Hello Friends! How is the photography coming? How have you improved in the past year since these posts have come out? For a link list of what I have already covered, go here. I’m so excited, I get to go to Utah next week and see Amy (of this here Idea Room), attend a wedding, hold a workshop, chat with my grandparents, along with a few photo shoots. If you are near San Diego or Houston and want to attend my workshop there, contact me ASAP! This week, we will discuss organizing outfits for your family reunion portraits. Summertime is upon us, and I would venture to bet that 90% of us are having a little get together–family reunion style. Inevitably when we get together with family, we take family portraits. If you don’t, then shame on you! Just kidding, but I am a big fan of that idea. Believe it or not, I LOVE planning outfits for family portraits, but having a group of 10 or more does get a bit complicated…but it doesn’t have to! I will give you my special formula for seamless group photos. First, start with a color palette. I say to pick 3 colors, then have a neutral for a freebie. In our case, we used neutrals, so had white as our freebie. Neutrals can be denim, khaki, gray, white, or black…but just pick one of those. Here is our color palette we came up with:

For more color inspiration, I’ve recently seen on Pinterest designers grab color palette’s from home design and nature:

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Check out more at Design Seeds for some major eye candy.

Once you have selected your palette, each family has to coordinate their outfits first with themselves. Here is my family below. I used our selected colors and found something for each person that would go well with the others. It’s a bit of a puzzle, I tell ya. Even looking at this now, I’m not a fan that my husband and older son are wearing something identical, but with my hubby holding the baby (and yes I think of that when planning outfits), it isn’t as noticeable, and I knew they wouldn’t stand together in the big group shot.

Then my older brother worried just about his little family (had no idea what we were wearing). I love how my sis in law threw in a scarf for her teal pop! Teal is a little harder to find for boys, but it

isn’t necessary here. 

Then my younger brother and his fam… Love that my sis in law threw the teal in with a skirt to not just give the pop of color to the top half of the group. I believe my nephew has a onesie turned around backwards (I’ve even done inside out). For pictures like this, you won’t see the back.

Then my youngest bro and his wife did great, hers is a dress….

I did have to oversee my parents though. My dad came out with a teal shirt along with my moms teal shirt and I said…"Um, no no no….wear the gray." He had both shirts ready, and we were at their home, so it worked.

Then we got all together for the group shot, and check it out! The main thing I worked with is separating myself, my mom, and my sis in law that had dominant teal on top. (I had just run in the picture–not my favorite photo sessions when I have to set up and run and corral the group that is my family).

I LOVE the way it turned out! Do you??? Just for funnies, here is our family silly shot. Always gotta have the silly shot.

So if you are planning a family reunion this summer, plan to get a group shot, and apply these guidelines and I know it will be great! Let me know how it turns out, too!

~Kristen Duke