It’s holiday session time, and I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what to wear and how to prepare for your holiday session.

So, I’ve put together some of my tips for styling your family portrait session and a couple looks for this holiday season!

1. Make sure that your outfits don’t distract from your faces! – You want your faces to be the star of the image. So choose tops that are solid and relatively free of details and embellishments. Prints and patterns can be distracting, even when they look great in person. If you love pattern and details, keep them below the waist. A cute patterned skirt looks fantastic with a solid top.

2. Please don’t wear the exact same outfits! – You don’t want to look like the wait staff at your favorite family restaurant! In the 90s the “white shirts and khakis or black shirts and jeans” look became very popular. You saw it in everyone’s family portraits. But listen folks, it’s 2011 and you can do better than that! You can still go well together without matching exactly.

3. Complement each other without being identical. Choose three to four complementary colors and then wear different combinations of those colors, with each person wearing at least two of the colors to tie them in with the rest of the group.  I’ve put together a couple samples for you, whether you’re style is casual or dressy.

For the holiday season I love deep jewel tones. They go well with any skin tone and hair color and look great in outdoor settings.

4. Reflect your personal style. Don’t go out and buy outfits that you would never otherwise wear. Match your outfits with the style and personality of your family. You want your portraits to reflect who you really are as a family, not who you think you should be or who you think other people want you to be.

5. Don’t forget about yourself Mom! – Lastly, I’ve got a few tips just for mom. If you’re not great at styling your own hair and makeup, go and have both done just before your session. And if you color your hair, remember to have it touched up. You don’t want to have to ask me to retouch your roots on all of your images!

I look forward to seeing all my holiday session clients! This is my favorite time of the year and I always have a great time meeting new clients and seeing old. Oh, and remember, having your photo taken is fun! So, don’t stress too much. Do your best to get everyone ready and then be ready to have some fun with me!