What Patterns to Wear for Your Family Photos
I’ll begin by telling you that this is my personal preference after photographing tons of families in all kinds of outfits. I want you to wear what you want, but also what will look amazing in your family photos. So if you are wondering what patterns look great, and which don’t photograph so well, read on and I’ll explain!
Patterns You Should NOT Wear
We will start here, because there are tons of patterns that will look great that you could wear, so it’s easier to explain what I don’t think looks all that great.
Dark against light: Patterns (especially small ones) that have a dark color against a light color can be very distracting. I’m mostly talking about geometrical patterns, here.
Small, close together stripes: This just tends to look trippy in photos, and sometimes gives this weird effect called moire that you don’t want. Trust me. Stripes are especially bad when combined with the above problem pattern (dark against light).
Plaid: Okay, plaid is fine sometimes, I’m just kind of over it (usually). You can totally disagree with me if you want and that’s fine (sometimes I disagree with myself!). Haha. But if you are going to do plaid, only have one person wearing it and make sure it isn’t too crazy to look at. For example: Blue and red or red and green. If you look at it and it hurts your eyes, don’t wear it!
Patterns That You SHOULD Wear for Your Family Photos
There are lots of great patterns to wear that will look great in family photos, I couldn’t list them all or even think of them all! But here are some of my tried and true favorites.
Florals: You can find so many different kinds of florals that look amazing in photos! Smaller, spaced out floral patterns look awesome, and so do larger florals. I also really love a simple floral pattern where the background is one color, and the flowers are another. You can even find floral patterns that are busy but still look great!
Stripes: I love stripes as long as they aren’t skinny and close together. Thick stripes, or skinny stripes that are spaced out look amazing.
Subtle Shapes: Subtle is the operative word here. If you’re going to have a pattern like this where the shape repeats throughout the item, you want the colors to not be too different (So don’t do black and white or something like that).
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Texture
Textures can really add a lot of interest in your photos, but in a more subtle way. I am obsessed with textures and I suggest you add as much texture as possible! You can’t have too much (unlike patterns). Some textures I love are lace, corduroy, knits, chambray, gauzy or crepe fabrics, velvet, swiss dots, and waffle cloth.
How to Put It All Together
The trick to choosing patterns for your family photos is that you don’t want to have to many and make your photos too busy. Usually I’d suggest sticking to one or two patterns and have solid colors and textures for the rest. But there are exceptions to that rule! I’m always available to help all my clients figure out clothing, so if you have questions, I’m here!
Sometimes you can get away with having two or three floral patterns, you just have to make sure the patterns are different enough. For example: One smaller floral print, and one larger print.
You can also try having one person in a floral print and one in stripes! Or don’t wear patterns at all and stick to textures! Wearing lots of textures looks amazing in photos.
If you’re wanting to find out more about what to wear for your next family photos, I provide a style guide when you book your session with me, as well as access to my brain! I’d love to work with you to find the best outfits for your family.
