The first senior pictures I took, the girl had ten outfit changes. The session took almost four hours. I’ve had photoshoots recently where the girl only wears one outfit the whole time. No matter how many outfit changes you have, I want to make sure the outfits are showing off who you are and what you’re comfortable in.

I know that everybody struggles with what to wear to a senior session. Here are a few quick tips for choosing the best outfits.

1.Don’t buy new clothes.

Stick with clothes that you already own and love. I have been a victim of seeing an outfit in the store, buying it, wearing it once, and then not loving it after that. I don’t want that to happen to you. If you wear an outfit that you already wear all the time, you know you’re not going to hate seeing it in pictures five years from now. Rock what you got girl!

2. Dress for the season.

Don’t come to a winter session in a summer dress. You’ll freeze and you’ll look uncomfortable in the pictures. Wear colors that will look well with the background. If you have a spring or summer session, wearing brighter colors is acceptable. If you have a fall session, remember the leaves might be changing and there will be a lot more browns and oranges in the background, so wearing darker colors is a better idea.

3. Wear a tank top.

Wearing a tank top under your clothes makes it super easy to change during your session. Depending on what location we choose, there might not be a public restroom for you to change in. You might end up changing in a car or even behind a blanket, wearing a tank top will eliminate a stranger seeing you in your under garments. I would even recommend wearing spanks if you have them. Just make sure that you can’t see your tank top under your outfits, you don’t want to wear a black tank top under a white dress.

4. Make sure you’re comfortable.

Make sure that you can sit, stand, lay, or even crouch in every outfit you wear. You don’t want to be stuck with all standing poses because you brought all dresses to your session, the poses will be limited and the pictures will all start to look the same. Also, be aware of what the clothes look like in the various positions. If your shorts bunch up when you sit down, I would recommend wearing a different pair.

5. Mix it up.

I referenced this before, don’t bring all dresses to a session, unless that’s the only thing you wear every day. Bring different outfits that you would wear to different occasions. For example bring one fancier outfit, one casual outfit, and one sporty outfit. You want a range of outfits. If you’re going to bring sports or band equipment, bring all of it. Bring the instrument and the band outfit. Bring the bat, gloves, game outfit, ball, etc… make sure it’s believable that you do what you’re portraying. If you’re going to bring a fancy dress, make sure that your tan lines don’t show. There’s only so much I can do in post production to get rid of tan lines.