What should I wear to a photoshoot?

"What should I wear to a photoshoot?"

This is the most common question I get when booked for any type of photoshoot. Whether is be Engagement, Maternity, Headshots, or even a Family Photoshoot I get this question quite a bit, but don't fret! I am going to walk you through what to wear at every situation of a photoshoot. 

Now if you have booked with me you know that I provide pictures and recommend colors to avoid and what colors work because what you wear should compliment the setting. So I am going to lay this out in Catagories and list style format because I LOVE TO MAKE LISTS....

Let's first start with 

Beach setting

I love love loooooove to shoot at the beach. The sound of the waves, the cool breeze, and the lighting is always AAAAAMAZING! So don't be surprised if your maternity or engagement session is at the beach when booked with me. ;) . 

If you choose to book your session in the beach setting I recommend wear soft natural fabric that flow. Clothing that has solid colors work, but some patterns and textures that work with different neutral colors are most recommended. Maternity sessions I recommend wearing long flowy dresses (Target has some pretty awesome White, Flowy Maternity dresses). I recommend wearing flip-flops because photos will be taken shoeless or if you're not comfortable having your feet in the buff then I recommend tan colored socks. 

Colors that work for the beach are light blues, pastels,greens, and white. 

Next we have

Parks

When it comes to regional parks (Irvine, Carbon Canyon, or Nature Center) we come across an array of different scenic situations and colors what I always recommend are colors that are earth toned. Whites, Dark colored greens, Dark blues, Light or Dark Jeans are great too.

Urban

It's a rare occasion when a client will ask me to shoot urban because for some odd reason I don't get much call for that kind of scene. When the situation does arise I always recommend Los Angeles because when I think urban I think of the urbanist place there is! They have abandoned railroads, Graffiti backdrops, Sky scrapers to get that city feel and of course my favorite place to shoot engagements/proposals.... THE WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL! For urban, there is a lot of different styles you can go with! I've had clients dress in classy evening wear ...

I've also had clients rock dark colored jeans, a nice t-shirt, and leather jacket! It's really what you are trying to portray in your portraits..

Last but not least...my personal favorite environment to work in...

STUDIO!!!!

When it comes to an in studio shoot I kind of feel that anything goes because it's what YOU want to tell the audience looking at your photo. If it's for a headshot I recommend wear something that is not distracting. You don't want to be looking at your headshot with a huge "ABERCROMBIE" Text logo written across your chest because ONE it dates the photo and TWO that is usually what someone would look at first instead of those charming, beautiful eyes...am i right?!

The type of studio portraits I do is usually ambient and scenic. I know, I know, you're probably like "Erica, that makes no sense," well hold on! let me explain...

My favorite photographer of all time is the famous Annie Leibovitz and because I've spent countless amount of hours roaming through different exhibits when her work would be displayed in town, buying every RollingStone and Vanity Fair mag she shot for, and fangirling over her work I tend to lean toward making my own backgrounds, props, and making an environment that explains who my client is without words. SO! in that sense I make the environment, I create the lighting and ambiance.

Now in terms of what to wear to a studio shoot...discuss it with your photographer. It's best they know what you want from the shoot and they can help guide you on what's best to wear...

Here are a few examples of what my clients wore on their studio sessions...

Remember these are just suggestions! Be yourself and enjoy the photoshoot!