Family Photo Shoot Ideas with Hello Baby Brown

Hi guys, I'm Marisa! I run a lifestyle blog called Hello Baby Brown, but you can usually find me hanging out on Instagram. I am married to my high school sweetheart, Eric, and we have three little ones, Sloan (5), Phayre (3), and Briar (1).

We live in Portland, Oregon and love spending time outdoors!

I am so excited to be writing for the Zozu Baby blog! Tis the season for family photos so I thought we'd chat about family photo outfits today.

When choosing outfits for your family, my number one rule is: choose your own outfit first. We are hardest on ourselves, so finding an outfit that we love on ourselves can be challenging. Choose your outfit and then base colors/prints and what everyone else will wear off of that. Take time to look around and find something that you feel comfortable in and that flatters your body type. If you're self-conscious about your arms, wear long sleeves or a cardigan. If you're self-conscious about your legs, wear a maxi dress or pants. Bottom line; find something that you feel good in! If you feel good, you will be more comfortable and able to act yourself in front of the camera.

Once you've chosen your outfit, find outfits for your spouse and children that coordinate with (but don't match) your outfit. I like to pick 2-3 coordinating colors and at least one print (but not more than two prints). Make sure the colors you choose look nice together and don't include any clashing prints. For example, in our most recent family photos I chose navy blue, hunter green, and tan. Sloan wore a floral dress and Briar wore a gingham shirt, but the rest of our clothing was solid colors.

 Retailers who make clothing for the whole family, often have outfits that will coordinate (think Gap and Old Navy). Once I have everyone’s outfits, I always lay everything on my bed so that I can see it all together. This has saved me when things look a lot better together in my head than they do in real life.

 And one last thing about outfits! Don't forget about everyone’s shoes!! Make sure all of your shoes coordinate with your outfits and that they're clean. I promise if you forget, you won't be able to stop staring at your son’s dirty tennis shoes when you get your family photos back!

Here are a few examples of some coordinating family looks!