What to wear for your engagement shoot?

Your clothing and accessories make a huge difference.  Here’s Steve’s advice on what to wear for your engagement shoot.

First off, there is a fine line between wear what make you… well you! And wear what makes for a great portrait.  And while this is aimed at my couples who book me specifically for an engagement shoot, the principles apply to pretty much any portraiture session.

Why does it matter…?

The selection of proper clothing for your shoot is a critical factor in preparing for a successful portrait.   In a portrait, the people within the image should be the centre point of attention.  However if clothing is noticeable or overbearing in a portrait, it could easily become a distraction. This would take away from the person within and  could be the difference between a very successful portrait and just another picture.

What to look slender..? Pick this colour!

Dark clothing tends to slenderise. Darker clothing helps to blend the bodies with the background, so that the faces are the most important part of the photograph. Dark colors definitely tend to slenderise the subject.

Tone down bright colours. Bright colours attract attention away from the face and may be reflective. Avoid wearing red, bright pink, bright green etc. When choosing lighter colors, stick to pastels, but avoid pink tones. Pale yellow and pale blue work well, especially with jeans or kaki pants. These colours work great in nature for example, if you have a sunset photography session booked in.

Light clothing can look beautifully fresh. White can look beautifully simple and fresh…  BUT… What can reflect light in bright environments and reflect their own light… and while doing so, hides your face in the image… However, white shirts and/or blouses under a dark jacket are perfect.

AVOID: Patterns, text and logos.

Prints and patterns are a definite NO. This includes logos. Avoid prints of any kind and patterns. No matter how small the print or the pattern, it will become a distraction. In the case of digital portraits, in particular, small patterns in clothing (even a small herring-bone or checkered pattern) can cause terrible distortions to appear in the portrait that are not originally there.

This can also be difficult for even the best printers to reproduce while keeping to an amazing fine art portrait.

Can’t decide what to wear and what will look good? Here’s a tip!

Tip. Lay out all the clothing onto a bed. Shoes, socks, stockings – everything should be included…shoes, too! Then, take a careful look at the collection. If your eye goes to any one item in particular, you can be certain that the same thing will happen in a photograph. That item should be changed. Clothing should not be too tight or too loose.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you 🙂

Well… this is the result when it doesn’t go to plan! However, I will shoot you as you are so the important thing is to be you and I’ll do my best to bring your personality into the image.

How do I book an engagement shoot?

I consider each shoot something bespoke.  As a result I work on an hourly basis, however for wedding couples, I take the opportunity to get to know you better so I don’t really clock watch.  I do make the shoot as fun as possible and often it can include the wedding consultation.

Where can we shoot?

• The shoot can take place at home, in your comfortable environment.
• We can also shoot on location.  Local park, the venue or on a date in your favourite place.  Just need permission to shoot and we’re good!
• Or how about in a studio? Yes this will incur a studio rental fee, but as we are static and the lighting is perfect it makes for more images in the same time frame.

I want in! How do I book?

If you’re already booked in with Steve, just a message and we’ll fix a date, time and location.  Not yet booked in?  Leave your details on the contact page over here!

I look forward to hearing from you!