Family Portrait - Flint,MI

We had a family portait done, and I chose these combinations of colors for our clothes:
Black, pink, grey and white. We had a burgundy background.
I chose these colors because I knew we were going to blow it up to a 20X26 size and it was going to be displayed in my formal room, which is a combo of gold, burgundy,and black.

Usually you will have a certain type of skin tone that will look better in certain colors. There is a book called "Color me Beautiful" which talks about choosing colors that look best for you. I have ruddy skin with red undertones and dark hair. So I look best in bright pinks, blacks, deep navy,burgundy, and true red. No pastels for me!
I cannot wear oranges , browns, and greens at all either. I look sick. Conversly, someone who is a redhead may look wonderful in browns, greens and oranges. Someone with golden skin and blonde hair would probably look wonderful in pastels.
Go with the skin tone of the family to guide your colors. Usually you will have a majority of your clothes in your closet of certain repetitive colors-instinctively we usually choose the colors that match us best.

It helps if everyone has a similar color on, but you don't have to look like you're wearing uniforms either. :)

are you going for formal look or casual look? you need to fill us in alittle bit more of what you might be looking for....such as matching shirts, inside or outside!!

How about white t-shirts/blouses/men's /boys' dress shirts and blue jeans/same-color khaki's? Just a thought....I'd google local photographers in your area (esp ones who have websites) so that U can hopefully see their online portfolios. Maybe call a few of them and ask what they think? Can't hurt to ask.

I would go to www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com for examples of what not to wear. In our family, we wear whatever we want as long as they're nice clothes and dont clash too much. We dont do the matching thing, which I hate, and my husband really wishes we would, as he's a twin and loves to match.

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I am totally sick and tired of seeing families in portraits with white shirts and jeans or khaki's.

You don't give much detail, so it's hard to give you much in the way of advice. For me, it would depend a lot on what the backdrop will be. Are these studio portraits? Outdoor portraits?

I'd try to coordinate - NOT MATCH - your outfits. Same color family, no bold prints or writing on clothes. Sleeveless shirts are unflattering on women or men in photos.

Look at some family portraits online, and get some ideas of what you like. I always suggest people look at TLC's website and look at Jon & Kate's family portraits. They usually did a great job of coordinating outfits, using bold, fresh colors, not the bland khaki/white deal.

The photographers usually say to wear something of the same color, last family portrait we did our girls wore pink and my husband and I wore gray. It turned out nice.

we did white polo's and jeans, and no shoes or socks it was turned our great!

It really depends on the ages and how many people too. Jeans and white shirts are the usual easy and popular outfits. But you could do black and white...

Depends on if you want formal or casual. We had a portrait done in the winter and we all wore greys, blacks, and crandberries. We didn't "match" our outfits we just made sure to follow the same color palate.

You don't want everyone to be wearing dark shades and then have one person wearing something bright. Then your focus just goes to that one person.

Usually if you go to any photographer website they have examples of styles such as sleeve lengt, colors, etc. I find that always helps in planning a group portrait.

If you will be outside you would probably want everyone to keep their colors light and airy to match the scenery. Again, just keep the color palate the same.

My family took a huge portrait a few years back. Aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole family. We stuck with creams, and browns, everyone looked great accept for my one cousin who wore WHITE! Stood out immediately.

Good luck and have fun!