Family Portrait

I always had this trouble too. but there are so many things to consider. My biggest suggestion is to contact a pro!! I reccomend sabrina at Isabella photography. she is amazing!. Plus a single mom!! I believe she has an ad on this site. Or her studio is located near Jensen Property mgmt in hurricane!! Good Luck

Hi K.,

I've seen a few family photos with bright colour schemes (eg everyone wearing red, or bright blue), and honestly, they look a bit tacky! You don't want people to be paying attention to the clothes you are wearing, especially not in 20 years' time. A photographer friend of mine in England always suggests a neutral colour scheme; plain white or cream shirts in a classic design, and pale tan- or fawn- coloured pants and skirts, or if you don't want a wall of white, then pale browns and tans, in understated patterns. Of course, this assumes that you are light-skinned! I don't know what she suggests for darker-skinned families.

I think outdoors photography is nicer than indoors, but that's just personal taste. A pro could show you lots of options so you can choose what you think looks best.

We did red shirts and blue jeans and went to the White Tank Mtns. It turned out really really pretty with the background. I could send you a photo if you want to see.

i would definitely say to wear something you like, to kind of match up colors is a good idea, but nothing to bold that takes away from the overall photo of your family. White is always nice it really focuses on your face. I would also consider something fun your family likes to do or is know for and incorporate that in to the photo. I know for hunters its kinda fun to have everyone wear their camoflauge. Or if you love to read it could be a library scene. Are you getting where im going with this. Also are you still looking for someone to take the photos or do you have a photographer. If you are near flagstaff my friend is a photographer and that is his business 'dreamawakening photography' and he is excellent at helping you with these choices and able to take photos mostly anywhere with excellent quality. Let me know if you would like his information.

my best friend jsut came to visit form north carolina. i havent seen her in 4 years. she showed me family protraits of her and herdaughters and grandkids. they all wore white tops a khaki pants and shorts and were barefoot. that was a really nice informal. the one frma last year they all wore red or green shirts and black bottoms. we did our family portrait this past may when my son graduated form high school. we did it outside at several places. we went to the mountains and we also had some done at home inour yard and by our barn with all our dogs and some fo the horses. so i guess it jsut depends on what your lifestyle is and if youwant informal or formal.

I prefer outdoors but I know that sometimes the photos need to be taken indoors. I am a photographer and I can do either one. I would love for you to visit my website: www.sashashaw.com

I'm a professional photographer in Tucson. my suggestions depend on if you're doing an outdoor or indoor portrait. If you're looking for cheap, indoor studio photography (walmart, sears, etc), i would suggest that you all wear a similar color scheme. stay away from stripes or patterns. i've seen white shirts with jeans or khakis turn out nicely if the studio is using a white backgroud, but this is too stark if the background is darker. otherwise, darker solids are always more flattering and allows the attention to be on the faces (especially is the backgrounds are darker). If you are doing an outdoor shoot, i again would suggest darker, but you have more leeway. We recently did our family portraits outdoor and did a combo of blues and browns, everyone wore something different, but with complimentary colors (we all wore jeans) one of my boys wore a solid polo, the other two wore plaid shirts with tshirts underneath, all the shirts had the same color scheme, but weren't too matchy.
Hope that helps! if you have more specific questions, i'm happy to help!