One of the most commonly asked client questions before a photo session is “what should I wear?”. As a local Lisbon portrait photographer, I am happy to share some of my favorite tips to help you look and feel your best during your next photoshoot.
I think it is most important to dress in a way that reflects your own personal style and that makes you feel beautiful. As the classic phrase goes, “when you feel good, you look good”. I have lots of gorgeous locations scouted in Lisbon, Sintra, Cabo da Roca, Cascais and everywhere in between, so no matter what you wear, I can recommend backgrounds that work with your look(s) for your photo session.
Lisbon is a vibrant city full of colorful buildings and beautiful tiled walls so you can either wear a neutral palette to compliment a variety of backgrounds, like dark navy, black, cream, white, and terracotta brown…
…or create a more expressive pairing of.your wardrobe to the city, think cobalt blue, golden yellow, dark orange and clothing with colorful patterns.
Something to keep in mind is how your clothing moves. A dress can give you the option to create some movement in your photos if you’re someone who normally feels shy and stiff in front of the camera.
Wearing a shirt or jacket that opens can give you the option to play around with your clothing as well, by buttoning, zipping or holding onto parts of your top.
If you are interested in photographing somewhere more nature-oriented like Cabo da Roca, or Oeiras Municipal Park, the scenery is mostly blues, greens and neutral tones, so a more neutral clothing palette works super well and will blend nicely with the background.
During a family session it is nice to coordinate, but no need to match. Stick to colors that pair well together. An easy way to do this is to pick one base color (see green for one family and blue for the other family below) and then add neutrals with your coordinating color. This helps create cohesion.
The last thing to keep in mind is that whether you are in the city or nature in Portugal, many of the roads and sidewalks are steep, uneven, and slippery (even when they are dry!) so I highly recommend wearing shoes with traction to your photo session.
If you ever have questions about what to wear before your photoshoot, don’t hesitate to send me an email. I’m happy to take a look at photos of the pieces you’re thinking about wearing and give suggestions on what I think will work best.