What to wear for a family portrait on the beach??

[wenrob]

I like the khaki and white or blue I think it look nice and clean. And your paying for someone to take your photos I think if you want to wear whie then wear it whether or not it makes it harder on then its their job. IMO

I was just explaining the 'why' of it. It is their job and if they're willing to do beach pics they need to know how to do it because people are obviously going to ignore the request. To be honest this photog may not know how to work with it and that's why they asked it not be done. A real pro will know what to do.

 

[johnsontrio]

My friend's family just did pictures at Lake Michigan with everyone in khakis but each family in a separate shade of blue shirt. They turned out great.

 

[walkerag]

We had beach portraits done last summer and wore white and khaki. I wanted something different but just couldn't decide so we just went with the white. They turned out great! Here's the link to our photos:

http://www.shaunsaxon.com/media/090806_walker/index.html

Oh, and have fun! It's a great family experience

 

[Liberty Belle]

We had beach portraits done last summer and wore white and khaki. I wanted something different but just couldn't decide so we just went with the white. They turned out great! Here's the link to our photos:

http://www.shaunsaxon.com/media/090806_walker/index.html

Oh, and have fun! It's a great family experience

Nice! That last one of the three of you snuggled up together is wonderful!

 

[Pugsley]

We had beach portraits done last summer and wore white and khaki. I wanted something different but just couldn't decide so we just went with the white. They turned out great! Here's the link to our photos:

http://www.shaunsaxon.com/media/090806_walker/index.html

Oh, and have fun! It's a great family experience

Your pictures are beautiful! I especially like the black and white ones.

 

[Crystal0608]

I have a pic of my dd wearing a white sundress and my ds in a white polo and khaki shorts holding hands facing the ocean back when they were around 6/4, so sweet! I took it after the sun came up and I've been told its the best picture ever of them. I frequently do the white with khaki/denim for our beach pictures, but shades of blue and khaki would look good too.

 

[goofinoff]

Thanks for all of your ideas and suggestions. After going back and forth with a couple of family members, I think we have decided to go back to white shirts and jeans. I know it's a little dated and has been done but I think it would create more of a cohesiveness among us. And easier too. I wouldn't want anyone to go out and have to by something.

So thanks again! I can always count on the dis'ers!!

 

[Robinrs]

Thanks for all of your ideas and suggestions. After going back and forth with a couple of family members, I think we have decided to go back to white shirts and jeans. I know it's a little dated and has been done but I think it would create more of a cohesiveness among us. And easier too. I wouldn't want anyone to go out and have to by something.

So thanks again! I can always count on the dis'ers!!

I like the word "cohesiveness" ... it doesn't look like a bunch of people who just so happened to be on the beach and someone took their picture!

BTW, I never even heard of these until a couple of years ago when my cousin asked all of us to wear white for a family picture. So if it's dated, I'm WAY LATE!

 

[laughinplace199]

I had my 3 kids' photos done at the beach a few years ago. DD was 8 and DS was 6. They wore matching navy polo shirts and they both wore khaki shorts. The baby was 9 mos and he wore a navy plaid sunsuit. They looked great!

 

[Golf4food]

Here's a suggestion: search for rules of group portrait photography - almost every photography tutorial I see includes recommendations of what to wear and why, and what not to wear and why. This will help you narrow down some ideas from a photographic standpoint, which will make the resulting photos better because they will look better in the final pictures.

 

[can'tgetenufofwdw]

We had family portraits done in Myrtle Beach and they came out fantastic. We wore faded out jeans/capris for me and navy blue on the top. Do a picture from behind of you all running into the waves in B/W when you are all done. We did this and it is one of my favorites. Very playful

 

[pixiewings71]

I have a friend with 5 kids, with her and her DH that makes 7 people in their family portraits. They do family portraits like this, chose a "bottom" in a color that everyone wears, like khaki or black, then each person chooses to wear pants, shorts or a skirt in that color, then the girls all wear 1 color and the guys a different color. Always co-ordinating colors and they always turn out great. So for instance they would put everyone in white bottoms, then the girls will have pink shirts and the boys will have blue. that's very basic and not the colors they have used but you get the idea.

 

[Chelley00]

Thanks for all of your ideas and suggestions. After going back and forth with a couple of family members, I think we have decided to go back to white shirts and jeans. I know it's a little dated and has been done but I think it would create more of a cohesiveness among us. And easier too. I wouldn't want anyone to go out and have to by something.

So thanks again! I can always count on the dis'ers!!

You'll be fine. We did white shirts and khaki shorts/capris, and I love our family pictures

 

[Buckalew11]

Because the sun is bouncing off the sand and water already making the meter on the camera go nuts, add in white clothing and it's a nightmare. You are forced to choose to expose for skin tones or clothes. It can be done but there's a LOT of work involved on the editing end when it comes to beach pics, adding white shirts (or pants/dresses) makes it even more challenging. That's it pretty much in a nutshell.

When we do family portraits we try to choose a color scheme and use varying degrees of it. I think a sage w/khaki combo would be nice.

I see, so it is a technical problem. If I had my heart set on it, I'd probably just look for a photographer who was comfortable doing it that way. Obviously, a lot of them can do it because I've seen a lot of this type photo look really good.

I think choosing another color might work IF everyone looked good in that color. While some people look better in cream instead of white, most people look good in white esp. compared to some other colors. I can wear lt. pink but don't look so good in mauve so if you choose another color, make sure everyone looks good in that color or their chosen color.

 

[Buckeye Princess]

I really like the look of navy. We just took some family pictures on our disney cruise a few weeks ago. We all wore navy. My dress had navy and grey, my daughter was navy and white, and my husband was navy and light khaki. It came out looking very coordinated without being TOO matchy matchy.

 

[si-am]

I never understood the whole family-wears-same-colors thing. I'd just have everyone wear something flattering and comfortable.

 

[MinnieMe87]

I may be in the minority, but I am not a fan of those family portraits where everyone wears the same thing. It's been done to death. If it was me, I would just want everyone to wear nice looking beach clothes. The girls could wear pretty sun dresses, and the guys could wear nice shorts and polos or t-shirts.

I'm not a fan of pictures where everyone wears the exact same outfit. I don't mind Jeans and kids wearing one color top, adults wearing a different, but I love when people just wear an outfit that is "them". To me, that makes a picture more real because everyone looks like themselves.

 

[Evi]

I didn't read the whole thread but if no one suggested it how about linen? You could have guys in linen tops and slacks let ladies choose their own dresses.

 

[Shmily1]

DD19 and DGS1 had pictures made not long ago and they did denim and pale yellow shirts. It was gorgeous!

 

[Nennie]

My husband is a beach portrait photographer. I would say about 80% of the samples hanging in his studio feature families wearing white shirts and khakis, or white shirts and navy or denim bottoms. It just photographs so well, and makes for a beautiful portrait.

He had a family of 4 recently do a "costume" change. They wore white and khaki for 1/2 the pics, then the mom changed into a pink top, the dad into a green top, and the girls into matching dresses with both pink and green in them. Although the pink/green outfits were adorable, they chose the white/khaki look to blow up into 3 large canvas prints, b/c it just looked better.

Any white balance problems that the photgrapher might have during the shoot, can easily be fixed in photoshop in a matter of seconds!!

Good luck with the shoot! I'm sure you'll all look great!