What to Wear for Your Family Photoshoot

A lot of photographers will tell you to wear neutral colours, avoid big patterns, and make sure everyone matches or at least looks like a coordinated paint chart. I have no idea who came up with that rule, but it has sucked the life out of more family photos than I can count. It’s the fastest way to turn a group of interesting humans into a beige catalogue advert.

If you normally dress boho, wear boho.

If you feel your best in something dapper, wear the suit.

If you want to turn up in a sequin dress because it makes you feel like the main character, do it.

If your kid insists on wearing their favourite dinosaur jumper, let them. It tells me more about who they are than any “neutral palette” ever will.

The whole point of a family photoshoot is to look like yourselves. Not the Pinterest version of yourselves, the real version. The one where everyone’s personality shows up in the clothes they chose on purpose.

You don’t want to look like every other family lined up against a white backdrop wearing the same shade of Cloud Dancer (if you don’t know, look up Pantone Colour of 2026). You want photos that feel like your family every day. The colours, the textures, the quirks, the bits that make you all different, that’s what makes the photos interesting.

So wear what you want. Wear what feels like you.

And then let’s go and make something fun out of it.