How Many Outfits Should I Bring to a Portrait Session?

One of the questions I get before a portrait session is, "How many outfits should I bring?" The answer depends entirely on who I'm photographing.

Family Portraits: Keep It Simple

For a family portrait, I usually say no. Getting the entire family dressed, coordinated, and out the door is enough of an accomplishment on its own. If there are young children involved, getting everyone changed and ready for round two can quickly become more trouble than it's worth.

Children: A Little Extra Never Hurts

For an individual child's portrait, though, I'm all for bringing an extra outfit. If there's one outfit Mom absolutely loves, we'll photograph that one first. Then, if the child still has some pep left, we can change and keep going - sometimes we move through the first outfit quickly and there's plenty of energy for another. Besides, it hurts nothing to bring an extra outfit and never use it, and you never know which one you'll end up liking best.

Senior Portraits Are Different

For senior portraits, my advice changes completely: bring clothes. Lots of clothes.

The worst thing a senior can do is show up with only one outfit. Technically, I guess the worst thing would be not doing senior portraits at all - but you know what I mean.

Senior sessions give us much more freedom to experiment. Seniors are generally easy to work with, and we can move through several different looks before they get tired of having their picture taken. I don't even mind if they bring more than we could possibly use - it's not unusual for a senior to arrive with a dozen outfits, and that's perfectly fine. We look through everything, decide what photographs well, and choose our favorites as we go.

I had one senior who showed up wanting nothing but casual looks - jeans, a hoodie, that kind of thing. I convinced her to bring one formal outfit anyway, just in case. She wasn't sold on it, but she humored me. When we finally photographed it, we went for a high-drama, moody portrait, and the moment she saw it on the screen, she was floored. That formal outfit became her wall portrait. The casual looks she'd originally planned around ended up as smaller prints instead.

Sometimes you don't know why an outfit will or won't work until you actually see the finished portrait. That's part of why I never talk anyone out of bringing extra - you genuinely don't know which one is going to surprise you.

So, how many outfits should you bring? For a family, probably just the one. For a child, bring an extra if you'd like. For a senior? Bring the closet.

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