<p>When the kids were younger, we used to semi-regularly get family photos taken at the cheap photography studios. When working on a photo book for D’s graduation, I realized that it had been a long time, and decided that we needed to take a family photo before we lose the ability to include everyone. So, I hired a photographer to come to take pictures outside at our house, which I’ve never done before.</p>
<p>So, what should we wear? Four people: two parents plus D is who is rising college freshman and S who is rising college senior. I don’t want it to be too formal. It will be outside in our yard, which is big and green, with various trees and shrubs and flowers.</p>
<p>Should we get matching shirts? Or wear the same color? Or let each person just pick for themselves? Or try to coordinate in some way? </p>
<p>I always like the look of jeans and white shirts in various styles for outdoor family photos. We don’t have any like that, but when I see them in the photographer’s studio I always like them. And usually most of the family already has something along those lines to wear. :)</p>
<p>White contrasts nicely in outdoor pics. So try everybody in white tops and khaki or denim bottoms. Ladies can wear white summer dress. Sandals or boat shoes with no socks will give the relaxed look.</p>
<p>Agree with jeans, white shirts or dresses for the gals. No heels. Either flat sandals or barefoot. We’ve also never done that, but I’ve seen some great shots like that.</p>
<p>Or for footwear, everyone in boots. Sundresses and boots are big here.</p>
<p>Agree with white. I never though it would work but my sister had her whole family picture done outside before everyone was gone to their next adventure and they were all in white tops. It was a great contrast. Bottoms were a variety of things but it was the white tops that made it a great composition.</p>
<p>Just make sure it’s not too matchy or your kids will be submitting it to awkward family photos in a few years. Different styles of white and you should be fine. I wouldn’t do all in button-down white shirts and jeans for example.</p>
<p>We had a Christmas card photo session where I agonized about what we were all wearing. When we got the photos back, the outfits looked fine. However, I discovered that I hated my hair in every shot and one of my daughters had bright nail polish that stood out. Since that year, I’ve booked hair appointments for all of the girls in our family for the morning of any group photo session and we go neutral on our nail polish.</p>
<p>We limited the colors to white/khaki/pale blue. Most of the guys wore khaki pants or shorts and white shirts. The girls/women wore all white and a couple wore pale blue. The photo turned out very nice - the little bit of blue broke up all of the white and looked especially nice with the blue sky.</p>
<p>We did one once…everyone wore khaki bottoms and a short sleeved pastel colored top. It looked very nice with the summer flowers in the background. </p>
<p>Boots? In this family, that would mean a shopping trip for almost everyone…unless Timberland hiking boots were allowed!</p>
<p>Our most recent pics were white tops and jeans on the bottom. That looked good too!</p>
<p>We just had a family photo done and went with white button-down shirts on top and jeans on the bottom. Even though we had them done at 7:30 in the morning, it was still really hot but I was amazed at how nice they looked, and not like we were sweating!</p>
<p>Several years ago we had a family photo done and wore black on top with khakis, which turned out well. That session was not outside though. We also had a colder weather outdoor family photo with black on top with jeans.</p>
<p>Thanks for the all of the suggestions. I hadn’t really thought of white, but I can see that it might make a nice contrast with a green background. </p>
<p>Most of our family photos are at Christmas time, so an outdoor summer photo will be different.</p>
<p>What a great idea. In our last family shot, we each had a different color of polo shirt with jeans. It was not outside either, but I think if I were going that route, I would do pastel polos rather than white.</p>
<p>You want the emphasis to be on the people, not the clothing. Back in the day, when our kids were younger, the two girls and I wore white, and hubby wore a white shirt with stone pants.</p>
<p>I don’t like looking a family portraits where there are so many different garments that my eye is drawn to the clothing and not the people. So something uniform across the family is in order, no pun intended. My favorites are denim bottoms and white tops, or stone bottoms and white tops. Bare feet are in order as well.</p>
<p>We all want those annual photos to be our best representation of ourselves, wouldn’t the white make people look fat? Or larger than they really are?</p>
<p>A friend just showed me her family pictures taken last month - black/white/khaki. DH had on black shirt/khaki shorts, daughter black shirt/white skirt, sons black shorts/white shirts and my friend wore a white sundress with a little red cardigan— they are all olive skin/dark hair- pictures are gorgeous.
I like the white idea but I think it depends on skin/hair color- pale irish skin with blonde or red hair may look washed out.</p>
<p>My brother and his family did a set of picture of them in white (white suits and boaters for the guys, tea dresses for the women, adorable white outfits for the kids who were all quite young). They did them in black and white and they all look wonderfully Victorian. I don’t think you need to go that far, but in a photo it really is helpful to stick to a color family. I think even those with pale skin look fine in a nice white shirt. We have another set of pictures where many of us wore black and we look awfully funereal. </p>
<p>I agree that matching polo shirts or the like would be overdoing it, unless you want to overdo it. </p>
<p>My favorite Christmas card picture was when I dressed us all up in parkas and photoshopped us into a Caribbean background from earlier in the year. Another good one was all of us wearing hats my son had bought that year - top hat, fedora etc.</p>
<p>If you google “Family Portraits” and go to images you’ll see a nice spread of what works and doesn’t work. There’s one with every one with a white shirt and a variety of jeans (cut off shorts and long ones) that I like a lot. One of everyone jumping in the ocean wearing sundresses or shorts that is fun and festive. I like all the ones with white shirts and khakis, but very few of the other matching shirts colors.</p>
<p>No… if they are large, they are going to look large in any color… you can’t really hide it in a photograph (unless you get behind someone or something!). <em>intparent imagines a photo of 4 heads peeking around the corner of a house or barn</em></p>
<p>However, limiting the color palate will help pull things together. When we took a winter family portrait, my family went with variations that all included navy, and it looked good.</p>