Whether you’re taking solo portraits at the beach or...
Spring Photo Outfit Tips and Style Guide
Whether you’re taking solo portraits at the beach or family portraits at the botanical gardens, the clothes we wear play an important role in pictures' composition.
Stephanie Ip Photography
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Woohoo, Spring is here! Flowers are blooming, and I feel so hopeful! It’s always a fun season for a lot of us coming out from the cold winter. Having lived on the East Coast for 7 years, I totally appreciate Spring as much as I love the Fall. In Southern California, it’s almost always sunny, but if you have lived in Los Angeles long enough, you notice the slight difference in the change of season with the type of clothes people wear, and the scenery just outside your window.
Purpose of the style guides
In this post, I would like to provide a few outfit tips for those who are looking to get their photos taken outdoors. Whether you’re taking solo portraits at the beach or family portraits at the botanical gardens, the clothes we wear play an important role in pictures’ composition.
For ladies, we definitely don’t want loud busy florals when we are already shooting at a beautiful and colorful botanical garden during the blooming season of Spring. For guys, we want to stay away from t-shirts as it appears overly casual in pictures. Here are just a few tips to use as ideas, meant to be used as style guides to help you cultivate engaging and attractive photo sessions. So, take it or leave it if you don’t like what you see! But I certainly hope you will agree with what I’ve selected here.
Let’s start with the little ones – Boys and Girls, school portraits. It can really be anything for boys and girls photos during Spring time, not just limited to school portraits.
Boys (Age 8-15)
For the boys, I picked out mostly polos because I figure they love to feel free and comfortable, especially for photoshoots. Polos are great because they have that nice looking collar, and the body is not too tightly fitted. I lean towards solids for obvious reasons. If the backdrop is a little bit more structural, having stripes would be nice too. Otherwise, there you have it!
Girls (Age 8-15)
For the girls, I picked a nice pastel pink for those who love pink, it’s girly and fun. But if your girl is a little bit more tomboyish, like me, I like to go for a color that’s more neutral, like a light blue, or even just go all in on denim! Again, the key here is having some kind of colored, comfortable bodice to make sure the girls are free to move around during the photo shoot.
Gentlemen (Age 15-25)
Now the boys have grown up a little bit, they are more mature looking and may be willing to sacrifice comfort for good looks, so here I picked mostly button-downs. Again, solids, with a very minimal print if he really wants to look a little different. The key here is to pair something that contrasts with the top, so pick the top first before picking the bottom. Jeans and khakis are perfect to complete the look.
Ladies (Age 15-25)
Alright, ladies! If you’re in this age group, you are most likely willing to try different types of looks. Not all colors will always look good on camera, and it also depends on your hair, eye, and skin tones. Here I have picked out a few solids that can potentially look good on any type of hair color or skin tones. You can mix and match here as well – the long sleeves can certainly look good with the shorts, and the sleeveless will look great with the light color skinny jeans as well. Then the classic cream color dress – it’s always nice to wear a classic color dress to a photoshoot. For this season, I love the bubble sleeve and the over-the-knee length dress. It’s classy and not too boring. What do you think?
Gentlemen (Age 30’s)
For the gentlemen in their 30’s and up, I feel like the options are quite wide open. It really just comes down to what makes you feel comfortable, and how well it matches your personal style. You see here, I eliminated the t-shirt option, but if you really don’t want to wear a collar, maybe a sweater knit top would be nice. Something that has a little bit more weight to bring out that clean classy look for photos is always a great thing. Then we have the button-downs with a minimal print or a light gray solid, all paired with either jeans or khakis. These are nice looks -you can’t go wrong with them. What do you say, gents?
Ladies (Age 30’s)
Ladies, if you are 30 or older, I think we are starting to know what we like and what works on our bodies. Some of us may be insecure with certain parts of our body, and that’s okay! I always feel like I want more volume on my clothing to cover up my arms, but then realize my shoulders aren’t too bad. So how do you compensate for that? Embrace it!
Here I’ve picked out a dress with ruffle sleeves, knee-length. I personally think this silhouette is great for a lot of body types, even if you think your arms are too big for it. The ruffles here will give you some coverage here and there throughout the shoot, and I promise it won’t look bad. Then, we have a somewhat lose body top with a wide neck. If you have nice collar bones, show them off! If you want to cover your neck, simply throw on a neck scarf: I promise you this look is versatile on many body types as well. Lastly, I picked the knit sweater for a morning shoot, where the temperature is low, paired with a lighter-weight skirt to complete the look. This last look would be nice for a nature backdrop.
Couples
Whether you are a young couple or an old couple, I think you’ll still enjoy wearing something that complements your other half. It doesn’t have to be matchy-matchy, as long as the colors don’t clash with one another. I think it’s safe to go with solids here. The style of clothing can be different, but colors look great when they are the same tone. I ditched the collars here as couple’s portraits tend to look great when their necks are more relaxed, especially when they will be looking at each other and leaning onto one another a lot during the shoot!
Family
Here is an idea of how a family can dress for a photo shoot at the beach or a botanical garden. Try to wear something that has similar sleeve lengths. The boys can wear a short sleeve, while the ladies can wear sleeveless. Pick a common color tone, the blues and neutral colors will blend well with the environment. No loud colors here – let your environment shine in your photos as well!
In summary, solids and neutrals are your safe color choice. Try to stay within the same sleeve length if you are with a group or a partner. Avoid loud colors or bold prints as they tend to take away the focus of the pictures, ruining the composition of portrait photography. It’s a different styling if you are going to a music festival or live concert, but here we are going for that warm and fuzzy feeling of family love, couples love, and self love. Creating a warm story starts from within, followed by the location you choose and outfits you pick for the shoot.
If you liked the given ideas from this post, I would love for others to read about it as well, so please share with your friends and family! If you don’t like it, I want to hear what you have to say, so please leave me a comment below. I love to chat and hear what you have to say!
Take 20% off your first shoot with me!
Thank you for reading this post this far! I hope you got some good tips on what to wear for you photoshoot. I’d like to end my post with a special offer, especially for those who actually read it ’til the end! Are you in search of a portrait photographer to take your family portraits, engagement or graduation? My specialty is in outdoor portraits of humans and dogs. Let me shoot for your special occasion! Take 20% off on your first shoot with me.
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