What To Wear.

Of all the planning that goes into your Portrait, your clothing will be one of the most important choices you make. Here are a few suggestions that should make it easy!

Eliminate Distractions

In general, darker colors and long sleeves will look best. This helps in a number of ways. First, the attention should be on your face, and long sleeves help eliminate distractions created by bare arms. Your eye goes to the darkest part of a “light” image and the lightest part of a “dark” image. If we are taking pictures outdoors and you are wearing light colored clothing, the eye will generally go to the clothing before it goes to the face. The light clothing then competes for attention! If you wear darker clothes but short sleeve or sleeveless garments, the bare arms call for attention.

Color Counts

Whether you are planning on color portraits or black and white, denim is almost always a great choice. Other good colors would be navy, greens, browns, reds, black, and darker blues. Avoid pastels, pinks, yellows, and other pale colors for color portraits.

Solid Suggestions

For most portraits solid colors are appropriate. This is not to say that you can never wear anything with a pattern or multi-color. The clothes should say something about who you are without being a distraction. Generally, solid colors will make your portrait more “timeless.” Clothes that are a fashion statement today may look dated in just two or three years. Solid colors within the same color family are most appropriate for photographs with two or more people.