Color Theory and Photography
When planning your senior portrait session, you are likely thinking about what to wear, where to go for your session, and how to get ready for it. But you may not be thinking about color theory and photography. The relationship between these two things can help narrow down your wardrobe and location choices.
Understanding Your Skin Tone
When deciding what colors to wear for your senior portrait session, understanding your skin tone can be an important first step. Generally, skin tone is considered warm, cool, or neutral. You likely have warm tones if the veins on your wrist look green, you look better wearing gold metals, and you tend to tan easily. Those with cool tones typically find that their veins look blue, they look better in silver jewelry, and they tend to sunburn easily. Neutral tones, on the other hand, have a mix of blue and green veins on their wrists and can wear gold or silver jewelry.
What to Wear: Warm Skin Tones
If you have warm skin tones and dark blonde to dark brown hair, then earthy tones tend to be the most flattering. This includes red, orange, yellow, green, and brown hues, in addition to warm gray tones and off-white. Deeper jewel tones (like amethyst and sapphire) also tend to be good choices.
What to Wear: Cool Skin Tones
For cool skin tones, sea shades tend to be the best choices. These include shades of teal, blue, and green. You can also opt for icy or blue-gray tones or berry shades. Another fun way to pick your outfits is to match them to your eye color! If you have blue eyes, wearing blue can really make your features pop.
What to Wear: Neutral Skin Tones
If you have neutral skin tones, blush-toned pinks, pastels, and rich berry shades often look best. Off-white and gray colors are also flattering. Wearing purple can complement hazel or green eyes.
Flattering Shades for Everyone
There are a few colors that I have found are flattering on nearly every skin tone: blush pink, true red, sea teal, and eggplant purple. These universal colors will ensure you look the best and save you from worrying about what colors look best with your skin tone, hair color, or eye color. And they’re popular shades that are commonly used for cute dresses, cozy sweaters, and fun rompers.
The Monotone Trend
Another fun way to pick your outfits for senior portraits is to embrace the monotone trend! This means picking one color and building your outfit around it. You can choose different shades of the same color, prints or solids, and have fun with it. Having the same color theme gives your outfit a cohesive look.
We can also coordinate your outfits with the location for your senior portrait session, and pick backgrounds with matching or complementary colors. Your senior portrait session with AHP is an adventure, and it includes scouting different spots at each location to find the best light and background for your portraits.
Let’s Connect!
If you are interested in booking senior portraits with AHP, I would love to connect. It’s easy for seniors and their parents to reach out on my website. You can also contact me by phone at 530-412-0730 or by email at [email protected]. I hope to hear from you soon!
