5 Simple Tips to Create Timeless Family Portraits
A family portrait session does take time and effort to plan, especially with children. Of course you want to walk away with images that you will love looking at for years to come, so it’s important to take a timeless approach to your family portrait session.
However, this doesn’t mean you can’t still dress in a way that speaks to who your family is and have some fun with your session, it just means that you’ll be able to hang your portraits in your home and not wonder if they are starting to look a bit outdated a few years down the line.
Here are a few tips that you can apply as you plan your upcoming session.
1. Create an Inspiration Board
When you start planning a family portrait session, it’s easy to get carried away with hundreds of ideas – cue the overwhelm! To avoid panic and mediocre results later on, create an inspiration board early on in your planning – Pinterest is great for this. Better yet, scour the social media pages of the photographer you’ve hired and look at their previous sessions for one that speaks to you. An inspiration board will ensure your ideas are cohesive and all add up to the images you’re hoping to achieve.
2. Think Twice About Logos and Loud Patterns
A logo or pattern might be all the rage now, but it might not be in 3 years, leaving you with images that look outdated. What’s more, loud patterns can be a complete distraction, drawing the eye away from the people you love most.
3. Make It Mainly Neutral
When choosing your outfits, start with a neutral base. Colors like beige and ivory work really well, but other colors like blue and black work great too and give you the opportunity to add in pops of color and accessories. Again, be careful not to go overboard with accessories unless you want them to be a distracting feature.
4. Use Color Gradients
If you’re going for timeless family portraits, you don’t want your outfits to match. However, you can create a cleaner look by selecting a color gradient for your outfits. This way, everyone has similar tones, but still have different outfits (which your teen will thank you for).
5. Consider Your Home
This is by far, my most important piece of advice. If you plan to display your family portraits in your home (which you absolutely should!!), consider your décor. What colors would look best against your walls and with your furniture and general décor? Coordinating with the existing colors in your home ensures you will want to leave your portraits on your walls indefinitely.
Last, don’t forget to share your vision of timeless portraits with your photographer so that they can help you produce the family session of your dreams.
Ready to schedule your fall family portrait session? Email us at megan@meganmyrickphotography.com or call the studio at 912.200.5284. We are ready to help make your family portrait dreams come true!
