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Professional photo sessions are very popular nowadays. Whether it’s for celebrating your engagement, capturing the last weeks of your pregnancy or simply updating your family album, they’re now a must for many people. To help you have a joyful experience, here are five photography mistakes and how to avoid them!
1. Wearing the wrong clothes
Certain clothes, such as the ones with small stripes (less than 1″/2cm) and with highly pigmented colours, don’t photograph well and create weird optical illusions in camera. Sweaters with logos or words should be avoided as well. Not only do they create visual distractions, but they can also cause legal issues with companies if they’re trademarked. For this reason, I always remove them in post-production. It’s also best to avoid wearing black or very dark colours from head to toes. Otherwise, your body will look like a shapeless dark mass.
Favour clothes with solid, neutral and natural colours instead. For instance, instead of going with bright yellow or firetruck red, wear marigold or burgundy combined with a neutral colour. First of all, these colours are timeless and won’t go out of fashion quickly. Secondly, since they all belong to the same family, they will easily create a harmony with all the participants.
Furthermore, think about the shoes you will wear. Since they will most likely show in a few photos, it would be a bummer if they don’t match with the outfit you carefully curated. If the session takes place at your home, the best is to go barefoot or to wear neutral matching socks without holes.
Lastly, I suggest avoiding tube tops and tube dresses for women. They’re rarely flattering for the breast, will leave the bra straps visible and you will constantly have to adjust it throughout the session.
For more inspiration, you can check out my Pinterest boards. They include different clothing ideas for the whole family and are regularly updated.
Summary which colours should be avoided and which should be favoured:
Examples of colour combinations picked by clients for our appointment:
2. Keeping eyesores on you
Now that your outfit is chosen, let’s tackle the second issue: aesthetically unpleasing objects!
Whether it’s a keychain, a wallet, a cellphone or a pack of cigarettes, these objects take up a lot of space in pants or coat pockets. Consequently, their shape will be easily noticeable on the pictures. I strongly suggest bringing them in a separate bag to avoid this issue. During the session, I will leave the bag at my feet to avoid seeing it in the background.
Similarly, I suggest removing smart watches such as Apple Watch or FitBit during the session. With their large black screen, they stick out like a sore thumb. It’s particularly noticeable on close up shots, such as for the engagement ring, the hands on the belly or the hands on the baby. Since your hands will be visible in the majority of the photos, not wearing a smart watch will give better results.
I you really want to wear one, choose an analogue watch instead. It will look better with your outfit, as well as having the advantage of being timeless.
Lastly, I strongly advise against wearing photochromic glasses (Transition type). Since they become opaque under UV light, we won’t see your beautiful eyes! Favour regular glasses or contact lenses for this special occasion instead.
3. Choosing a location that doesn’t match your expectations
Picking the location is important, because each one has its benefits and disadvantages that will influence the session.
For several people, our appointment is often a first experience in front of the camera, which can be quite intimidating. Picking an intimate area that will limit the number of external intrusions is highly recommended to keep you at ease. Consequently, even if the Old Montreal or the Mont-Royal offers stunning cityscapes, doing your session there on a Saturday among all the tourists may not be a good idea if you’re the shy type.
Alongside, even if the countryside is the perfect spot for natural photos, it also comes with its downsides. Take in consideration that it can strongly smell like manure and have lots of bugs. If this idea doesn’t excite you, you might prefer an urban park or a green alley instead.
Plus, if you want to do the session inside your home, tidy up before we begin. Remove clutter you don’t want to see in the background, such as the dirty laundry hamper, the overflowing garbage bin and the tissue box on your nightstand. This will allow us to create the peaceful and minimalist look we all love.
4. Always looking straight at the camera
Even though it seems like the obvious thing to do, always looking at the camera will quickly become redundant. The main goal of the session is to immortalize your complicity in order to leave you with unforgettable memories.
Pretend I’m not there and don’t hesitate to be yourself in front of the camera. Interact, laugh, smile, kiss, give tickles, look at each other in the eyes, whisper secrets in your partner’s ear, etc. In short, have fun! Of course, no one will forbid you to look at the camera occasionally, but you will be a thousand times more satisfied with the final result if you loosen up.
5. Not wanting to be there
The worst thing to do at a photo session is definitely not wanting to be there and refusing to cooperate.
Sometimes, an adult taking part in the session lets everyone know that they would rather be elsewhere right before we start. Not only does it greatly complicate my job, but it will also be hard for every other participant to relax and create the connection explained in #4.
For various reasons, some people dread having their picture taken, which I fully respect. However, investing in a professional photo session is the best way to get memories of the whole family together. For once, the person who’s always behind the camera can finally be part of the photos!
Life goes by so quickly, but it’s also greatly unpredictable and fragile. Rather than seeing it as torture, see it as an opportunity to create memories with the people you love the most. When you’re old and wrinkly, you will get to look at these photos of your partner and/or children with pride. I promise you won’t regret « suffering » for a short hour to get them!
Last update: February 2024
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