In reality, the time for families to have their holiday portrait done is such a small window of time.  October and November are peak season and everyone wants a new and fresh family portrait before the holidays.

But did you know that if you wanted to send out a custom holiday card with your beautiful family portrait this year, you would need to have your family portrait session about 4 weeks prior to receiving your beautiful custom cards?   For the year 2012, it would be ideal if your portrait date was no later than November 18th.  This would give the studio just enough time to edit your portraits, create a stunning holiday card and have it in your hands by the 2nd week of December.

If you are not considering a custom holiday card and are looking for prints as gifts for your family, the timing would be about the same.

Wear what best reflects your family’s personality.  If it’s formal and conservative, wear elegant dresses and suits for Dad.  Dress as if you are taking the family to an elegant restaurant.  If you’re more relaxed and informal, wear a pair of nice jeans, sweaters and colorful scarves.  Dress as if you are taking the family out to a nice family restaurant.

Now there are items of clothing that are complementary to the body and complexion.  Then there are types of clothing that work against us.  My recommendation is to wear dark solids.  Dark solids always help with slimming.

Stay away from stripes, patterns, plaids, prints, logos or lettering.  These tend to distract the viewer whereas solid colors tend to isolate faces and keep the family as the focus of the portrait.  Primary red and primary blue tend to place their shade onto face so I would suggest to stay away from these colors as well.  Both these colors as well as fluorescents also tend to be dominant forces in portraits I find.

When making a determination on how to coordinate colors with the family, one does not always have to be overly concerned with wearing matching tops and bottoms.  Coordinating colors and finding colors that compliment each other is very important.

Instead of matching, try to pick two simple colors that coordinate well with each other.  Once you have picked your two colors, tell each family member to select wear clothing featuring either both colors or one.  For instance, if your colors are white and navy, dad can wear a navy suit with a white dress shirt, mom can wear an all white dress, sister can wear a navy blouse with white pants and brother can wear a white sweater and white bottom with a navy scarf.  Both white and navy are featured in this family portrait without being matchy or clashing.

It’s fun to pick your own family colors that reflect who you are!

Tip 3 – Either You are A Nature Lover or Admire Architecture

One of the biggest inquiries I hear from families is where they should have their portrait created.  The answer is very simple.  Select a location that reflects your personality.  Perhaps a location that is special to you and your family.  This can be inside your home.  It can be at a special park you used to take the kids when they were younger.

Thoughts to ponder and ask yourself are;  Are you an outdoor family that enjoys nature or do you  prefer cultural and architectural settings?  Once you have decided this, you are very close to selecting your location.  Ask your photographer for a few suggestions on which location he or she feels is best based on your preference for nature or architecture.  Your photographer can also help select the best time of day for natural light in your selected portrait location.  Locating the best natural light will make a significant difference in your portrait.

So there you have it, 3 tips for your amazing holiday family portrait in 2012!  Availability for family portraits in October and November is competitive so please plan early!