As I sit here and type this blog, the icicles that have been hanging on our eves outside our office are disappearing and it actually sort of looks like spring might be coming.  Spring is just in time too- we've been getting tons of messages lately about spring photo sessions.  We have ideas bursting at the seams, as well as all the new things that we spent the winter learning and practicing.  To be honest, we think our photography is going to rock once we can finally get out there and take some pictures without being waist deep in snow. 

I've compiled a bunch of pictures and color swatches to give our spring clients some direction when choosing outfits for their families.  By no means do we expect you to show up in head to toe brand new clothes, or even any of these colors.  These are strictly some suggestions so you can see how the colors might work together. 

I plan to do a blog post like this once a month or so throughout the busy photography season to keep fresh ideas in everyone's minds.  For legal reasons, I need to stress now that I did not take any of the pictures in this blog post.  I've tried my best to provide websites for you to see where the photos actually came from.

The colors above are supposed to be "The Colors of Spring 2013" from www.pantone.com. 

This website: http://www.southboundbride.com/pantone-spring-2013-colour-report/ did a fantastic job of collecting images using these particular colors in different combinations.

I made a couple idea boards myself:

I think women and little girls are really easy to style.  Colors, textures and layers.

Men and boys are a little harder.  I tried to find clothing ideas that I can actually see guys from our area wearing.  For boys, layers and accessories are really cute.  If they don't like bright colors, try sticking with chambrey or linen colors.

This adorable photo is by Crave Photography. 

This one was found on www.iheartfaces.com

When choosing outfits, it usually works best to choose three colors and work them into each person's outfit.  Maybe your son won't wear a bright shirt, so put him in jeans, a linen colored shirt with a yellow belt.  Put your little girl in a yellow sun dress with a linen colored head band and a denim jacket. 

If your family isn't into bright colors at all, or maybe bright colored pictures won't go well with your home decor, nuetral colors like the picture below (www.dotcommom.com) are also great.

We hope this helps you get excited for spring (I had all I could do to not order all these clothes for my own kids!) and gives you some ideas for your next photo session.  If you'd like to book a session you can message us or call us at 218.945.3747.  If you have further questions about photo styling, don't hesitate to ask or make suggestions.

Its been so much fun to work the the high school seniors this year.  They all have such different personalities and styles.  Its amazing how much you can learn about a person by just spending a couple hours taking pictures of them! 

This year we had a few kids who wanted winter pictures taken.  It is a beautiful time to take pictures, but it doesn't come without challenges.  We've had so much snow this year that it made it difficult to even get through it, not to mention how cold it was.  Each of these kids were out in less than 10 degree weather to get these shots.  This posed another challenge: glasses fogging up and rosy cheeks and hands.  We really love how these turned out and we think it was worth the chill!

I got to meet this sweet family last week.  We had a little in common-we both have three year old boys and baby girls-so it was pretty familiar territory for me.  Although the snow hasn't melted yet and it still feels like winter around here, their adorable outfits give us a little reminder that spring is around the corner... or at least we hope it is!

Here's a few of our favorite shots: