What to Wear to a Photoshoot
A guide on what to wear and what not to wear to a photoshoot.
Hello! Welcome back. I hope you had a fun weekend!
While writing about how to Prepare for a Photoshoot (a previous blog post), I touched on the topic of what to wear to your shoot. I did go into a good amount of detail in my other blog, but honestly deciding what to wear is a post all in itself. So much can go into what you wear and what not to wear to your next shoot.
To recap from my other post, the main thing you want to wear is something that makes you feel comfortable and confident. Something that makes you feel like no one can tear you down or ruin your day because you’re looking that good. *snaps fingers to the side*
They’re outfits complement each other and go well with their shoot location.
You want to wear something that fits you well and that you’ve worn before. It’s so fun shopping for a new outfit, especially for something specific, like an event, birthday, or something special, like a photoshoot! Sometimes, though, clothes end up fitting us weird or differently than we thought they would in our heads, and you don’t want to realize that’s what happened while you’re at your photoshoot.
If it was me and my client, and if I could tell they feel uncomfortable in their clothes, I might offer them a reshoot, for a small fee. If they asked me to reshoot because they weren’t feeling it, I’d be down to reschedule. I want my clients to love love their photos, so if you’re not liking what you see please talk to me and we can figure something out.
Side note, if you’re ever feeling uncomfortable during a shoot or just aren’t feeling it or the vibe is off, let your photographer know. If they’re a good person they’ll understand and probably come up with a solution to fix the problem. Some solutions they might come up with are relocating the shoot if location is an issue, giving you the biggest confidence boost if you’re feeling bad about yourself, trying to style your outfit differently, or changing outfits if you brought more than one. If it comes down to you guys reshooting, that’s totally fine, the photographer might charge an additional fee for that, just a heads up.
Her outfit fits her well and goes with the vibe and location of this shoot.
Instead of having to deal with all that, it is so much easier to show up to your shoot looking and feeling your best about what you picked to wear. Like I've said, it's also a good idea to check out a location beforehand if you have the time and haven't been there before.
I don’t ever tell my clients what to wear because I want you to look how you want to look. I will give them advice and some recommendations though. Most of my clients don’t, but when they do have questions on what to wear or want my opinion on what would look better, I’m always there to help. I do ask clients to wear specific things if I’m doing a model call for a shoot that I want to try because those photos are ultimately for me.
Things I recommend to all my clients on what to wear:
Wear colors that complement each other, as well as look good with your skin under tone. I feel like in todays age, with the cameras and mirrors everywhere, people usually know their skin under tone. The most common skin tone colors are warm, cool or neutral tones. Depending on yours, you’d want to match colors that your skins undertone.
Brief rundown on the different skin tones people have.
Complementary colors are just as they sound, colors that complement each other, they go well together. They are usually colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. If you want to go the extra mile, you can pick complementary colors that also match the seasons or location you’re shooting at. You want to make sure everyone in the photos are matching each other as well.
The Color Wheel with Complementary Colors.
You want to make sure your clothes are wrinkle free and don’t have any stains or holes in them.
Depending on the look you’re going for, you want to wear something that’ll fit the weather too. Like if it’s cold out wear warm clothes, if it’s hot out wear something that allows your body to breath.
Depending on where you’re shooting you might have to hike in, which if that's the case maybe pack the clothes you want to wear for the pictures so they don’t get dirty or sweaty.
I’d recommend avoiding shirts with big logos or prints on them, unless that's the vibe or look you’re going for.
Try not to wear too many different, bold patterns. Like If you’re wearing a plaid shirt, don’t wear plaid or paisley pants or shorts, ya know? That's just too much going on.
If you’re shooting somewhere out in nature, I wouldn’t recommend wearing bright neon colors. Again, unless that's the look or the vibe of the shoot. But bright, neon colors might look better in more of a downtown, industrial setting or inside somewhere.
I’ll probably say this in every blog post, but make sure you empty your pockets when you arrive to the shoot and take off hair ties before you leave the house!
If you’re using or bringing props, make sure to one, you and the photographer are on the same page with what you want to bring and two, that they fit the vibe of the shoot.
This whole family wore plaid flannels and blue jeans which all matched and looked good together.
Like I said before, at the end of the day these are your pictures and they should look how you want them to look. So wear what makes you feel good, confident, and most like yourself. These are just some tips I give to my clients when they’re at a loss on what to wear. Hopefully some of these tips can help you for your next photoshoot!
If you have any tips for me leave them in the comments! Talk to you again next week!
-Katie ☺️
How to Prepare for a Photoshoot
How to prepare for your next photoshoot!
Welcome back to my blog! Today we’re talking about How to Prepare for a Photoshoot!
So you’ve booked a photoshoot and don’t know what to do next. First off, congratulations on booking a photoshoot and giving yourself the best gift you can. Having pictures taken of you or for you is the best thing you can do for yourself. Photos freeze moments in time so you can hold onto them forever.
But now what? How do you prepare for a shoot so you look and feel your best in your pictures? Let me give you some tips and tricks so your pictures look the best they can and you feel good doing the shoot!
Thankfully, preparing for a photoshoot is pretty easy and doesn’t take a whole lot of time. How you feel about yourself holds all the power for how the pictures will turn out. These are the tips I send my clients to help them feel the best about themsevles.
Start using moisturizer on your hands, face, and skin about a week before your shoot. Doing a face exfoliation at least once the week of your shoot wouldn’t hurt either. Mainly, you don’t want dry skin flakes popping up anywhere. Unless you have a skin condition and can’t really help it.
Using chapstick a week before your session helps a lot too, especially living in place like Montana where the climate is really dry. Lipstick and lip gloss doesn't look good on dry, cracking lips. It’s not always easy editng that stuff out.
When it comes to picking an outfit for your shoot, avoid wearing shirts/clothes that have a big or bold logo printed on them. Avoid outfits that have too many distracting patterns on them. Unless you’re doing a shoot that's styled with bright, neon colors, avoid wearing bright neon colors.
Pick an outfit that fits you well and makes you feel good and confident. I wouldn’t recommend going out and buying a new outfit unless you know it fits you well and makes you feel good. Try to get all the wrinkles out of your clothes. If you have a lint roller, use that at least once before you leave the house.
Make sure you wear colors that go well and compliment each other. You can pick colors that match the season you’re shooting in or colors that match the location of your session.
If you’re doing a boudoir or bikini style shoot, wear loosing fitting clothes to your shoot to prevent any clothes indents on your skin.
If you have the time, maybe try out how you want to do your hair and makeup for the shoot so you’ll know how long it’ll take you and make sure you like it. If you decide to get your hair and makeup done professionally for your shoot, schedule extra time for that just in case it takes longer than expected.
If you’re doing family photos with little kids, like toddlers age, make sure you pick a time to shoot for after their nap and they’ve had a snack. If a kid is cranky or not really feeling it, it’s hard to get them onboard with completing the shoot.
Bring snacks with you to the shoot so you have some motivation for the kids. One thing I’ve noticed with kids, they can usually handle a 30 minute shoot, at most 45 minute. After about 30 minutes kids are over it.
If you’re shooting with your puppers, try to either take them for a walk or run them before your shoot so they aren’t too hyper and spastic at your shoot. Pups tend to listen better after they’ve been exercised.
If you remember, try to bring treats, a squeaker or their favorite toy to the shoot to help them stay motivated or do what we’re wanting them to do.
You want to drink plenty of water the day before your shoot and the morning of. If you can, also try to get a good nights sleep to help prevent puffy eyes.
When you pull up to your shoot, take everything out of your pockets, especially any big, bulky items. If you have any hair ties on your wrist take them off, same with your Apple Watches. Unless your photographer said it’s fine to leave them on.
If you’re using any props, pick them out and set them aside the night before so you don’t have to waste time the day of getting them together.
The last thing I tell people is to stand in front of the mirror in your best superhero pose for about 30 seconds. You’d be surprised how doing something like this will make you feel good and confident with yourself. It empowers you in a way. If you’re still feeling a little nervous about the shoot, shake it out. Haha. I know it sounds silly, but jumping around and wiggling your body helps get nervous energy out of your body and helps give you happy energy.
Spring Colors
Summer Colors
If you’re doing a fun, creative shoot all these tips listed above will help you prepare for that. Make sure you have everything planned out at least a couple days before your shoot so you have plenty of time to prepare the shoot setup or gather props. If you’re doing your hair or makeup in a way you don’t normally do it, I’d recommend practicing your hair and makeup beforehand.
Make sure you and your photographer have completely communicated on every part of the shoot so you’re both on the same page. It can really put a damper on your shoot if you’re expecting the pictures to look a certain way, and the photographer is thinking something different for your photos.
There’s no such thing as over-communicating with your photographer, in my opinion. Yes, you’re hiring them for their style, skills, and talent, but at the end of the day, these are your photos. They should look how you want them to look. The only thing we can’t control at a shoot is the weather and lighting if you’re using natural light. But if you do all these other things I’ve mentioned, you’re photos should turn out well!
Some extra things you can do to feel extra ready for your shoot is check out some poses you might like on Pinterest or Google. Share them with your photographer so you guys are both on the same page with posing. The photographer will probably send or share some poses with you as well.
Bring some water or something to drink during your shoot. Some of the poses or prompts the photographer wants you to do can make you thirsty, especially if they’re wanting you to do moving propmpts or pick someone up and spin them around.
Fall Colors
Winter Colors
If you’re shooting at a location you’ve never been to, if you have the time go check it out so you know exactly where to go. If you don’t have the time to check it out, at least look up where it is online so you know how long it’ll take to get there. Maybe leave a little early to give yourself a buffer if there's traffic or if you guys need to make a quick stop.
Don’t be scared to ask the photographer to see the photos as you’re shoot is going on. It’ll help give you an idea of how the pictures are looking and it can give you a chance to tell the photographer if you’re liking what youre seeing or not.
It’ll save your photographer a lot of time with editing if you do these tips for your next photoshoot, which will get your gallery back to you faster.
I hope this helps you feel prepped and ready for your next photoshoot! If there are any tips or tricks you’ve done for a shoot that I’ve missed, please leave them in the comments!
Have a great day! ✨