Best clothing color for family portrait
James C. Miller
JImbo in Sunny AZ
zeitgeist
> What's the best color for clothing for a family portrait?
>
That depends.
What will the image be used for, where will it hang? If you are making
a wall print then you need to consider the decor of the room it will be
in, is it light oaks, bleached woods with eggshell or whatever fancy
name they give off white this year? Is it walnut or pecan trim, layered
texture paint with brown leather furniture and persian carpets?
Will it be a hi key or low key portrait?
those two considerations then lead to this, what will the background
be?
the important thing isn't the specific color of the clothes, but getting
the colors to co-ordinate. more than two thirds of the clients know
basic colors etc when they dress themselves (or their wife does) and
know not to mix plaids and stripes etc. But for some reason it doesn't
occure to a lot of people that when more than one person is in an image
their clothes and colors need to be as compatible as if each item could
be worn by any other person in the image.
So have your clients lay their selections on the bed and see if they ALL
go together.
My pet peeve is white pants with a dark top. any full lenght image
outta be hung upside down cause the eye will travel right to the pants
anyway.
The ideal is to make a composition of faces and hands, not clothes, so
choose clothes, both in color and style that will be equivelent in tone
and hue to the background so the standout color is the faces. That
doesn't mean matching the green of grass and trees with green shirts and
pants, but complementary colors that blend well so when you stand back
and look at an image, the eye goes to the faces first. So blue jeans or
khakis would work, but black leather jackets etc might not be the best
choice.
This reply is echoed to the z-prophoto mailing list at yahoogroups.com
zeitgeist
Dick wrote:
>
> 1. All in a uniform color (ie: all in blue tops, denim, etc.)
>
> 2. Solid colors, no patterns.
>
> 3. Lose any big or outlandish jewelry.
>
1. all uniform outfits like denims are often objected to, but it's true,
it does avoid a lot of obnoxious and unfortunate combinations, and
usually those who whine the most about it are the ones who are
apparently color blind and show up looking like they pieced their
outfits from a goodwill dumpster.
2. I don't mind patterns, if they are tight and non contrasty, I like
the Laura Ashley look, but yeah, mention patterns and they'll show up in
hawaiian shirts.
3. this is the one that'll get you in trouble as aften that chunky
bracelet or ten pound necklace was a gift or something sentimental, so
inquire as to the meaning of that Micky Mouse watch before you ask
someone to remove that cheesy item.
RBrac53660
>the Laura Ashley look, but yeah, mention patterns and they'll show up in
>hawaiian shirts.
My pet peeve is plaid. I hate esp in B&W