What To Wear For Your Oʻahu Portrait Session: The Ultimate Style Guide
Fine art tropical portrait of woman with orchids and greenery in Oʻahu rainforest, Flora and Femina style.
Choosing what to wear for your Oahu portrait session is the second most important choice you’ll have to make (after hiring me). Depending on where you take your portraits, color palette options may differ. “The closet panic” is a very common thing that happens to a lot of people, especially when confronting a special event, or even an Oahu portrait session. Choosing the right color palettes can really affect the way the little details stand out in your portraits.
Oʻahu Portraits: What to Wear
Young woman in a floral dress standing barefoot on rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean in Oʻahu, Hawaii during a tropical portrait session.
You want it to be fun, so choosing the right colors that bring out the best in you is very important. Good tropical colors like emerald blues and greens, dark purples and pinks, reds, and even tints of gold help you really pop in the green tropics and ocean scenery. Also, dark jewel tones look very good in Hawaiian portraits. Pretty much any vibrant tropical clothing or swimsuit will match the local scenery of Oahu. It’s also fun to mix and match outfits. Make it fun and add your own touch to it! I mean, it’s your choice! You get to make your outfit unique and special. Wear some fun and bright colors, buts still try to spread things out. It’s smart to even things out so that you don’t have too much of one color in the same area.
Dressing for the location and season is another important thing because you never know what the weather will bring. Being prepared for anything will help you in many ways. That way, if you run into any problems, it won’t set you back. If your Oahu portrait session is being shot at Halona Beach Cove or perhaps Lanikai Pillbox Overlook, these two local spots are both very windy. Consider wearing a pair of shorts or under garment with a dress … it might be smart.
Oʻahu coastal overlook portrait session with young woman holding bird of paradise flowers in tropical Hawaii.
Here are a few more tips on what to wear for portraits:
First, if you want your clothing in your portraits looking more flowy, than maybe pick clothing that’s looser and baggier.
Second, for a tighter and a more put together look, I would wear fitted bottoms of some sort (pants or a skirt) paired with a nice textured blouse.
Third, if you’re looking for a more “chilling at the beach” look, I would wear a swimsuit or shorts and a tank top, or a cute swimsuit cover (depending on scenery and personality).
Oʻahu outdoor portrait session with young woman in casual beach outfit sitting in tropical park with palm trees
Finally: what shoes to wear. Depending on where you take your portraits it may vary. If you’re hiking to a spot, wear walking shoes and then change into your dress shoes for the pictures, or just go barefoot. On the other hand, if you’re doing a beach shoot, I would wear sandals or go barefoot.
Layering and textures really help to add a lot of volume and color, and they both give your outfit a fun, flowy look (especially in windy spots). Layering itself also helps add texture. To give your clothes more texture, wear some different kinds of fabrics together; luxurious velvet, or maybe some smooth satin can bring in some more character to the shoot. If you’re feeling more casual, you could wear some denim, paired with a swimsuit top or a feminine lace, mixing softer textures with a tougher fabric. Personally, I would layer a swimsuit and skirt with a sheer fabric like a loose mesh top. That gives the flowy layers an overall interesting, eclectic, cute look. Also, for your Oahu portrait session, you could wear a pareo, wrap around, or cover-up to allow you to change your outfit quickly.
Oʻahu beach photoshoot with woman wearing lei standing in ocean water in tropical Hawaii.
Common Outfit Pitfalls to Avoid
This whole time, I have been telling you what you should wear, but now I’m going to tell you what you should not wear!
Don’t wear any overly neon colors, because they cause “color cast” on your skin. But don’t worry, that does not mean you can not wear fun, tropical colored clothes.
Avoid tiny busy patterns. They make the pictures have a weird digital shimmer called “moiré”.
No large logos or graphic T-Shirts. This draws the attention of the eye directly to the graphic and away from you, the true subject of interest!
Try not to wear a lot of black and white pieces of clothing, because it can mess with the exposure and my photography style. In photography, extreme tones (pure black and bright white) sit at opposite ends of the dynamic range, which can make them challenging to capture simultaneously with detail and nuance. Because my photography style leans toward soft, dimensional lighting and rich tonal gradation, I intentionally expose for the skin and surrounding environment to preserve subtle detail and color depth. Large areas of stark black or white can interrupt that balance.
Most photographers tell you not to wear green if your background is green becuause it blends in, but I personally like to play around with the monochrome, so variant shades of green are fun for me to work with! The same goes for me with any my location themes. If you’re interested in doing an ocean or beach cove shoot, and you have a teal or blue swimsuit that you absolutely love … let’s go for it!
To polish this off, let’s talk about the final touches. Try to have all your clothes clean, steamed, and wrinkle-free for your portrait session, and clean your fingernails and toenails (or maybe get a manicure and/or a pedicure). Keep your hair nice and groomed and try to keep it from blowing around too much. I always carry extra bobby pins in my camera bag, and will always help you pose with the wind! Don’t get too caught up in all the craziness of clothing and makeup, because at the end of the day, all that matters is that you’re comfortable and most of all: Smile!
Now you are ready to shoot your portraits! Are you ready to get in front of the lens and take some amazing pictures? Book a Flora and Femina portrait session here.
Written by Las-LaRue Allen
Edited and Formatted by Emarie Majors