Pictures and Outfits??

Jeans, several different shades of blue (darker for the boys, baby blue for the girls) looks great with bare feet... very playful and coordinating without matching everyone perfectly.

I'm a photographer so I have some experience with this one :)

Here's what I tell clients: The picture should be about your relationship, not what you wear, so keep clothing as simple as possible. Stay away from bold prints. Small stripes are a no-no.

Think about the location where you will be shooting or the backdrop which will be used. Then look at a color wheel (look up "color wheel" on the internet if you don't know it by heart). Colors opposite each other on the wheel are complements. If your backdrop is blue, orange is it's compliment so choose orange as your base color or choose the colors on either side of the dominant background color as your base colors for clothing choices. Colors don't have to be the same, but similar tones are a good idea. If one person is wearing a bright top, everyone where a bright top of a similar tone or it will ruin the aesthetic of the picture.

Another option is to go all dark, or everyone in jeans and the same shirt or sweater. I concentrate on relationships and personality, and I realize that conformity is not everyone's style. If it bothers my clients to be so uniform, I bring in a stylist to match everyone up. Obviously not everyone has that luxury when talking photos, so careful coordination is a good idea.

Glasses are also a danger -- you might get glare from the lights or background. Have your optomitrist remove the lenses from your frames or just remove your glasses for the shot.

Make sure everyone gets their nails done! Men, too!

If you have any specific quesitons, feel free to PM me. Good luck!

I saw a really nice outdoor one the other day and am thinking about "copying" it :) It was a family and the mom and girls had on simply white one piece dresses that were between knee and ankle length (the girls also had a pink ribbon around the waist). The dad and boys had on white button down shirts, untucked, with light blue jeans rolled up at the bottom (like they were going wading in a pond). Everyone was barefoot. It was a super cute picture! I thought with all the white, it would washout, but it looked great.

Good luck :)

The cutest professional picture I have of all my boys is an outside picture where they are surrounded by trees and fallen leaves and they are each wearing Levi's, a black pull-over hoodie and black converse! Simple but cute!

~ Even though I usually go the coordinating but not matching route...I guess I kinda like it when they all match! I think when everyone is wearing the exact same thing then you get to really focus on facial features and enjoy really seeing each individual!

I think all your ideas so far sound good...I like the idea of you and your daughter matching and father and son matching.

I think coordinating is the best way to go when doing a group picture.
One time my SIL's and I did our childrens pics done for our IL's. The girls all wore a pink top with dark blue capri jeans and the oldest boy wore jeans with a blue polo top with a white and pink stripe. Then the youngest boy (because they didn't have a polo in his size) wore a pair of dark jean overalls with a white shirt underneath. It all blended really good!
I think if you do your daughter in pink and the rest in blue, she will stand out the most in the photo. However, if you can incorporate the color she is wearing with yourself and your son or dress her in a blue dress it should be ok.

THis is ALways a dilemma for me, as well. Even times i've tried to go out and buy things that compliment each other, i rarely get it right.

And for all the people talking about the smiles mattering more than the clothes, You have to have the right clothes just not anything ramdomly thrown on or else taht will be what you notice not the smiles.

I don't remember what coloring you said your family had, but what about a bright yellow for the girls and Blue for the boys? If you could manage to do that right i think it would be pretty neat.

Also, you might want to keep in mind where you would want to hang the picture you end up buying. If the room was a certain color, the outfits you choose could either clash or look wonderful on the wall.

We did beach family pictures in the fall, and we all wore black shirts, jeans, and black flops.... Wear what you will love.... this picture is for your memories! Have fun, whatever you choose it will be great!

My family just did a photo shoot in our backyard and my husband, myself, my 5 month old son, and almost 4 year old daughter all wore varying shades of blue with jeans. It really made the green of our trees and plants look super vibrant and it showed off our faces nicely. I did varying shades to make it a little more interest than all one blue mass. It really worked:)

It sounds like you have 1 daughter and 2 sons. + hubby and you.. I would try to limit the colors or the picture gets too busy with 5 people in differnt colors..

I have done my kids in red alot.. they are pasty white and blonde.. so I want them to stand out in a bright color.. also red is good for girls nad boys..

when I did hubby and myself.. we were in jeans and light blue shirt and the kids in red shirts..

I love the jeans and white shirts idea, but if you've done that, then go with the same color palette like someone suggested. Make it a light color so you can get the beauty of the flowers too. But my best suggestion is don't spend too much time on it and stress about being perfect. Our family pictures were always a big hassle because I wanted things "just so" and life doesn't always go that way. I would rather have easy outfits with genuine smiles and laughter in the pictures than something perfectly planned. You'll want to look at that picture years from now and remember how much fun you had that day and doesn't everyone look happy.

We had ours done last fall. The photographer told us not to wear white (as it washes you out). She also recommended a variety of clothes - but of course that is your call. Ours were more candid and casual. I did however keep everyone to solids. We also choose cool colors of blues, greens and puples so we didn't clash. Prints can be distracting as well - you want to focus on the people, not the clothes. Enjoy!

Ok, this is going to sound a little strange, and please, for those of you out there who hate her, forgive me, but look at Kate Gosselin's family portraits. She (well, she and her wardrobe people) had a wonderful knack for dressing the family for portraits. She would group the neatest colors, and they were often quite vibrant, yet looked terrific and festive altogether.

Not to be judgemental, but in my humble opinion, I get bored with the whole khaki/white/blue thing. Why not experiment a little, maybe stick with the khaki bottoms (pants/skirts) and bright fuscia tops for the females, and a brignt green for the males? Something like that? Especially in a flower garden. I'd choose to be vibrant, and coordinated, but not necessarily matched. And like someone else said, I'd steer clear of bold prints with such a busy background in the pictures.

Seriously, look up the Jon and Kate + 8 website (maybe different now since the show has changed), but you should be able to find something on TLC.com where you can look at their family pictures from the show and such. :)

Pale colors are always best, solids work best too, if anyone has a pattern make sure she's the only one and that the colors are picked up in the other garments too.

I always try to coordinate colors but they do not have to be the same. For example one year at christmas my husband wore dark blue sweater, my son red, older daughter light teal blue and younger daughter cream, I wore a cream color sweater that had strips of all above colors plus a few others. Sounds very busy but we had a white snow scene background and it turned out really cute! We did dark jeans, black sweaters (girls) black dress shirts (guys). Love that one.
We have done all different shades of blues. Dark to light. That is cute too. We are all blond with blue eyes so look good in blue. Red & black for christmas. Never did all white/kakhi...we are too pale for that. Did summer pictures with all in dark shorts/skirts and light colored tanks. Guys in gray (slightly different shades, me in white, girls in pale colors...cant remember exactly.)
So basically we don't really ever match exactly (except the black) but we coordinate. Sounds like you are doing about the same thing. What color hearts are in daughters dress. you could match with that to pick them up?Girls in pink/guys in blue. White and Blue sounds good too but you have already done the white with kakhi thing.
Grab favorite outfit or color for each person....lay them out and take a look. They might look better then you think. My MIL is crazy about coordinating colors together. She, hubby, and 5 younger kids (adult kids not included) always somehow go together, even when wearing totally differant colors/outfits. She pulls something in that makes it all work. The woman is fantastic at that. Just have fun... no matter what you wear the happiness in your faces will be what people look at most!

I would focus on solids, and stick to a color catagory. i.e, (Navy, light blue, white), or (pink, red, white). That way the picture isn't busy and the focus is on your faces.... Some people do all black shirts and jeans, or all white shirts with khaki, but I think that looks extreme. Some color is good. Just not an orange shirt, and navy shirt, one with floral print, and one with wide stripes. You see the point. Stick with colors, just tone it down.

Hope this isn't harsh but I hate pictures with everyone wearing the exact same outfit! We got family pictures done at the beach and had our sons wear the same shirts with jeans, the shirts were thermals with red and grey and then my husband wore a grey thermal and jeans and I wore a red sweater with jeans. It all complimented each other very nicely and wasn't so matchy-matchy. That just MO.

My only thought is that since the photo will be done in a garden, is to keep your clothing solid. It doesn't have to match but eliminate and prints, etc because the flowers will be a busy background. Keep the shirts and pants solid colors. I like your idea of khaki pants for all with you & your daughter in white tops and the guys in blue. (Or you & daughter could do solid pink polos or blouses...) Have fun!