Do you ever see family or senior portraits and wonder how they look so amazing? Why do some look so good, and others, well, not quite as amazing? Read on to find out key things to AVOID when doing your own portrait session!
1. Not Planning Your Clothing
Jumbled or mismatched clothing (especially for family portraits) can ruin a gorgeous family portrait! Choosing solids or small patterns are best, and consider your location when choosing your colors. Flowing with that season's colors create a cohesive, lovely feel for your images. We also recommend laying everyone's clothing out together ahead of time to make sure the group style is coordinated.
2. Not Considering Time Of Day
Considering time of day is important for lighting, and also dependent on ages in your family. If your session contains mostly adults, they can handle about any time of day. If little ones are part of your portrait, morning or after nap and a snack are usually the best choices. If your session will be outdoors, high noon is a harsh time of day for lighting, and your photographer should help you choose a time with more flattering light. Surprisingly, golden hour is NOT always the ideal time despite what people say. Getting beautiful dappled light through the trees can happen as early as 2 in the afternoon and usually easier than waiting until sunset with little ones.
3. Not Scheduling Professional Hair & Makeup
For our clients, this is an absolute must and is complimentary with your session! Most of us are not makeup professionals. Curls fall, makeup smears, contouring isn't done quite right to create the most flattering look. We use a professional stylist for all of our sessions to enhance your natural beauty and encourage you to as well. A wonderful bonus to having a pro is that is becomes an fun and stress free pre-session experience for the girls!
Allison Russell is the creative behind the camera at Twisted Wire Design. She grew up in Sonoma County, California and now lives in Mitchell, South Dakota. Her boutique studio is in downtown Mitchell and she specializes in family, children, senior, and sports photography, and has been internationally recognized for her portraits.
Allison loves to meet amazing families and create gorgeous fine art portraits of their loved ones for them to hang in their homes. She has three kids (joyful chaos!) and loves to be outdoors with her family, traveling, a good book and glass of wine.
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