Colors I Usually Avoid for Family Photos (and What I’d Wear Instead)

You found clothes everyone will actually wear. You're halfway there. Now let's talk color.

I don't hand my clients a list of approved shades and tell them to go shopping. Your family photos should still look like your family. But a few colors have a habit of taking over a photo, especially when we're shooting outside in the Catskills or Hudson Valley. Here are the ones I usually steer people away from and what I suggest instead.

Bright red → poppy red

Bright, primary red can be a lot in a family photo. Your eye goes straight to it, even when something much more interesting is happening between the people wearing it.

If you love red, look for a shade that leans a little orange, like poppy red. It still brings plenty of color. I especially love it against the fresh greens we get in spring, and it can look great in a fall landscape too.

Kelly green → olive

Kelly green can look louder in a photo than it did when you saw it on the rack. In the woods or a grassy field, it can also sit awkwardly against all the greens already around you.

Olive is much easier to work with. It has warmth and depth, works with a surprising number of other colors, and looks right at home in the Catskills. You can put it next to cream, denim, rust, brown, or that poppy red without making everyone look like they came from the same clothing display.

Black → dark gray or brown

I know black is the easy choice. I own plenty of it too. But in photos, a large area of black can lose the folds and texture that make an outfit look interesting. This is especially true if more than one person is wearing it.

Try dark gray or a rich brown instead. You'll still get that darker, grounded look, with more visible detail in a sweater, dress, or pair of pants. If black is what you feel best in, tell me. We can work with it. I just wouldn't make it the default for the entire family.

Bright white → cream or off-white

Bright white tends to pull attention toward itself. It can also look much harsher than you expect next to skin tones and the softer colors outside.

Cream and off-white give you the lightness you're after without that stark effect. The difference seems tiny when you're holding two shirts in your closet. In a photo, it can be huge. A cream sweater also plays nicely with the olive, brown, denim, and muted colors that a lot of families already own.

Neon → anything else

This one is simple: skip neon for family photos. Neon colors reflect onto nearby skin, so a neon pink or green shirt can leave a color cast on your kid's face or on the person holding them. They also demand attention in every frame.

If your child is deeply committed to their neon sweatshirt, I won't wrestle them out of it at the session. I'd just choose a different outfit ahead of time if you have the option.

Put the outfits together before you decide

Lay everything out and take a quick phone photo. Look at the group as a whole. Is there one piece you see before you see anything else? Does everyone look comfortable together without wearing the same thing? That's a better test than trying to match every shirt to every pair of pants.

The location matters too. A cream dress in your living room will feel different from that same dress in a green field. If you're planning a family session with me in the Hudson Valley or Catskills, send me a photo of the outfits and tell me where we're going. I'm happy to help you make the final call.