When it comes to family photos, I always say the most stressful part is leading up to it- not the actual session! When picking your summer family photo color scheme, there are several things to keep in mind. For starters- I’m all about thinking outside of the box. If dressing in frilly, southern, all white outfits isn’t your thing- I GET IT! It’s not mine either. Many people go for timeless, neutral portraits. There is nothing wrong with this whatsoever. But, there’s a MILLION blogs on this topic and I want to encourage you to think outside of the box and give you a few pointers to do so!

Start Brainstorming Summer Family Photo Color Schemes

There are so many color palette examples on Pinterest, including a board I made. But translating it into outfits is a different story. If you’re interested in some of the ones I love, you can check out the color palettes here. Are you going to go bold or neutral? Think about the backgrounds of your setting. Is it pretty neutral? Or is it really busy? The beaches on the Gulf Coast of Florida have white sand and the sunsets often have a cooler hue, so I love when clients lean into this. If you’re going to be in a more wooded area with green grasses it might be a good idea to play on the warmer side of the color scheme.

You Don’t Have to Match

Think about coordinating vs. matching. Matching is easy, but coordinating can be too. I promise! Although there will be some color palette examples below, don’t feel like you need to use all of them on every person. In fact, even if each person wears one color, if you’re going for a bold palette it will still look amazing.

#1 Tip is to START WITH A PATTERN

This is the secret sauce to avoiding a TON of stress in your family session. Start with a pattern. Typically, this is a dress, but it can be a fun Hawaiian shirt for Dad or patterned shorts for a boy too. You don’t have to go shopping, pick out a patterned dress you love (typically I’m speaking to Mom) for you or your daughter. Typically it will be best to have 3 or more colors. Then, pull every other outfit based on that pattern.

For men, show them the pattern. Tell them to throw on some khaki shorts and a long or short sleeved polo with any of the colors from the pattern. Then tell the other women they can wear any outfit that has any of the colors in the pattern. Encourage them to wear solids if a few people are wearing the pattern (see the below example with the family who did this perfectly.)

Here is a perfect example of a Summer Family Photo Color Scheme that is coordinated and not matched.

My clients get access to a multitude of of resources including custom palettes made for their season. Here are a few examples. There’s also a ton of information on my Pinterest page if you’d like to follow along!

Looking for more inspiration on families I’ve photographed? Check out the family blog here!

Inquire for a photoshoot with Jordan here.