Family Photoshoot Style Tips with Huggable Photography

Hello everyone! My name is Nicole and I am the photographer behind Huggable Photography. Before being a photographer, I was a Marketing Executive at L’Oréal, where I used to be the brand manager for Kerastase’. Before that, I worked in the consumers product industry- always in the Marketing side of the business. Since I was little I knew I wanted to be part of the making of beautiful things. Previously I did it for the brands that I managed, now I do it for my gorgeous clients and their families!

Photographing families is priceless for me,  in studio, on locations and in my client’s homes, but “lifestyle” sessions are my absolute favorite type of shoot.  Why? Well, because lifestyle photoshoots are all about capturing a family’s everyday moments, usually in the comfort of their house or in a well-known place for the family. The idea is to get non-posed, real pictures of you, your partner and children laughing and sharing moments in the most authentic way. 

Candid moment between SHR and Chickie..

So, if the idea is to try to be as natural as possible, what should you wear? The key is to find the right balance between the classic photoshoot day look (all glammed up!) and your everyday look (the mamma look). Here are 5 things I always tell my Clients to consider when putting together outfits for a family photoshoot:

Don’t match outfits, coordinate outfits: 

The idea behind lifestyle photoshoots is to capture your family’s  (and each of it’s members!) personality, this will be hard to do if everyone is wearing the exact same color. What I advise in order to have a nice-looking picture is to coordinate the outfits rather than matching them exactly. A good tip is to focus on choosing ONE outfit and let that be the guide for choosing the rest. For example, if you would like your family to be dressed in primary colors, one member of the family can have a colorful pant with many primary colors and then the other members of the family can pick their outfits within that range of colors.

For this session, the Rice fam picked there outfits around Chickie’s Old Navy dress 😋

Dress for the weather & occasion:

If your photoshoot is outside, it’s important you dress for the weather on the day of the photoshoot, even if you have planned the outfits from days before! If you planned for a sunny warm day but suddenly the weather is colder, its important to modify the outfits by, for example,  adding a layer for two. The mood of the family will show in the pictures so keeping everyone comfortable is very important. In order to look as natural as possible, it’s important to take into account the occasion when picking an outfit. Try to avoid tight dresses and heels if you are staying in your home (unless this is what you usually wear in your house!).

This was supposed to be a fall photoshoot for the Rice girls.. When the weather had different plans, we did one last summertime shoot instead.

Stay away from florescent colors

Bright colors will reflect in your face and neck. When in doubt, I say stick  primary colors: blue, red, yellow or green.  Another go to of mine is neutrals-  think white, black, grey or light brown. Another thing to consider when picking the colors of your outfits if the surroundings- are you going to a park where you’ll be surrounded by green, green and more green? Try to keep  the family’s outfits neutral and stay away from green. 

For this BIG group photo- nobody is matching but because nobody is wearing crazy colors, it still works!

Show your children’s personality

Kids being kids make for the BEST, most authentic photos! If your babies want to hold their favorite lovey during the photoshoot, let them! Their favorite toy is part of their personality and who they are at this moment- the moment we are attempting to capture so you can remember it for ever and always. This rule applies to their wardrobe,too. If your kiddo wants to wear their favorite Batman t-shirt, let them! At least for a couple of shots. You will feel great when you see these pictures years later and remember how much they liked these outfits!

Chickie being Chickie 😍

Make sure you are comfortable

This last tip is THE MOST IMPORTANT! Mom, partner and children  need to feel comfortable during the photoshoot in order to get to the main goal- capturing everyday moments in a natural and beautiful way. If you are comfortable in shorts, wear shorts! If you are the most comfortable wearing socks, wear socks! This photoshoot is meant to capture YOU and your gorgeous family.  All you need to do is relax and be YOU!

There you have it, friends- my 5 tips for dressing your family for a photoshoot. I hope you find them useful and that in your next photoshoot you HAVE FUN! That is what matters most- building happy memories to remember forever (…while looking faaaab at the same time). For more tips and photoshoot information, follow me on Instagram at @Huggable.Photography. See you on the ‘gram!