to the people in the photos.
WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY
DECIDE YOUR BACKDROP
There's something really timeless about a white backdrop and white clothing. Especially with children and babies. The best idea is always keep it simple and then your focus is drawn straight to the subject in the photo. I do love white vests or even topless photos to make your little one really stand out.
The most important starting point is choosing what colour backdrop you'd like for your shoot and then co-ordinate your outfits to suit it. When deciding your backdrop consider what will work on your wall at home. My backdrop options are white, cream, grey, black and brown.
DENIM
A popular look is white & denim. It means you can mix outfits but still have a timeless clean look.
AVOID LOGOS
Tops with logos and big patterns are distracting and take away the focus from you. They also date the photo and you want to look back and love these photos in years to come.
Coordinate colours
BABY SITTER PORTRAITS
There are loads of outfits and options for this age. Just remember your colour scheme and have fun with the rest. Here's some ideas...Timeless white vest, dungarees, knitted robbers, tutus, floral rompers, jumper and nappy pants, no clothes, braces, caps, tummy out, hats and headbands. I do have some outfits available in the studio. But you can find some great buys on Zara & Etsy.
Choose outfits that coordinate rather than match. You can do this by choosing a colour palette of 3-4 colours and your backdrop will be the starting place for this. Think in terms of tonnes: Blue tonnes, earth tonnes, neutrals, pastels etc. And then you can have different styles but the whole family coordinate perfectly.
SHOES
For family photos you tend not to see parent's shoes as I like to do closer crops which means no feet. But your children's feet will most likely appear in the photos at some point. So definitely consider their shoes or even better get their bare feet out. It's much more natural and definitely more appealing to the camera then seeing the sole of shoes.
CAKE SMASH
CAKE SMASH
CAKE SMASH
COLOUR PALETTE
First decide on your colour scheme. I tend to use a white or neutral backdrop so all the colour is in the balloons and outfit choice. We will discuss the colour palette before your shoot.
OUTFIT INSPO
Bring along two outfits- one for the family shot and normal portrait photo at the start and an outfit for the cake smash
.Remember your little one is going to get messy! So nothing that you'll be sad has cake all over it. You can get lots of "one" tops from etsy, amazon and eBay in all sorts of designs. Which can be matched up with jeans, shorts, bare legs, nappy covers, braces, bow ties or tutus for my girls out there. Have fun with this one- Just remember your colour palette. I do also have some clothing items available in the studio so ask me prior to your shoot about those.
BATH SPLASH
WHAT TO WEAR?
This is the perfect end to your shoot to wash off all the cake. This is a nude shot unless you want them in a little outfit. My only advice is remember a towel. But I do have spares just incase.
CAKE SMASH
