How to Prep For Your Shoot

Dressing yourself in the morning is hard enough when you don’t have to stand in front of a camera and be your best self. Choosing what to wear for a photoshoot can trigger even the most confident, fashionista to pull their entire wardrobe out onto the floor in search of the perfect outfit. So if your nerves start to fizz when you think about what to wear, don’t worry. This is SO normal! Before you lose sleep to late nights spent online shopping--putting articles of clothing in your cart only to take them out again--let’s talk about what works and what doesn’t. Number one thing I want you to remember? Being comfortable is EVERYTHING. You should look and feel like yourself, first and foremost.

 

 

Match your outfit.....To the location and the season

If you’re wearing a fancy ball gown in your living room, the viewer might assume you’re going to prom. A little sundress number in a snowy field and the viewer might suffer from a crippling amount of pity for you. You and I will be collaborating on telling your story together, so let’s get this right. Plan your outfits around what you know about the conditions at the location we’ll be shooting at. You’ll want to be warm enough (or cool enough!), have pain-free feet, and look relatively native to your environment. For at home sessions, slip into your comfiest clothes and rock that (pants optional). The idea is to authentically capture you wherever you are. Think through your clothing choices logically based on location, vibe, and comfort level.

 

 

 

 

Gather up a few outfits that you feel amazing in and we can play around with different combinations and create a look that matches you. What colors look best in your home? Do you have a signature color? Bring items that help you express yourself--I want you to grace my lens with your true, full personality! Providing styling helps me to make sure your threads compliment the environment - keeping the focus on you, where it should be! Don't like your closet of clothes? (I feel ya!) Don't worry-I also have a client closet you can choose from. It ranges in size from 00-24 so let's take a look.

Color scheme vs matching

Aim for neutrals, earthy tones, and metallic. These colors compliment the outdoor environment almost anywhere you go and look phenomenal  as a printed, framed photograph. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating for a beige world of quiet and inoffensive colors. By neutrals, I just mean softer tones. Primary colors are incredibly striking, but can sometimes have the effect of detracting from the main subject (which is you). So for example, instead of electric blue, go for something closer to sky blue. Instead of bright orange, opt for ochre or apricot. I'm a sucker for a blue-eyed beauty in turquoise or dark hair in mustard yellow.

 

 

A rule of thumb here is to choose to either complement your natural environment or contrast it. A mustard dress in a deep green forest will look epic, whereas a bright pink, patterned dress doesn’t really fit in with your surroundings. It totally depends on what you’re looking for! For families it’s best to keep your color scheme limited to four colors. You can choose one person to wear a feature color and have everyone else’s outfits complement that.

These colors, the ones that look incredible together, are called complementary colors. They complement each other and create a visual harmony. Complementary colors sit across from one another on the color wheel (i.e. blue and orange, red and green, yellow and purple). Remember, the environment can play a factor in your color wheel. If you're going to be outside in a field of grass (and we all know Florida grass isn't lush and green.) So since it is more yellow, opt for purples or burgundy.

 

 

You don’t want to create the illusion of being your partner's carbon copy. When multiple people wear the same color, sometimes their matching outfits blend together so much that you can’t really see any of them properly. Plus, the real you doesn't shine through. The viewer can’t tell where one person begins and another one ends. They turn into one uniform blob. In order for the aesthetics of your photograph to really sing, you want to find complementary outfits that showcase a variety of colors, textures, accessories, patterns, and tones. Complement the other people in the photograph as well as your surroundings. The idea is to have everything look good together without everything looking the same.

 

 

 

 

Avoid large bold patterns as they often dominate the photograph and detract attention from your beautiful face. Usually, subtle smaller patterns work best. Flannels or a light floral print are great when they complement the location. But less is definitely more with this one. Try to limit yourself to one pattern at a time. Matching patterns is a tricky task, and it’s super difficult to do well. If you’re not quite sure what category your patterned clothes fall into, shoot me an email or send me a text and I’ll be happy to weigh in.

You can’t have come this far, painstakingly planning your outfit, only to stop at your ankles. Shoes are a key part of a look and ideally complement the rest of the outfit. If you wear heels like a pro, I definitely don’t have the authority to tell you not to do that! But if you, like the rest of us mere mortals, find heels to be moderately uncomfortable, then do yourself a favor and ditch them. In most cases, we’ll be walking around on some relatively uneven terrain and I don’t want you spraining an ankle--not on my watch. I’ll probably be giving you some energetic prompts to follow, too, so you’ll want to be ready for action. Select the right shoes based on the location, and consider what you’d normally wear if I wasn’t following you around with a camera. Being barefoot makes sense on the beach, and boots are beautiful in fields. Leather is great for boots, and know that sandals win over flip flops by a long shot. Always consider context when choosing footwear for both aesthetic appeal and practicality. For the record, I love to be barefoot and will probably kick off my shoes if given the chance.

Props....

Props don’t have to scream ‘PROP!” Go for the subtle things that accentuate your personality and help to tell a story about your life. Think pets, an instrument, surfboards, an umbrella, bike; the possibilities are almost endless. This includes comfort items for kids. Kids need to feel comfortable, and we are capturing this season of life. If this season includes an attachment to a blankie, a bottle or, a car, then we will find a way to incorporate it in the session. As the mom to a kid on the spectrum, I will never ask you to take away their stimming or comfort item. Ever.