Helpful Hints for preparing for your photo shoot

This page is designed to assist you to prepare for your portrait photo session. If you have any questions about your session, what to wear, how to pose, what to tell the children etc., you should find the answers here. If you don't, please call me personally to discuss any queries that you have.

Clothing Suggestions

The images we create will be beautiful works of art and a part of your and your children's lives for many years to come. We are happy to make some suggestions based on experience and industry standards.

It is important to wear clothing that is timeless and will look acceptable in 25 years from now. The clothing should not dominate your images as your face should always be the feature of any portrait. Clothing should be well fitting, comfortable, modest and unassuming. Avoid logos, large pictures, emblems, bright colours or bold, busy patterns. All of these detract from the people in the image and can spoil the general feel or mood of you images.

A popular suggestion is white shirts and blue jeans but this is not your only choice. Our suggestion is to only wear white if everyone else is wearing white, or the white will dominate you final image. Just remember when dressing your family for photographs it helps to have uniformity. This does not mean a "uniform" (all exactly the same), but similar colours and styles that go together and compliment each other.

It is quite acceptable to wear glasses for your shoot however, if possible, try to wear coated glasses that minimise reflection. If you don't have non-reflective eye wear, you may wish to speak to your optometrist to see if they can loan you a pair or make suggestions.

Ladies

Long sleeves top or shirt, 3/4 length or full length trousers, skirts or dresses in solid colours works best. Wear modest clothing that suits your shape and in which you feel comfortable and confident. Remember, everything is exaggerated in photographs, so a cleavage line will always appear lower and a hem line will always appear shorter. Avoid current trends or fads in clothing, you may regret it in years to come!

Gentlemen

Long sleeves shirt, 3/4 length or full length trousers. Jeans always work well for the casual location shoot and collared shirts open at the neck look smart yet casual and timeless.

Children

Clothing for children should above all, be well fitting. You can get away with more variation in children's clothing but still try to keep it simple and timeless. Remember the uniformity and avoid clashing colours and patterns.

Feel free to have available a change of clothing to add variety to your images.

Hair

If you are considering having a hair cut, it is suggested that it be done at least a week before your shoot.

If you have long hair and your shoot is on location, bring a hair brush and some hair ties or suitable head band in case it gets windy and your hair becomes unmanageable.

Try to keep children's hair in a style they are used to so they are not fussing with it and can concentrate on having fun during the shoot!