What to Wear for Beach Family Photos

Choose a small palette, for example soft blue, sand and sage, and let each person wear their own clothes inside it. Coordinated looks relaxed; identical shirts look like a uniform.

The beaches here have very bright white sand, so almost any color photographs beautifully. Solid white is the one I usually steer people away from, since it tends to blend into the sand. It still looks great against the water and the sky, so if white is your thing, wear it; I will work with the angles.

Linen, cotton, gauze and soft knits. Fabric that moves in the Gulf breeze looks alive. Nothing heavy, stiff or shiny.

Wear what feels like you. Comfortable people photograph better than well-dressed ones, every time. You do not need to buy anything for this; the suitcase you packed is usually enough.

It cools down quickly once the sun goes, with average lows in the 50s. Bring a cardigan or a linen overshirt in your colors for small children and grandparents; long sleeves and a light knit look right on the beach this time of year.

Evenings are mild, so one layer for the grandparents is usually plenty. Until about mid-May it is still the windier half of the year, so the notes on hems and hair below apply.

Humid and the calmest months for wind. Pick fabrics that do not show sweat: linen and cotton gauze are kinder than thin light-grey jersey. Water for everyone, and a morning session is easier on toddlers.

Still humid until about mid-November, so keep summer's light fabrics. The wind picks up again from mid-September; plan for long hair.

Wind is part of a real beach photo, and hair moving in it is lovely. According to Weather Spark long-term averages, the windier part of the year in Sarasota runs from mid-September to mid-May, with November the windiest month, at about 10 to 11 mph on average, and July the calmest, at about 6. I turn the family so the wind comes from behind or from the side, and for the portraits where it matters I suggest tying back long hair or holding it on one side.

Bring a hair tie and a brush in a pocket. Strands of hair across a face, and visible bra straps, cannot always be removed in editing, so thirty seconds of checking before the close portraits can save a favorite photo.

If you leave only one thing at home, make it the big logo. A brand name or a cartoon on a shirt is the first thing anyone reads in the photo. Baseball caps with logos count too; the straw hats on the family at the top of this page do the same job without a word on them.

Neon and very saturated colors take over the frame, and a bright color close to the face can throw a tint onto the skin. The same shade one or two steps softer does the job.

Narrow stripes and small checks can shimmer in a digital photo, the same effect that makes news presenters avoid them on television. Wide stripes, like the striped polo in the first palette, are fine.

One navy dress or dark shirt adds depth to a light group. A whole family in black or charcoal turns into one heavy block against a white beach, and in summer it is also the hottest thing you could stand in.

Thick denim jackets, structured blazers, sweaters in July, and anything glossy. They do not move, the glossy ones bounce the sun straight back at the camera, and people wearing them look warm, because they are.

Children go into the water, adults sit on the sand, and the wind moves everything. Clothes you worry about make you stiff in the photos. Keep the silk dress for dinner.

Up to you. In walking photos they can look like a real beach day: in the big blue family photo further down, some of the men kept theirs on. Close portraits are usually about the eyes, so a case in a pocket makes it easy to take them off for a few photos if you want both.

Phones and car keys are better out of pockets; in standing photos they show as square bulges. Smart watches and hotel wristbands are up to you: if you would rather not see them in close photos of hands, slip them into a bag before the session starts.

Family sessions include close photos of hands: a child's hand in a grandfather's, a baby held against a shoulder. If that matters to you, neutral and natural nail colors look best; very bright polish draws the eye first.

Small, simple jewelry, and nothing you would hate to lose in the sand. Put sunscreen on well before you dress, so it does not leave marks on dark fabric, and remember that swimsuit lines from a day at the pool show above a strapless dress.

A linen or cotton shirt with buttons, or a plain polo, with shorts or chinos in khaki, sand or navy. Sleeves rolled once look relaxed. Cargo shorts with full pockets bulge in standing photos, so empty them or pick flat-front shorts.

Send them the palette and stay out of the shopping. A teenager in a shirt they found themselves stands differently from one dressed by a parent, and it shows.

The family in the photo above went further: almost everyone in blue, from pale to mid, with stripes and white mixed in. It works because no two blues are the same, and it shows a large group can wear one color without looking uniformed.

How the session itself runs for a group this size, from the order of the photos to which generations stand together, is on the large family page.

Put the colors in the same message as the place and the time, so nobody has to ask twice. Copy this one and change the words in brackets:

Photos are at the beach on [date]. Wear something comfortable in [soft blue, sand and sage], no big logos, and not everyone in white. Bare feet are fine.

Any group of ten to twenty books online, an hour or ninety minutes, and the calculator shows the exact price and the number of finished photos for your head count before you pay anything.