7 tips for what to wear to your professional photoshoot, from a personal branding photographer

"What do I wear?"

As a photographer, this is one of the most common questions I hear. Here are my top tips to help you in planning for your next photoshoot.

Personal Branding Photos by Tabitha Arthur Photography. Styling by Nina Fountain.

The key: Start with your 'hero' pieces first.

1. Lay out your favourite garments.
   Don’t worry about trying to build a whole outfit yet - just chose the individual pieces you love the most.
   You can hang them up on hangers over a curtain rail, or simply lay them on your bed or the floor.

2. Put them in order of what you feel best / most confident / get compliments in.
   Really prioritise here - what do you love wearing the most.

3. Think about your audience, your clients:
   What would you wear to an important appointment?
   Do you want to show ‘behind the scenes’ ie what you’d wear on a day off, or relaxing, or doing your one of your favourite activities outside of work?
   Now add or take away pieces as needed.

4. How many outfits to aim for:
   For a photoshoot, you'll most likely want anywhere from 4 or 5, to 7 or 8 outfits.
   BONUS TIP: Talk with your photographer about how many outfits they have time to photograph you in during your photoshoot session.
   My clients usually go anywhere from 4 to 8, so I reccomend bringing from 6 up to 10 maximum just in case you’re not certain about an outfit and want my opinion on the day.
   It’s important to not over-pack, however! You don’t want to eat into your precious session time with your photographer looking at your wardrobe.

5. Put together each outfit, building from your hero piece.
   Now you have prioritised which pieces your want to wear, and how many outfits you’ll aim for, it’s time to build the outfit.
   Looking at the hero garment, selct pieces that work the best with it, from clothing items to accessories like belts, shoes, jewellery.
   BONUS TIP: Once you have each outfit together, photograph it to document it (make sure you can see the accessories clearly), so you can see at a glance when packing for your shoot, and on your photoshoot day, what to wear.

6. Aim for a variety of silhouettes if possible, so you're not bringing pretty much identical outfits.
   Note it's most important that the outfits look great on you and you feel awesome in them, so if you have just one killer silhouette, bring the variety through colour, pattern, texture.

7. Colour vs Black.
   Do your best to include a variety of colour or pattern - in my experience, clients feel much happier when they have outfits that look quite different from each other at a glance.
   Although popular, black can be trickier to make work in photos, as it absorbs light so doesn’t appear to have as much variation. ie. One black shirt can appear very similar to another black shirt. One pair of black pants can look very similar to another pair - if one is a crop slim leg and one a maxi palazzo wide leg, that’s fine - but two similar black trousers will look pretty much the same in the photos - opt for your favourite pair to help minimise change time.

BONUS TIP: At a loss? In despair? Nothing feels good on you? Can’t find any outfits you like and it’s holding you back from elevating your professional profile?
Hey, I struggled with this, too!
So what changed? I finally saw a Personal Stylist who took a brilliant approach to body strategy. Now I feel super confident in my wardrobe 🙌
If you'd like specialist help with your wardrobe, message me and I'll give you details for someone I trust implicitly.

If you would finally love to LOVE your photos, get in touch to start the conversation.