Choosing Colours for a Portrait Shoot

Dressing for a photo shoot is a little more demanding than dressing for a day at the office. You have a significantly restricted pallet when it comes to patterns for one; busy or bold patterns such as checked skirts, striped shirts, or floral dresses do not typically photograph well. Then you have to think about colour coordination.

There’s an art to picking the best colors for photos. It’s like choosing the right colors for a room. Not only do you know it when you see it, but you can feel it. When deciding what colors to wear for photos, first think about the colours you love to wear. Pick colors that make you look and feel your best. and chose colours that coordinate different hues and that complement one another and not colours that match. For example, mustard yellow and grey (or emerald/teal green) look amazing beside one another.  

You've probably noticed that you tend to re-wear pieces that fall within a certain palette in your closet. Most likely, you are wearing colors that best complement your skin tones.

There are three main categories of clothing colors for portraits or for headshots: warm tones, cool tones, and neutral tones. You typically want to stay within one of these palettes when building an outfit

There is a bunch of information about choosing colour tones to suit your skin tone and style but first, you have to know your skin tone. There are a number of ways in which you can do this but one way is by looking at your veins.

In natural light, check the appearance of your veins beneath your skin.

• If your veins appear blue or purple, you have a cool skin tone.
• If your veins look green or a greenish blue, you have a warm skin tone.
• If you can’t tell whether or not your veins are green or blue, you probably have a neutral skin tone. Those of you with an olive complexion will probably fall into this category.

If you would like to see other options check out this link

https://www.colorescience.com/blogs/blog/how-to-determine-your-skin-tone-before-buying-face-products

Warm Tones

If you have dark brown to dark blonde hair combined with olive skin, you’ll most likely look best in warm tones. Some great colors to wear for photos are oranges, reds, golds, magenta, and turquoise. Most of these are earth-like tones.

Cool Tones

Cool-toned colors work best if your hair is the darkest of a given shade. If you have super dark blond, chestnut, or near-black hair, then colors you should wear include lavender, royal blue, ruby, and emerald green. Cool tones are water tones.

Neutral Tones

Unfortunately, neutral tones require some more trial and error. A good indicator that you would look best with neutrally toned colors is if you have hazel eyes and your hair is also a natural combination of colors. For neutral-toned people, try wearing light pink and other light colors that aren’t super stark or vibrant. 

Once you figure out your color palette, picking the best colors to wear for photos becomes easier and can be applied to your everyday wardrobe as well!

Lastly, add some texture to your outfits! Throw on a couple of layers (temperature permitting) that will add some diversity to your look. It’s easy to throw a scarf on and off or a hat or a jacket to make your session look more full as far as clothes go.
After thinking through all this, feel free to send your photographer pics and ideas!! They will be overjoyed to help.

If you have any questions or concerns do always ask me your questions either in advance or during your photoshoot.

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