What you wear to your to the photo shoot with your dog, or cat, or horse, is just as important as what you wear to your family portrait session (you can read more about that here). It's the one thing that we photographers can try to influence, but ultimately have no direct control over. That, and our crazy Dallas weather (70º on February 1st and 22º with snow on the ground on February 4th). And toddlers. And animals. Well, I guess there's a lot we can't control, so that's why we like to control the things we can, and what you wear is something YOU can control.

Make no mistake, what you wear to your portrait session with your pet or horse matters. And guess what, it will matter most to you because you're the one that will be looking at the images every day; hanging on your wall, on your desk or in a custom album. Do you want to look at them and think "I wish I hadn't wore that shirt"? Or "I never liked that dress". No, you do not. You want to look at your images and love everything about them, as much as you love your pet!

I'll get into color palettes below, but here are a few things to consider when selecting what to wear for your pet photo shoot;

Tip: consider the color of your pet; if you have a small black dog and you wear black, we won't be able to tell where he/she ends and you begin. The same holds true for other colors like brown.
Tip: white (and other light colors like ivory and cream) photographs larger on camera and who wants that? Additionally, that large area of brightness in the image will complete with your face for the viewer's attention. It's ok underneath a sweater or jacket, but I suggest avoiding it as a top or bottom without anything to break it up
Tip: dresses are fine, just watch the length for two reasons; 1) if we're photographing you with your dog, there's a decent chance you'll be sitting down with them at some point, shorter dresses may make it difficult to be remain discreet and 2) all that leg skin competes with your face for the viewer's attention.
Tip: I like V-necklines for how they elongate the neck and torso, just watch how low they go because again, you'll probably be sitting with your dog at some point and leaning over to cuddle and smooch them, we don't want to have to avoid a great image because we can't keep it modest and discreet.

Keep reading below for more tips on how to look your best at your pet or equine photo session.

(click on any image to view full screen)

The Color Wheel Will Help You Select What To Wear For Your Pet Or Equine Portrait Session

You've probably heard of a color wheel, but this is a color star and I like this better to easily show what colors look best together. As a general rule of thumb, if there's a line connecting them, the colors will look good together.

Colors that are adjacent to one another (live next door to one another), will also look together and you can draw a line across from any pairing to find a complimentary color. This will work for both jewel tones as well as pastels as discussed further below.

Use this to help pull somethings from your closet, or when you go shopping, and see where they land on the wheel. Play with varying tones of the colors to create visual interest and harmonious separation in the overall image. Everyone wearing white or black is dated and the latter can look like a sea of floating heads if not done well.

Tip: whether it's just you with your cat, or your family of five with the dog, select a two-color palette to start. They should be colors that you feel good in. I have this thing with yellow. I love it. I will always try on something I see in the store that's yellow. Only problem is yellow looks horrible on me. I like the idea of yellow, but it doesn't like me back. If I wore something yellow in my portraits, I know I'd look at the images every day and say to myself..."WHY did you wear yellow?". That's not a win!

Color Star Wheel

Graphic created by Al2, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Jewel Tones Always Look Great In Photographs

If I could only pick one color palette for a family and pet, or equine portrait session, it would be jewel tones. They're rich, saturated, vibrant, complement a wide variety of skin tones and they print beautifully. What are jewel tones? That's easy enough; think of jewels like ruby (red), sapphire (blue), garnet (burgundy), emerald (green); get the gist of it? Harvest gold also fits in this category.

Using a pastel to accent a jewel tone adds a tonal layering of color that is very appealing in portraits; think a baby blue shirt under a sapphire sweater, or a light pink scarf with a merlot jacket. This is a great way to add visual interest to a portrait, especially when there are multiple people in the photo. Each person can own their own color while also blending with the entire group.

You want to avoid being "that person" in the yellow and blue striped shirt (or insert other bad choice here) that immediately draws the viewer's to it. We want the clothes be harmonious, pleasant to look at and secondary to the faces; we want the viewer to notice your faces first, not your clothes.

Tip: elbow length sleeves are very flattering, for the same reason you may not want to "show a lot of leg" with your clothing selection, I suggest avoiding sleeveless and short sleeved tops, your arm skin will compete with your face for the viewer's attention. Further, thin / spaghetti straps tend to make arms look bigger in comparison - uh, no thanks!
Tip: let's talk jewelry, I love larger, statement necklaces in images as they frame your face. No matter your hair length, earrings should be kept on the smaller side to avoid being a distraction. I suggest removing large-face watches like Apple Watches, that square of black tends to look like a mini TV screen on your wrist. Bracelets can "cut off" your arm because they disrupt the line of your forearm so if in doubt, I usually recommend removing them. The forearm and wrist are delicate and graceful and we'll be photographing your hands touching, petting and caressing your pet - we don't need a shiny bauble in the mix.

Jewel tones always look rich & classic to me, no matter the season, but especially in fall & winter

This wine colored shirt pops out of the blue and greenery and complements the dog's coloring

The emerald green of the blouse perfectly complements the gold fur

Blue always looks great with dogs and cats both, cobalt shades are one of my faves

Rust Is My New Favorite Jewel Tone For Pet And Family Portraits

I think rust may be my new favorite jewel tone, especially when it's rich and saturated as in the images below. It looks great in the summer, complementing the vibrant greenery, as well as in the fall and winter, blending nicely with all the variations of earth tones we see here around the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex.

Tip: jeans are fine. We live in Texas, people have work jeans, play jeans and dress jeans (if not apparent, go with the dress jeans!). If wearing blue jeans, I prefer a darker wash than lighter (see what I wrote about white above for why) and let's avoid ripped jeans. They may be in style, but they can also be distracting, making the viewer wonder "what's that thing on her pants?". Consider different colored jeans as well, black, brown, rust are all great choices.
Tip: don't forget the shoes! closed toe typically looks better on camera, if you go with sandals you need have a fresh pedicure (no, I can't paint your toenails in Photoshop!). Keep it dark, like brown or black and boots are great, whether your jeans are tucked in, or go over. Please just say "No" to sneakers; they're usually very brightly colored and just never look like they belong in an image unless is specific to the subject like a high school track athlete being photographed in uniform for senior pictures.

Rust is between yellow and orange on the color wheel so complements the greenery nicely

So many variations of earth tones in our north Texas winter landscape, rust fits right in

Pastels for Spring and Summer Portraits With Your Pet or Horse

Jewel tones look good in summer and spring as well, but pastels can bring a light and airy feeling to portraits with your pet. We don't expect to see pastels in the winter, but they're right at home in the warmer months so I say take advantage of it!

Mixing pastels for a family portrait with the dogs is a great idea; the combinations of pink and blue, and yellow and green, complement one another (look for the line drawn on the color wheel above) and look great in nature, especially for small children. Don't be afraid of ice cream colors!

Tip: avoid fussy details in your clothing; if find yourself saying "This tie always comes undone", then it's probably not a good choice for your photo session. You want to be able to get lost in the process, not be nitpicking your waistband, buckle strap or other nuisance clothing element.

Tip: select clothing in your closet that fits. Even if it's not your favorite item, fit supersedes it. If you're carrying around a few COVID pounds like the rest of us and nothing in your closet fits, go out and buy something that does. Trust me when I say you do not want to go through a session feeling miserable in ill-fitting clothing. If you wear a button-down shirt and it's tight, the buttons will pull and you'll hate those images. Fit also means "not too big", a too-large top or baggy jeans will look sloppy in an image. Keep clothing well-fitting and comfortable.

Pastels look great in the spring and summer as well as accenting jewel tones in the same family

I love how this mint green complements the dog's golden fur

A light mauve dress adds a bit of chic to this country setting for a pet portrait

This puffy pink dress is definitely in the fairy tale realm, but so is that horse!

Pastels are especially appropriate for young children (bonus points for spring flowers)

The Secret Sauce For What ALWAYS Looks Good In Outdoor Portaits

I don't know what it is, but the color combination of brown, blue and green always looks great in outdoor portraits, no matter the season and no matter if we're photographing just your family, your family with your dogs or on the ranch with your horses too. This is my absolute favorite color combination and I think it complements a wide variety of skin tones as well.

Tip: wear your normal amount of makeup, if you typically wear a lot, maybe scale it back a bit. We'll be creating high resolution digital images, they need to be developed just like film, so a bit of skin smoothing and blemish removal are always included in standard retouching. If you're worried about uneven skin, don't try to cover it up with a heavy layer of makeup, let me take care of it in post processing, it will look more natural. The only think that too much make up looks like in an image is, too much makeup! Keep blush and lip color on the more muted side and avoid all super sparkly, shiny, glittery items like eye shadow and lip gloss. They pick up and reflect the light, but not in a good way.
Tip: I suggest you keep your hair like you normally wear it unless we're going for a really specific look (like fairy princess with tall, dark horse)!. You want to look like you in your photos, not like someone else. In the summer, you have to expect that those curls that you worked so hard for, will fall. If it's windy out, maybe consider a braid or pony tail so you're not fighting your hair the entire time. The point is to keep it simple so you can relax and not be fussing with lip gloss, stray hairs stuck in it and heavy eye liner running down your face.

Tracy's Secret Sauce for color combinations that always looks good in outdoor portraits

One of my favorite photo shoot locations for pet and family portraits, the AW Perry Homestead

Even I Follow The Rules

When we had our family picture taken a few years ago, I knew exactly the clothes we were going to wear. We're a jeans family, so that was quickly sorted. I chose this pretty cobalt blue sweater and a statement necklace to go with it. Statement necklaces are a great choice to frame your face, but pair them with smaller earrings (or none at all) to keep from them distracting from your face which is where we want the view to look.

When I went into my husband's closet, this garnet sweater made the perfect match to keep everything in the jewel tone family but also complementing each color. This went very nicely with the old world charm of the Canals of Las Colinas. Pastels might have looked out of place in this setting.

Tip: don't forget the pups! I know you may love that Dallas Cowboys collar and leash that your dog has had forever, but it's not going to photograph very well. Anytime you have writing in a picture, our brains tell us to read it. Not what we're going for with your pet portraits. We want people to look at our faces. Consider going with something solid and simple. If you don't already have that, you can either purchase something for the photo shoot, or you can borrow my classic, latigo brown leather collars and leashes, available in a multitude of sizes. It's what my own dogs are wearing in the image below; classic and cohesive.

Our 2017 family portrait, we miss Dingo (white dog, behind me) every day

Photo credit: Sylvia Elzafon

All Around The Circle

You're going to get some more great advice on how to dress for portraits with your pets, or horse, so head on over to Seattle Dog Photographer, Holly Cook, talks about things to bring to a Salty Dog Experience and then continue clicking on the link at the bottom of each page for an around-the-world tour of stunning pet photography.

Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography is a Certified Professional Photographer with the organization Professional Photographers of America; a designation held by fewer than 2,000 photographers nationwide and a hallmark of consistency, technical skill, artistry and professionalism. Each year Tracy invests in both her people, and pet photography education, ensuring she's always on trend for the latest colors, clothing styles and poses to ensure your portrait experience exceeds your expectations.

Penny Whistle specializes in both on-location and studio photography providing pet, equine, family, couples & engagement and high school senior portraits as well as corporate headshots and commercial photography services in her studio located in historic downtown Carrollton as well as on location in Coppell, Grapevine, Southlake, Flower Mound and surrounding communities in Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas.

Let's talk about photographing you with your pet in 2022!

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