Pics in Style

The idea is to bring attention to the face while enhancing the portrait with the right clothing and color palette to enhance the decor of your home.

Please look at our website for looks that appeal to you, your situation and portrait plans.

If you are still stressing, we have some suggestions. In general, remember “KISS” (KEEP IT SIMPLE SWEETIE).

This is where mom usually starts to lose her mind! Have no fear mom, remember KISS. 

For Families: Styles—Simple, solid outfits photograph best. Relaxed or casual clothing styles can be worn either indoors or out, but formal clothing for entire families should generally be reserved for indoor settings. Adults should wear long or elbow-length sleeves and long pants or long skirts so that they do not take away from their faces by showing too much skin. Traditional styles have a more timeless look than the trendier fashions. In turn, relaxed clothing results in a more relaxed feel for the portraits. 

Coordinating— If the group wears similarly toned colors it helps focus attention on your faces and draws attention away from your clothing. When no one person stands out because their clothing is brighter, lighter or darker, it says that all members of the family are of equal importance.  ***There is always the exception such as a newborn*** A Few Other Clothing Tidbits and Reminders: 

White—Off-white clothing photographs better than pure white. Wearing off-white, cream, or ivory clothing will not cause you to look washed-out. It is an excellent choice for persons of all complexions. Adults Never Wear—red, orange, lime green, or any brilliant color. Do not wear short sleeves, short pants or short skirts that allow the knees to show when seated. 

Shoes/Socks—With dark slacks or skirts wear dark shoes and socks. With light slacks wear light or medium socks. 

In general, solid colors – no stripes, plaids, patterns or logos.

Casual clothing for outdoors – Blue tones are wonderful on almost everyone. It looks great in nature. Jeans and Jeans jackets are great. Natural earth tones, such as khaki and black – are always great. Long Pants – are always better than shorts for adults and older children.  It is better to roll up pants at the beach than to show off Dad’s hairy legs! Even in the hot OHIO weather (LOL), long sleeves are best for adults.  In the fall, sweaters are great and can often give a thinner boy a more masculine look. The majority of the time we will be photographing barefooted, but if Dad and Grandpa insist on shoes, make sure they are not work boots or tennis shoes. If they wear socks with their shoes, make sure they match their pants. If grandpa ONLY wears white socks, make a special purchase for him :  )

GLASSES
If you wear glasses most of the time, you’ll want to wear them in your portraits. You can eliminate the reflections and the distorting refractions normally seen in glasses by having your optician either show you how to remove and replace your lenses or lend you a pair of empty frames similar to yours. (Give them several days notice.) Tinted lens and thick lenses give us the most problems. These problems caused by these lenses are difficult to correct and may distract from the beauty of your portrait.  It will truly be worth the time to correct this problem. 

MAKEUP
Apply your makeup lightly, but normally, paying special attention to your eyes as they will be the most important part of your portrait. A bit of mascara and eyebrow darkening may help if you are fair. Avoid brilliant or garish colors on your eyes, lips and cheeks. Blend very carefully and thoroughly. Heavy eyeliner can be distracting.

For Little Ones:Newborn up to 6 months: 

No clothes are needed for your angel until 6 months (or really when your angel can sit up). We have linen shorts for the boys and bloomers for the girls.  

Parents should wear long sleeved black and dark pants or dark blue jeans. Siblings will vary according to age and whether they are a boy or girl. Check out the website for lots of ideas! Of course we will be talking you through this! 

Sitting and Beyond: 

Once they can sit up clothing can look nice. If they can sit up well they suddenly have a neck and look nice in an outfit. Of course this is the best time for the booty shots. Your little angel should be getting round and fluffy around 6 or 7 months. 

9 or 10 Months: 

When your angel can stand holding on to a chair or other support you may be ready to go outdoors! You may want one formal and one play outfit for this session. What look are you going for? If you are part of our What Me Grow will most likely go outdoors and include Dad! 

**Children’s Nails and Hands-Make sure fingernails and toenails are clipped for session. Check for chipped and non-matching fingernail and toenail polish or remove if you do not want it in the final portrait 

**Clothing Fit and Preparation—Make sure you try on your child’s clothing well before the portrait session. It may LOOK like it would fit, but will not cover the diaper when you go to put it on. J

Little Girls: Please be sure the dresses they wear are loose and below the knee. Pink, white and most any pastel color is fine. If the dress is a short dress, make sure it is one with cute bloomers as we will be seeing a lot of them! Although a dress may be cute as a button, your angel may not be able to sit and bend in a graceful way. This will limit the poses we will be able to do. 

**Make sure her hair is out of her eyes and any bow is appropriate in size. Mickey Mouse ears can magically appear when the bows overwhelm the child. **Your child may not look like herself if you try a new hairstyle suddenly**

Little Boys: khakis, jeans, and overalls with or without shirts are great and NEVER go out of style. It really depends on your child’s age. The little John-John suits are so cute and are classic for portraits. You may want one formal outfit and one casual outfit depending on the age and temperament of your child. If you know changing is not an option for your angel choose your fav! J

***Fall is a great time to dress either a boy or girl in layers for an outdoor session***

Think- natural earth tones - browns and greens (nothing too bright). 

Sweaters/ fleece jackets/cardigans over solid colored long sleeve shirts or turtlenecks

Jackets – Barn or jean jackets – can come off during the session. Don’t hesitate to put your little girl in a sweet dress coat and Mary-Janes for a sensational winter portrait. 

MATERNITY PORTRAITS: 

Entirely different rules apply here! We will be consulting with you about the look you wish to achieve, but there are a few things you can be thinking about. 

-Plan your session for about 4 weeks prior to your due date. If this is NOT your first child, you may get a nice round belly earlier and you may want to schedule before this time. 

-Do I have a child I want to include? 

-Is Dad willing to participate in the session if I bribe him? J 

-Do I have any jeans that are not maternity, may not zip all the way, but can still fit over my hips? J 

-Will I need to wear a bra during the session? If so a strapless bra would be a great item to bring.