Portrait Session Prep
Share this on:
Seasonal Color Palettes
Seasons through-out the year play an important role in setting distinctive moods for outdoor portrait photography. Along with that, what we wear in different seasons can reflect and enhance our personalities. Most families heading into a photo session might already have their favorite outfits picked out and ready to go while leaving the overall color palette as an afterthought. But if done correctly, coordinating colors for your entire family’s wardrobe for the portrait session goes a long way in yielding superb photo results. With this in mind, I’ve created a Pinterest Board here: Seasonal Color Palettes Pinterest Board to help you start your planning. Here you’ll find various color palettes for different seasons of the year similar to the following two palettes (pictured below) to help in color selections.
Also note that color trends change on a yearly basis, so what might be in style last year could already be out of style by this year.
Three Colors Maximum
Once you’ve found your desired color palette for the respective season, I suggest selecting a maximum of three colors from said palette to use for your family’s wardrobe. Secondly, try to keep all main wardrobe items as solid colors while keeping avoiding stripes, plaids, or patterns and prints. These only serves as unnecessary distractions stealing attention away from the main focal point of the composition, you and your family’s beautiful smiles.
Your family’s wardrobe doesn’t have to match one another exactly as long as you’re consistent in colors.
Example: if you decide to go with a red, white, and blue color scheme:
- Family Member #1 = Red top + White pants/skirts + Blue accents/accessories
- Family Member #2 = Blue top + Red pants/skirts + White accents/accessories
- Family Member #3 = White top + Blue pants/skirts + Red accents/accessories
Accent and accessory items include hats, shoes, belts, suspenders, ties, bows, ribbons, necklaces, bracelets, etc. As you can see, it’s pretty much anything worn that isn’t a part of the main outfit.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this is your portraits so the outfits and color choices up to you. As a reminder, you and your family will be shooting outdoors so dress appropriately for the weather. Children need to be as comfortable as possible in order to last the duration of session. Finally, if anyone in your party plans to wear high heels for the outdoor session, consider bringing a comfortable pair of walking shoes and/or sandals for areas of rough terrain.
This Post Has One Comment
Thank you!!!