By ANDREA WHELAN – a London Family Photographer

family standing in front of big ben with only mum looking at the camera

A local photographer’s guide to What to Wear For a Family Photoshoot, from palette to practicalities

You’ve booked the trip. The Airbnb in Notting Hill, or the hotel in Mayfair, or the little flat in Marylebone your cousin recommended. The flights are sorted. The kids know they’re going to London. And somewhere in the middle of all of that planning, you decided you wanted proper photographs of it, not just the ones on your phone.

Now you’re standing in front of a suitcase, wondering what on earth everyone is going to wear.

I photograph a lot of families on holiday in London, and the suitcase question comes up every single time. It’s harder than dressing for a shoot at home. You’re packing for a week of sightseeing, weather you can’t quite trust, dinners out, one potentially rainy afternoon, and a photoshoot, all from the same bag. Often from one or two cases shared between four people.

This post is the advice I find myself giving over email in the weeks before a shoot, pulled into one place. Less a checklist, more a way of thinking about it. The aim is simple. You want to look at these photographs in ten years and feel like yourselves, in London, on the trip that mattered.

A photographer’s guide to

what to wear

On Your London Photo Session

Dress for London light

London light is its own thing. If you’re flying in from somewhere sunnier, California, Sydney, the South of France, the first thing you’ll notice is that the light here is softer, greyer, more diffused. Even on a bright day it rarely has that hard, high-contrast quality you get closer to the equator. On an overcast morning in Greenwich or a late afternoon walk through Notting Hill, the whole city can feel like it’s been lit by a giant softbox.

This is genuinely good news for photographs. Soft light is flattering, it’s forgiving, it wraps around faces instead of carving shadows into them. What it means for your wardrobe is that muted tones sing here. Warm neutrals, soft blues and greens, dusty pinks, camel, cream, navy, rust, olive. Anything with a bit of depth and warmth to it. Stark white can look a bit clinical under a grey sky but really pops on a sunny day, and bright pinks and neon brights tend to glow in a way that pulls the eye away from faces. If you hold the outfit up to a window on a cloudy day and it still feels calm and considered, you’re there.

Dress for London weather, honestly

I’m going to be straight with you. The weather will probably not do what the forecast said it would do. This is true year-round, and it is especially true in spring and autumn, which are two of my favourite seasons to shoot in.

Pack layers. A soft knit, a denim or linen jacket, a cashmere wrap, a wool coat if you’re coming in winter. Layers photograph beautifully because they add texture and depth, and they give you options once you’re out. A jumper over a shirt with the collar just showing. A coat unbuttoned over a soft dress. These combinations look considered on camera in a way that a single item rarely does.

And an umbrella, if the forecast looks wet, is not a problem. A soft, plain umbrella can be one of the loveliest things in a London family photograph. Ask me how I know!

And if you’re coming in the middle of summer bring sunscreen for everyone. It can get up to 35c (95 Fahrenheit ). We do get warm sunshine despite our reputation around the world!

Think texture and pattern and colour

Lot’s of photographers who write about ‘What to Wear For a Family Photoshoot London’ will tell you that bold patterns are not the way to go. Me? I LOVE a bold pattern, a pop of colour here and a statement piece there. Now, if everyone in the group is competing that’s where we come into issues but generally if one or two people in the group are wearing striking pieces that works so well for me.

Personally I prefer less pinks and pastels and I prefer more earthy warm tones, not all beige but deep reds, greens and blues.

White t-shirts and shirts get a special mention, our eyes get drawn to the brightest and darkest parts of an image. If one person is in a bright white t-shirt it will be the star of the show. A softer off-white or cream works so much better. Now if one person is the star of the show I’m not against white as long as it’s considered amongst the group.

make sure you leave with

timeless photos

Name: Andrea Whelan Photography
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of your London Vacation

Coordinate, don’t match

Matching outfits, the same shade of one colour on every family member, freeze a photograph in time in a way that rarely ages well. You’ve seen the ones I mean. Everyone in the white t-shirts and jeans. It looks like a school uniform, or worse, a Christmas card from 2009.

Coordinating is softer and more editorial. Pick a loose palette of three or four tones and let everyone move within it. Think of it as a mood board, not a uniform. Dad in navy, mum in cream, one child in soft rust, another in oatmeal, a flash of mustard in a scarf or a pair of tights. It hangs together without looking staged, and it gives the photograph a sense of a real family who happen to look beautiful together, rather than a family who got dressed for a photograph.

A practical way to do this, especially when you’re packing from one shared suitcase, is to start with one person’s outfit you love, usually mum’s, and build the rest of the family around it. Pull the two or three main colours from that piece and use them as your palette for everyone else. You’ll be surprised how quickly it falls into place once you have an anchor.

And one gentle word on this. The palette is a guide, not a rulebook. If your four-year-old wants to wear the yellow jumper that isn’t quite in the palette, let her wear the yellow jumper. A happy child in a slightly off-palette jumper will always photograph better than a miserable child in a perfectly coordinated one.

A note to the mum (or dad) reading this

I’m going to speak directly for a moment, because I’ve had this conversation in so many pre-shoot emails that I know exactly who is reading this paragraph and why.

You’re worried about how you’ll look. Not the kids. You.

You’ve picked out the children’s outfits, you’ve nudged your partner towards the shirt you like, and now you’re standing in front of your own side of the wardrobe wondering which version of yourself is going to turn up in these photographs. Whether the jeans are right. Whether the dress/suit jacket is trying too hard, or not trying hard enough. Whether you should have lost the last half a stone before booking the shoot.

Can I say something, gently. The photographs your family will treasure in twenty years are the ones with you in them. Not a slimmer version of you, not a more polished version, you. The one who is actually there on this trip, holding the small hand, laughing at the thing your partner said, looking at your teenager like you can’t believe how tall he’s got. That person is the reason they’ll come back to these photographs, not the outfit they were wearing.

So here is the practical bit. Wear something you already love. Something you’ve worn before and felt good in, ideally more than once. This is not the moment for a brand-new outfit bought for the occasion, you’ll spend the shoot tugging at the waistband and adjusting the neckline and wondering if it was a mistake. Pick the dress/shirt you reach for when you want to feel like yourself. Pick the coat you get compliments in. Pick the jumper that’s soft enough that you forget you’re wearing it.

If you feel like yourself, you’ll forget the camera is there, and I’ll catch the thing I’m actually there for. That is always worth more than a perfectly chosen outfit you’re secretly uncomfortable in.

father and son standing in front of Christmas trees in London in coordinated outfits

KENSINGTON Photo Session – muted tones for mum and DAUGHTER

Pregnant mother and young son walking through old royal naval college wearing blue and orange

Greenwich Photo Session – striking statement colours

mum and daughter dressed perfectly in warm tones on Westminster bridge

A short packing list

If you’re flying in for a London holiday shoot, here’s what I’d genuinely pack, knowing what I know after fifteen years of photographing families in this city. Not a checklist to follow slavishly, just a sensible starting point.

For the shoot itself:

One considered main outfit per person. The one you’d pick if you could only bring one. Texture over pattern, a muted or confidently bold palette depending on the location, something you’ve worn before and felt good in.

A proper coat each, season depending. A wool coat in winter, a trench or soft jacket in spring and autumn, a lightweight layer in summer for early mornings and late evenings. Coats add so much to a London photograph, don’t skip this.

Proper shoes. Leather boots, suede ankle boots, loafers, brogues. Not brand-new white trainers, unless the rest of the family’s outfits are casual enough to make that work intentionally.

A soft scarf or two. Cashmere if you have it, wool if not. Photographs beautifully, adds texture, keeps the children warm when they inevitably forget their coats are in the buggy.

One statement piece, just in case. A coloured coat, a beautiful wrap, a scarf in a rich tone. Especially useful if we’re shooting anywhere near the landmarks. You’ll thank yourself.

And then the practical extras:

A plain umbrella. Nothing branded, nothing novelty. Ideally one that photographs as well as it functions. You’ll likely not need it, but if you do, you’ll be very glad.

Layers for the children that they can actually tolerate. A soft knit is worth more than a bulky jacket unless the jacket is a statement piece. Pack one spare outfit element per child in case of the inevitable pre-shoot yoghurt situation.

Hair ties, wet wipes, a snack, a small toy. All of these sit in my camera bag already, but bring your own version of comfort for the children. A relaxed child is worth more than any outfit.

large family gathering for a family photo outdoor shoot in Richmond

family dressed in shades of blue beneath Big Ben

family sitting on curb outside cafe in Covent Garden

What the photographs become

I want to end where we started, standing in front of the suitcase.

In ten years, when you look at these photographs, you will not remember which jumper you chose, or whether the coat was the navy one or the camel one, or whether your daughter was in rust or in oatmeal. I promise you this. I have photographed families who have come back to me five, ten, twelve years on, and not one of them has ever said, I wish I’d worn something different.

What they remember is how small the children were. How their hand felt in yours on the bridge. The way your husband was laughing at something just out of frame. The fact that you were all together, in London, on the trip you’d been planning for months, before everyone got taller and older and busier and further apart.

That is what a good photograph holds. Not the outfit, the invisible thread between the people in it. The clothes are just what lets me see it clearly. Get them mostly right, and then forget about them.

Pack the suitcase. Pick the things you already love. Leave room for one proper coat and a pair of shoes you can actually walk in. Trust that the grey London light will be kinder than you’re expecting, and that the city will do most of the work for us.

Come and find me when you’re here. I’ll take care of the rest.

If you’re planning a family trip to London and thinking about capturing it properly, I’d love to hear from you. I photograph visiting families across Mayfair, Greenwich, the Royal Parks and the iconic London landmarks, year-round, in whatever the weather decides to do. Get in touch here or see recent London family shoots here.