Portrait Resources

Perfect Portraits, tips to make it happen.
Creating a perfect portrait takes a little planning. Fine portraiture captures facial expressions and mood, while clothing, accessories and props are secondary and shouldn't create any distractions. Careful selection of these will avoid dating your portraits.

General Fashion Tips

	Avoid busy patterns and bright colors.
	Light colors are best with light backgrounds and fair complexions.
	Darker colors look better with deep backgrounds and dark hair or complexions.
	Shoes and socks should be in harmony with your outfit. No shoes and socks are great, too!
	If you wear glasses, have the lenses taken out for the pictures.
	Turtle necks make double chins more prominent, so you may want to avoid them. Instead wear a shirt with a v-neck, or a collarless shirt that exposes the neck.
	Avoid sleeveless shirts. Wear clothes that fit properly; not too large or too small. Nothing is worse than a shirt too large and falling off the shoulders or a shirt too tight pulling across the tummy.
	When you follow these tips and coordinate your dress from head to toe, you are well on your way to a perfect portrait!

Women
Wear natural makeup but go for more of an evening look. If your makeup is too light, you may look a bit washed out, however, don't overdo it! Use a little extra mascara to make eyes stand out and a soft colored lip gloss for a bit of color.

Use your usual style for your portraits; don't try new hair styles or hair colors for your portrait session.

Men
Make sure you are freshly shaved. The "five o'clock shadow" is one of the hardest things to retouch. Shave right before your portrait appointment or bring your cordless shaver to the studio.

Avoid a fresh haircut. If you need a haircut, have it done 1 week before your appointment.

Children portraiture
Avoid logos, children's characters and patterned clothing. Solid colored, outfits in a medium to dark tone are the best choice for showing off your child's facial features and expressions.

White or pastel outfits photograph well when captured on a background of similar tone.

Be sure to select props that match clothing color and style.

While the colorful clothing is nice for a secondary outfit, it may not be suitable for a "timeless" quality portrait.

Family portraiture
With multiple subjects in the portrait, it is especially important to dress in the same color and style to capture your relationship. For a traditional family portrait, we recommend long sleeved, solid colored outfits in medium to dark tones.

Keep in mind that your eye will be drawn to the lightest color in the portrait, so you may wish to maintain a color harmony to avoid any unnecessary distractions.

The best clothing is casual, comfortable and somewhat ordinary. Perhaps you may want to dress for comfort with khakis and denim. This is not the time to wear trendy clothing, tight short skirts, short, sleeveless shirts, tank tops or chunky shoes.

One final thought - Keep it simple. The outfits you choose are important, however, the fact that you are taking the time to capture your family together in a portrait is much more important.

Outdoor portraiture
As a background, the outdoors is very busy. It is important to choose only one or two theme colors, with everyone wearing shades of those colors.

Wear colors that you see in nature. While blues are excellent all year, colors such as white, cream, khaki and red are great against lush green foliage. Burgundy, brown, tan, gold and orange are nice late in the season.