Making the Most of Your Portrait Session Making The Most Of Your Portrait Session Memorable portraits take careful planning, and the clothing you choose is very important to your portrait's success. These guidelines will help you to make important decisions about your portrait. The goal of any fine portrait is to direct the viewer's attention to the face or faces in the portrait. Simple long-sleeved garments in medium to dark tones of brown rust, burgundy, green, or blue are pleasing choices when photographed against a dark background.
Proper clothing allows the face to dominate the portrait.
All other elements should be secondary. Bold stripes, plaids, checks, and prints are confusing and do not photograph well. Especially bright colors, such as red and orange, will completely overpower the face and ruin a portrait. Light-colored clothing calls attention to itself and away from the face. Avoid light colors that approximate flesh tones such as beige, tan, peach, pink, white, and yellow.