What Color to Wear for Christmas Tree Farm Photos?

Figuring out what to wear for your Christmas tree farm family photos could be overwhelming. “What color theme should I pick?” “How do you pick colors that can coordinate with each other?” This article is to help you understand a little bit of color and pick the color theme for your Christmas tree farm photos.

Know Our Environment

We have so many colors, hues, saturations, and patterns. So, where to start? First, we need to know our environment. That is, the primary color of our background at the Christmas tree farm will be green because we have a lot of Christmas trees. We will have some brownish color from the soil/grass on the ground and some blueish color from the sky. The color of the sky depends on the weather and the time. We will focus on the green background because green takes up the primary space. The green in the tree farm in winter will be deep green.

Colors that Always Work

Next, we will pick colors for our clothes. Before we choose the color, I want to tell you that some colors always work. The colors that always work are white, grey, black, and low saturation colors. Please take a look at the images below. The first row is white, grey, and black; the second is those low saturation colors similar to white, grey, and black. This image is from this book.

If you and your family wear any combination of these colors, it will always work for the Christmas tree farm photos. You can either mix with darker colors and lighter colors, or you can keep it all lighter colors or all darker colors. I would not recommend that you dress in all the same colors, such as all white or all black. The example below is a color palette using all always work colors. The first color is green, which represents the Christmas tree farm background primary color. The other four colors are black, grey, and low saturation colors. How much each color in your image will also affect the overall feel.

A harmonious look or a vibrant look?

Besides the always-work colors above, we can pick different colors for the Christmas tree farm photos. There is no right or wrong. Different color themes will give us a different feel. It is up to you to decide what feel you want in your photos. You can check out the color wheel from canva.com and adobe.com. Choosing colors similar to green, such as blue or different green, will give us a sense of calmness and harmony. Choosing colors on the opposite side of the green on the color wheel, such as red, orange, or purple, will give you a vibrant feel. What feel do you want to have? When you pick your color, please mix the colors with the always-work colors above. Here are a few examples.

Cool color

When we pick colors that are not that strong in contrast to the green color, it will make us feel calm. Also, they are cool colors mixed with the always work colors. The first color on each palette below represents the Christmas tree color green.

Warm color

When we pick colors contrasting with green, it will add a vibrant feel. Also, the complementary colors of green are red, orange, and purple, which are warm colors that give us a different feel than the cool colors. Avoid neon colors in general. You can see examples below that low-saturation red is different from bright red. Also, images with only a small amount of red have a different feel than images with a large amount of red. I would not recommend images with a lot of neon red. Low saturation red (deep red) and regular/rich red is good.

Mixed with cool and warm colors

Pattern

Another good choice is to mix solid colors with patterns such as plaid, stripes, small flowers/patterns, etc. The Christmas tree farm has a relatively clean environment. That means only a few colors there and with a significant color green. In this relatively clean environment, we can wear solid colors or colors mixed with patterns. Wearing solid colors + patterns will make the image look vibrant and lively. Wearing solid colors will make the image look simple and elegant.

Deep green, tone-on-tone

Besides the color (hue) and patterns, another way to look at color is their tone. There are two ways to look at the tone. Our background color is deep green. The first way to pair the deep green is to pick other deep colors for your outfits. So, they will be at the same level. The second way to coordinate your colors is tone-on-tone. If you pick a beige color for your outfit, the tone-on-tone color palette could look like the image below. Once you pick colors, try to mix them with the always work colors.

Last few things

In summary, in a clean environment dominated by one color, such as a Christmas tree farm, we can pick 1 or 2 color themes. For example, we can choose the color for mom first, and then the other colors will either be the “always work” colors or one more solid color/pattern that coordinates with mom’s color. So, it is Christmas time and Christmas tree farm photos. Feel free to wear holiday spirit outfits that bring out the holiday feel in your image.

Another point is that the above color palettes equally display the colors. When the color distribution is not equal, they will also give us a different feel. For example, the images with more light colors give us a different feel than those with more dark colors.

It will probably be cold, so dress warm and comfortable. Dress in layers and avoid bulky coats. Clothes that we want to avoid are neon colors, big logos, open-crotch pants, and hooded casual clothes. Besides the outfit colors, different light situations will also give the image a different feel. If you pick outfits, feel free to send their pictures to me 🙂 If you want to book a Christmas tree farm mini session with me, check out the link here.

ABOUT IVY LULU PHOTOGRAPHY

Ivy Lulu Photography specializes in lifestyle and documentary family photography and couple photography in Westborough Massachusetts and many of the surrounding areas. These include but are not limited to Northborough, Southborough, Shrewsbury, Grafton, North Grafton, Hopkinton, Upton, Marlborough, Framingham, Natick, and Worcester. She also services Boston area, and Cape Cod. Her style is very relaxed and natural. Your family session will feel like a stress-free day going on a walk with old friends, who just happen to have a camera with them.