Tips for a great portrait session!

Feeling confident and prepared will help you get the most out of your session. Your session is to capture you and/or your loved ones and preserving a moment in time. It is an investment and an important day, and YOU should be the focus, not your outfit. Timeless pieces, neutral-leaning colour palettes, and learning how to avoid distractions will ensure these photos are loved forever!

I've prepared this guide of wardrobe and some other tips and information to leave you feeling ready for your shoot:

• Leave phones out of pockets or have them hidden well, that pesky rectangular outline will be a distraction in your photos 📵.

• No hair ties or smart devices on visible arms or wrists, jewelry or medical devices are fine of course!

• Absolutely no neon colours, please! This includes clothing or on accessories like shoe laces. Bright red is an honourable mention to also please avoid. These colours do not photograph well and can be distracting, especially in a group setting.

• Mixing textures, neutral tones with pops of colour, earthy hues, blues, and muted tones all work well in photos. The more vibrant a colour, the more attention is drawn to the clothing or accessory and less on the subjects. Prints can be great, but keep vibrancy in mind. Black is very popular but can be really heavy if wearing it head to toe, especially if multiple people are wearing it side-by-side in a family or group portrait. Try to break up a black outfit with other colours or textures when possible.

• Please consider practical footwear for any outdoor session 🚫👠.

• Avoid bold and large graphics or logos on clothing (ie. a sweater with BRAND NAME across the chest, or a sports team graphic), this is especially important to share with any tweens and teens.

• If getting hair coloured prior to the shoot, it is best to do this about a week or two before, not RIGHT before. If you have short hair and are getting it freshly cut, best to do it a few days before.

• Don't experiment on the day of the shoot. If you want to try out a new lipstick shade, a new hair do, or anything that you don't normally do--try it out before the shoot to make sure you like it! My advice is to look like yourself, if you normally don't wear much make-up, maybe shoot day isn't the day to try full glam for the first time. How you normally do your hair and/or make-up to feel good and put together will be best.

• Coordinate, don't match. If possible, coordinate with other family members a basic colour scheme to stay in, or simply let them know what colours to please avoid (neon, bright red--you remembered!). Mixing different colours and prints can look better than being too matchy-matchy. (Trust me, I made my own family wear all white tops with denim bottoms for a family portrait and I do not have that print on my wall 😅).

• Please eat something and stay hydrated!

• For pup portraits: please consider brining a toy of interest and/or treats so I can have their full attention 🐶.

• Have fun! Yes, it is an investment and an important day, but it will hopefully be a memory to cherish and I will capture all the love and laughter so you can remember it forever!

YOU're READY!

I know that probably felt like a lot of things to remember, but at the end of the day it is your shoot and you can wear whatever you want! This is just a guide from me to you from things I have noticed that have or haven't worked out so well. I'm not the most fashionable human, (catch me in athleisure most of the time), but you can trust me to let you know what works and what doesn't in photos.