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Our Sydney based outdoor photography sessions are generally held in The Hills District, however we also photograph at some locations in The Hawkesbury region. We offer family photography sessions year round, with Autumn photography and Spring photography sessions being our most popular sessions to photograph. What you and your family wear to your photography session will have a big impact on how your final photo's look. To help you decide, I have put together a few tips below along with some idea's for colour schemes that work well for outdoor photography sessions. Tip #1 - Choose a style and stick with it! Are you going for a casual/natural look, or are you going for something a bit more formal? The style does not really matter - what matters most is consistency across all persons being photographed. For example, It wont look great if 3 out of 4 people are all dressed up in high end glamour and one person looks like they are heading to the beach. I am a big believer in wearing clothes that reflect your family's personality. If you and your family enjoy getting dressed up in formal wear and it's something you do often, then go for it. However if you feel most comfortable in casual wear, then stick to that. Otherwise you may find yourself looking back at the photo's and not liking them because they don't represent who you and your family are. Majority of my clients choose to wear casual or semi-formal clothes. Tip #2 - Choose 2-4 colours As with choosing a style that suits your family, I also highly recommend choosing a colour palette that suits your family too. I feel that 2-3 colours works best for small groups such as families of 4 and under and up to 4 colours is suitable for larger families. You can choose your colour palette based on a colour scheme that you love, or that may suit your home. You can also choose a colour scheme that suits the location or time of year. For example, if your outdoor photography session is being held in Autumn, then neutral/earthy tones will work really well. However if you want to add colour to your outfit, you can work with an earth tone for your base such as dark beige/tan and add colours like mustard, maroon, rust and dark green. If your session is being held in spring, you may like to use pastel colours in your clothing. Using multiple shades of one colour can also work really well. Tip - "Choose an outfit for mum first and then choose clothing that matches mum's outfit for everyone else. This works very well particularly if mum is wearing an outfit with multiple colours as those colours can be used in different ways for everyone else" Tip #3 - Accessorise Using accessories is a great way to add some little pops of colour to your outfits. Items such as boots/shoes, belts, necklaces, earrings, hair accessories, bow ties, braces etc all look great - so long as they match the style that is! Just remember not to overdo it - especially if adding jewellery - you want the accessories to add pops of colour not become the focus of your images. Tip #4 - Choose age appropriate clothing for the kids There is nothing worse than capturing the most perfect shot of a baby, only to find that the nappy is showing or that one shoe has fallen off somewhere in the chaos of photographing little kids. These are not things that can be fixed using photoshop so it is something that needs to be considered ahead of time. If you have little ones wearing a dress, please cover the nappy with a nappy cover of some sort so that the nappy is not noticeable in photos. If your little one likes to kick off shoes, then leave the shoes off - bare feet are super cute and way better than a photo with one shoe off and one shoe on! Tip #5 - Hair, make-up and hands I am often asked 'Should I get professional hair and make-up done for my photography session? My answer to this is that whilst it is not entirely necessary, investing in something that makes mum feel beautiful will pay off when looking back at your photos down the track. It is not necessary though, so if you would prefer to do your own, here are some tips; Use soft and/or neutral colours around the eyes - avoid anything that is too dark as it may make it difficult to see your eyes in the photos. Use colour on your lips so that they are nicely defined. Avoid using makeup with glitter - especially if being photographed outdoors Please consider wind and movement when choosing a hair style for yourself or anyone with long hair. If you will be bothered by having hair fall across faces, it will be a good idea to style hair so that it is off the face. Everyone's hands will be in your photo's - It is important to ensure that any old nail polish is removed and that hands are clean. If nails are to be painted, please use a neutral colour tone and avoid anything that is too dark or bright as this will be a distraction in your photos. Tip #6 - You don't need to spend a lot of money to look good! One of the biggest assumptions people make is that they need to buy expensive clothes for their photography session! This is not true at all! I would suggest looking in your wardrobe first and seeing what you have - you might be surprised what you can put together! If you need to buy (or want to buy) new clothes and you are on a budget, then look at stores like H&M, Kmart, Target, Cotton On Kids and Big W. They often have great clothes especially if you are going for a casual look. If you want something a little nicer, then stores like Forever New, Dotti, Colorado, Witchery, Connor etc will have something suitable. Tip #7 - What to avoid wearing in your outdoor photography session There are definitely some things that don't work or don't look so great in photography sessions. To ensure your photo's are spectacular you need to avoid the following; Avoid wearing all black or all dark clothing - If you prefer dark clothing, add some neutral tones to break things up a little. Avoid wearing any clothing with visible logos, words, or graphics. Avoid wearing clothing with distracting patterns such as tartan, chevron/zig zag etc - Soft patterns and florals do work well though. Polka dots can also work, however avoid tiny dots that are situated very close together. Avoid wearing fluro/neon colours Avoid dressing everyone in the same/matching outfit. Still not sure what to wear? Click here to see some more photography clothing idea's. You can also give me a call and I'm more than happy to provide some more guidance on what to wear during your session.