We know preparing for your session can be stressful so we’ve complied some tips to help guide you through the process of choosing your wardrobe and how to prepare for the shoot.

COORDINATE, DO NOT MATCH

The days of matchy-matchy are gone! We tell our clients to try and coordinate outfits by choosing a color palette of three to four complimentary colors. You can always start with one minimal pattern piece (usually mom’s dress or dad’s shirt) and draw your palette from there. You can also pick a very neutral color palette (browns, greys, creams) and introduce a pop of color in a few places.

COLOR DO’S AND DON’TS

The colors and styles of your wardrobe can heavily influence the outcome of your session. These color palettes perfectly illustrate how color can be either pleasing or overwhelming. The tones in the first palette below will photograph beautifully, the second will not. We highly recommend staying away from bright or primary colors at all costs. One of the best ways to choose your color palette is to determine if your session location has cool or warm tones. For example, a park in the fall has yellow and orange warm tones; a beach in the spring or summer has blue, green, and white cool tones. When choosing neutrals, opt for a brown tone for a warm color palette, or a gray tone for a cool color palate.

DRESSING FOR LOCATION SESSIONS

After you’ve thought about the color palette of your location, think about the clothes that make the most sense in that location. Dress for the season and the time of day. If you or your kids are too cold or too hot, it will show in the photos. For example, the park will be best suited with boots and layers. The beach location will go better with delicate flowing clothes, lighter materials, rolled up khakis and bare feet. At home sessions will be best suited for light tones and more comfortable clothing.

DRESSING FOR AT HOME SESSIONS

Simple and classic is always going to be best! You are at your home so a little bit relaxed but nice is good - you will likely be snuggling on your bed or in other pockets around your home so solid semi-casual clothes are perfect. If you want to wear a button down shirt for instance, roll up the sleeves and have a white t-shirt under. Soft, casual dresses for moms are great, as are jeans and a t-shirt. Bare feet. No shorts on anyone please. For kids and babies at home, we prefer tight fitting simple solid colored clothes and onesies (white and light tones are best), NO collars, and simple diaper covers (they can be ordered online or often come under dresses). If you adore a pattern, just make sure it is small and timeless and you only put one person in a pattern! Please reference the above color ideas for clothes for entire family.

PROPS

We don’t typically use props, it is simply not our style. We are more lifestyle and candid as is referenced on the examples on our website. However, if you have an heirloom item or something special to you (ie a blanket made by a grandmother or a hat you wore as a baby) by ALL means let’s incorporate it! That’s adorable! But babies in baskets is not something we do ;)

Please reference our FAQ for more helpful tried and true info prior to your session.

WARDROBE NO-NO’S

CRAZY PATTERNS Stay away from busy, loud patterns, but don’t be afraid to choose plaid, gingham or floral, especially small patterns.
WRINKLES AND LINT No one likes ironing, but if there was ever a time - this is it. And don’t forget that lint roller!
SHORT AND/OR TIGHT DRESSES These can be very hard to snuggle on a blanket or get comfortable in different poses.
SHORTS FOR ADULTS Just trust us on this one and don’t do it. Same goes for short dresses and thigh high slits in skirts - you want to be able to move and run around with your kids and sit criss-cross etc. without issue.
WORDS OR LOGOS These can be very distracting and can date the photograph.
MINIMAL COVERAGE Exposed skin can easily become a focal point, so be mindful. Bare arms tend to stand-out in a photo and can expose more skin than your face, thus drawing attention to your arms, not your beautiful face.
WORN JEANS Jeans are okay to an extent, please stick with a darker, classic wash with a more fitted look.
DARK UNDERGARMENTS Try to utilize skin toned undergarments or undergarments that match the tone of the clothing you are wearing so they don’t look obvious in photos or in slightly sheer clothes in the sunlight.
POLO SHIRTS We prefer a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, polo shirts can read too casual and polo shirts on kids can pop up and interfere with their faces.
ATHLETIC SHOES Sorry not sorry. Same with sport sandals.
BAGGY CLOTHING Please don’t size-up for your session, even if your kids only wear it once, it will be documented for a lifetime!
HOLIDAY DRESSES We know them all too well from our childhood. These dresses tend to be too bulky and stiff. Opt for light and moveable fabrics instead.
DRESSES WITHOUT SHORTS UNDER Please always, always, always put some simple, photogenic (matching) bike shorts under your cute dresses. Make sure they aren’t too long that they stick out. That way your little one can move about freely without constantly having to monitor her dress hem.
TOO CASUAL One of the biggest mistakes a client can make is dressing too casual. Pick outfits that are dressier than your every-day (but not a suit). The two of us never wear dresses day to day and are generally t-shirt and jeans gals - but picture day with us is the time to step outside your comfort zone, especially for on location sessions - put on the long dress, lace up the new boots, iron the shirts, skip the drawstring pants and lint roll!
GLASSES If you or anyone in your family wear glasses it is critical that you try to wear glasses that are NOT transitions (transitions are where the lenses get dark outdoors) as then you suddenly look like you are wearing sunglasses in all your photos! If those are the only glasses you have then please be prepared to take them off when you are in front of the camera. Obviously no sunglasses in photos (we want to see your eyes and expressions!) and if you have them, please wear your eyeglasses that have a non-reflective coat and clean the smudges so we can see your eyes clearly :)

STORES & BRANDS WE LOVE

The Gray Dragon Great shop in the Palisades, shop online or in person

Rylee and Cru Great neutral options for kids

ZARA Great classic options for your kids and adults

Nordstrom If you don’t know, now you know

Old Navy Usually carries good coordinating color options

Free People and Baltic Born Great long dress options for mom/maternity

Vici Great long dress options for mom with even a “bump friendly” category

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

Check out our PINTEREST BOARD HERE!

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DAY OF TIPS & WHAT TO BRING

Hair and Makeup It is a good idea to wear slightly more makeup than you usually would, especially foundation and powder. Some clients choose to have their makeup and/or hair professionally done before their session, this can be helpful but is by no means required - you can do it! A little extra hair product can also be useful, especially in case of humidity and wind, which are common at the beach. Beautiful flowing hair is amazing but sometimes it can block your expressions, especially when looking down at your kids. Please use a strong hairspray that can help prevent wisps, etc. and come prepared with hair clips just in case. Please also be mindful if your hair falls in your face a lot and consider a pretty clip or french braid so we can see your face.

Socks and Feet WILL Show If you’re thinking your socks and/or shoes don’t matter because they won’t be in the photo…..think again! Many times we will pose you in a seated or crouching position which will definitely show shoes and socks. Please wear socks and shoes that match the color of your clothes and your clothing style, i.e. casual, semi-formal. If you’re at the beach or at home, bare feet are ideal.

Get silly Please be prepared to be a clown for your kids. Being wild and silly behind the camera is a huge asset and very helpful to get the biggest grins. We are prepared to do the same for you, we have no shame in the giggle game.

Stay Behind the Camera See above - “get silly” - yassssss please. But please do so right behind us as we are shooting (near our ears) and encourage everyone (we’re talking to you Grandma and Grandpa!) at the shoot to stay right behind us so your kids are looking at the camera and not off at you dancing a jig!

Send OUT the Crew The above paragraph applies - we love a little extra help for sure, however if you have a large entourage with you (ie nanny, grandparents etc.) please select ONE person who makes baby laugh the most and have them stand DIRECTLY behind your photographer or just scoot off out of site quietly until they are called for their turn. Big groups milling about chatting can make getting a baby or toddler’s attention nearly impossible - you want them looking AT the camera not at Grandma off to the side! Often we will choose one person who the baby responds to well and have them stay to assist.

Wipes You will absolutely positively need them at some point. Please wipe down their faces before they event get out of the car if possible and again assess and wipe your children’s faces and eyelashes and noses completely prior to the session and keep wipes on hand for crusties and for wiping hands after tumbles, snacks, etc.

Lint Roller SO important, especially on sweaters and darker clothes. Lint roll before you leave the house and bring it with you!

Wrinkles in Clothes We repeat: wrinkles often catch the light and really show up in images so it is absolutely worth your time to iron or steam your clothes prior to the session and ideally select clothes that don’t wrinkle easily on the drive to your session.

Temporary Tattoos Please don’t forget about removing them! If you don’t mind them in the photos great but more often than not only part of one will show and it is confusing in the photos so remove if possible!

Secret Stash Please bring a secret stash of sweaters, snacks, bribes, photogenic toys, favorite stuffies, bubbles, etc in case it is needed. SECRET is the key word, you can always whisper and let us know what you have but don’t let the kids know unless we need to break it out. It is a last resort option because some of those items they don’t want to let go of and could end up in every shot otherwise.

At-Home Sessions For newborns and babies please have a few spare onesies on hand in case of blowouts or spit up. Please also have a blow-dryer and extension cord on hand as it can help calm an upset newborn. Typically the session will take place in the master bedroom so please have a simple, solid, light colored comforter on the bed, white is preferred. Please also clean off any night stands around your bed of clutter or distracting objects.

Beach Sessions First and foremost: if your child has not been to the beach before, we very much recommend taking them PRIOR to your session date - some kids reeeeealllly don’t like the sand or the water scares them, and you don’t want to find that out on the day of your shoot! Just let us know and we can always switch to a park or alternate location. Also, we always recommend extra hairspray and hair clips (for mom and kids!) as the wind can be quite unpredictable. Please plan on rolling up your pants and being barefoot. Don’t forget the sunscreen, a brush and some photogenic sweaters as it can get chilly. We try and bring a blanket when possible but it’s not a bad idea to bring one that you like to put down on the sand and cuddle on.

Park Sessions Please consider your shoes carefully and avoid heels. The terrain can be quite dusty so consider boots, wedges or flats that work for you. We try and bring a blanket when possible but it’s not a bad idea to bring one that you like to put down on ground and cuddle on.

“Candid” and What it Means to Us We love candid lifestyle moments and strive for them, but sometimes clients tend to think that means just letting kids run free and that just plain doesn’t work. Therefore we find it helpful to give you an idea of how it goes with us. We have a specific flow and process in order to achieve best results efficiently - here is what we’ve learned after 13 years of constantly figuring it out ;) We laughingly call it “controlled candid” and we explain it here so you are mentally prepared! We start with classic portraits of different combos in order to get those done straight away, esp. family and kids together and solos - and while it may feel “posed” at first, we guide you into having candid moments within the scene and within the pretty light, otherwise if we just let kids play from the beginning it just doesn’t work, chaos reins and they melt down 10x faster and there’s just a lot of chasing lol! As the shoot progresses we break off and do more “moments” where you snuggle and play and explore - and we get them to run and jump in different spots, but not too free range or it gets way wild. We find kids will absolutely get candid on their own within every set up so it isn’t a problem ;) Most importantly, we just encourage clients to please simply TRUST THE PROCESS as those are the shoots that are the most fun and productive for everyone and that client’s get the most out of!

WARDROBE TIPS & HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR SESSION