My Tips on How to Decide What to Wear

It can take weeks for some people to decide what to wear for family photos, and minutes for others. Here are a few of my favorite tips for deciding what to wear for your family photo session:

1. Comfort is key! When people, especially kids, are uncomfortable it is sometimes hard to hide. Make sure your entire family feels good in what they are wearing (even if it isn't perfectly matched)!

2.a. Dress the most difficult to dress, first. If you know that it's Dad who is the pickiest and only wants to wear one of three shirts, pick that out first. Or sometimes it's Mom who has a hard time finding something she likes, pick out Mom's outfit first. Then, build off of that!

2.b. Lay it all out! On the floor, on the bed, on the couch - wherever works for you - but lay it all out and see what you think. Change out a top here and a scarf there until you get something you like. Take a few photos on your phone of the layouts so you can go back to them later to see what you did and what looks best to you!

3. Don't wear something that needs constant fixing. You know what I mean; that top with the collar that flips up because it's been washed a few times and just doesn't lay right anymore, too many layers that tend to bunch up, the too short shirt that needs to be pulled down, or the pants that are a size too big and need to be pulled up. It will irritate you to be fixing yourself or your family the whole time. I will do my best to make sure that collar stays flat in the photos but sometimes those things have a mind of their own!

4. Don't match, coordinate! Below are a few of my Pinterest finds for What to Wear options. They all include patterns and at least four colors. The only thing I might add to some of them is a little more of a color "pop". Some of them have a great color scheme, but need something to add a little more fun to it and make it seem a little less forced. Yes, you want to look well together, but hey, you're a family, you already look well together! Also, you can do a Google image search for "What to wear in family photos" and find a million ideas!

5. Be yourself, but have fun! Wear things that portray the best version of yourselves. You know that shirt you just bought that you think might be a little different than you're used to, but you're actually dying to wear? Yea, that one - pick that one. You don't want your friends and family to wonder whose in those photos, but you DO want them to say,"Wow! You guys look great!"

6. Be COMFORTABLE! Oh wait, did I mention that already? Again, when everyone feels good in what they are wearing, because it doesn't itch AND it makes them "feel" good on the inside, they are usually much happier. I mean, aren't you happier in those clothes? ;)

 Below are just a few of my own clients with some great coordination going on. Although, I must say, I think every client I've had has done a great job with their wardrobe - not one session with everyone in exactly the same color :)

They stuck with blues and grays, but mom's scarf added some extra "pops" of color

Different blues were a good start, but the pops of yellow on mom, baby girl and
even the t-shirt on little man there are the perfect touch!

So, the guys had the same scarf, and it was actually pretty cute.

Marin - 18 months

I feel like we just had Marin's First birthday party and now she's 18 months! 

We had some beautiful weather for her photos so we were able to finally get outside! However we had two (minor) issues to deal with today. First of all, I put the headband I wanted on this child, went to grab my camera so we could head outside, turned around and it wasn't on her head anymore! A few days later and we STILL have not found it! So, we found a few replacement hair accouterments and made do. Secondly, we have a pirate ship playhouse in our backyard and she hadn't been on it all winter until a few days prior to this when her Aunt took her out and let her go down the spiral slide for the first time. Now she is obsessed with it and MUST go down the slide a million times. Needless to say, sitting in the yard near the ship was not happening so some of the pictures were taken on the ship itself. Again, we make do and move on.

She had a blast this afternoon so at least she had plenty of smiles for me!

Love those little hands!

Off to the woods, I guess :)

Miraculously her sister wanted to take some too! They both ran away shortly after this :)

I was up on the ship, had let her down the slide, and this is her running around to the other side so she can come back up again; laughing hysterically the entire time! She loved it!

Love her.

Mallory is THREE!

My oldest daughter has just turned THREE! First of all, time flies when you're having fun - I can't believe she's three already!  Secondly, if you haven't seen any posts of photos of my own children then you don't really know the process I go through to get a few good photos.

Every time it's "picture time" I get everything together, pick out the outfits, set everything up, do some hair, and then sit one or both of them down to start snapping and within 60 seconds I think - WHY on EARTH did I think that THIS time will be different and I could take some decent photos of my own children by myself, again!? It never fails that they are ready to go but I always choose a day or time when Daddy isn't home to help, and I'd say "Never again!" but who am I kidding, I'll probably do the same thing next time and tear my hair out trying to get the photos I want. :)

Other children, even the squirmy ones, are still so much easier to photograph than my own. Maybe it's because the camera has lost its appeal for them; they see it way too much. Or it could be because kids always prefer to push their limits with their parents much more than with a stranger. Either way, I still love capturing every moment with them! This session she actually did surprisingly well!

Happy Birthday, Mallory!!

I started the session on a high note, letting her open one of her birthday gifts (fantastic idea)! Needless to say she loved it! She was having a Rapunzel themed party so she got a stuffed Pascal and then I gave her a Rapunzel clip for her hair.

Sparkly TOMS were another gift from Grandma!

Then we went outside for just a few more photos - she got to pick her outfit: sunglasses and her pink vest...very stylish choice!

Shoemaker Birthday Sessions

These kids' mommy is a friend of mine from college. We are Facebook friends and have been keeping up with each other's growing families the past few years. It's amazing how much the internet can make you feel connected even when you don't see each other! I was SO glad to get to see her again and meet her kids! Their birthdays are close so we did some birthday sessions of each of them. Her son was a total pro at picture taking and made my job SUPER easy. His sister on the other hand just wanted to keep moving! We were still able to get some adorable photos of her, though. It was so great to connect again - I love seeing old friends again!! Can't wait to see them in another few months for their family session!