What To Wear to a Photography Session.
TLDR: It really just comes down to contrast.
I want you to pop out of the background. You can do this by:
Wearing light colors in darker locations and darker colors in bright locations.
Wearing neutral colors in colorful locations, and bold and complementary colors in neutral locations.
Warm colors in cool locations, and cool colors in warm locations.
Really just something you like, that you will be comfortable in. An outfit that you love that makes you just feel awesome.
The reality is that I am going to subtly edit your photos and the colors to make them as good as I possibly can. Photo editing software is so powerful now that I can make edits more effective and efficiently than ever.
But it makes all the difference in the world to wear an outfit that is maybe a little more photogenic on the color side of things.
I am by no means a fashion expert. Definitely not. However I have taken hundreds of thousands of photos, on hundreds of photo sessions.
While this is what I recommend, it’s by no means an actual rule. If you have an outfit that you like and want to wear, please do. I’m just offering some ideas that might work well.
So. What are neutral colors, and why do they work so well?
Neutral colors are black, white, brown, and grey.
You can also count really any color as long as it has very low saturation, that is how you get ivory, eggshell, tan, and many more.
Neutral colors go with pretty much anything.
It’s not just about what you’re wearing but where you will be having your session that matters. You generally don’t want to blend into the background of your photos. I’m not going to go too deep into color theory and get into near neutrals, semi tones, analogous, triadic, and more.
It gets pretty crazy down that rabbit hole.
That’s not to say you have to be neutral head to toe, a pop of color on your favorite sneakers, or a pair of denim pants is still fantastic.
I will say that neutral colors are my favorite to photograph and make me feel like I have the most opportunity for my own creativity. Due to the flexibility they provide me as a photographer when choosing a location and background.
Wedding attire overall is usually very neutral. Which is great because then finding backgrounds and spots to photograph is pretty easy. There is simply the most options with a neutral outfit.
The goal is to actually make you pop out of the frame really easily.
So then. What are complementary colors?
These colors are a perfect example! The blue that they are wearing contracts perfectly to the oranges of the leaves.
Complimentary colors are any colors on complete opposites of a color wheel shown below. These are more or less opposites of each other and contrast each other very well. This is the reason so many brands and sports teams use them on their logos and uniforms.
Here is a crazy fact: The color wheel was actually made by Issac Newton in 1666, when he mapped out the visual spectrum onto a circle. There is also different color wheels for physical applications like painting, vs digital use.
I never thought I would use much from that mandatory art history class as a part of my photography minor. But here we are.
These color wheels are actually from Lightroom, which is the program I use to edit all of my photos.
So then when are bold colors best?
In a neutral environment! Places that have lots of whites or grey’s like urban environments or snow scapes are perfect for a big pop of color on you! One of my all time favorite examples of this is this red wedding dress, with the background of the white Wisconsin State Capitol building behind them.
There is also monochromatic combinations!
This is just different shades of the same color, these give a really nice harmonious look.
All of this gets combined in every situation.
Here the outfits are almost monochromatic with the background with the different shades of blue on our incredible couple, and the sky. But there is also the contrast of the warm sunset light falling on them vs the cool blue water and sky behind them.
So again. What should you wear to your photography session?
Really just something you like, that you will be comfortable in. An outfit that you love that makes you just feel awesome.
But if you want to go the extra mile for your photographer to make their/MY life easier…
Consider wearing neutral colors, especially if you’re not sure what to wear.
Relax.
Don’t lock your knees.
Oh you have not booked a session with me yet? Reach out here and let’s get something set up!