What to Wear for a Photoshoot in Spain, Packed in a Suitcase

1. Coordinate, do not match

The classic mistake is the uniform: everyone in a white shirt and jeans. In the photograph it reads as staged and it flattens everyone into one shape.

What works is a palette of two or three colours that sit well together, distributed unevenly. Cream, terracotta and a muted green, say — each person leading with one and carrying a little of another. It looks deliberate without looking like a catalogue.

Quick test: if you all look like a team in the mirror, there is too much coordination.

2. What causes problems in the image

Visible logos and slogans. They date a photograph immediately and pull the eye to the middle of someone's chest.

Very fine stripes and small checks. These can interfere with the camera sensor and produce moiré — a shimmering pattern of false colour across the fabric. It does not always happen, but when it does it cannot be fixed afterwards.

Neon and heavily saturated colours. They bounce onto skin. A neon-green top puts green on the face of the person wearing it and the person standing next to them.

Pure white and pure black together in full sun. Andalusian light in summer is harder than most people are used to; the range between those two is more than the scene will hold, so you lose detail at one end or the other.

Brand-new clothes worn straight out of the packaging. The fold lines show in every frame.

3. Fabrics that move

This changes photographs more than colour does and almost nobody plans for it. Linen, cotton voile, chiffon, fine knit, long skirts and dresses: clothing that moves in the wind gives you living images, and clothing that does not gives you catalogue images.

It applies to everyone, not just dresses. A loose linen shirt does more for a photograph than a perfectly fitted one.

On the coast the wind does the work for you — on Mallorca's Cap de Formentor it will do rather more than you asked. In an enclosed old town you have to find the movement by walking.

4. Match it to the city

This is where the general rule gives way to the specific place:

• Andalusian old towns — Santa Cruz in Seville, the Albaicín in Granada. Whitewashed walls, bounced light. Earth tones, burgundy and mustard sing here; white disappears against the lime wash.
• Barcelona — the city supplies its own colour in the mosaics and the tiled facades. Quieter clothing lets the background do the talking.
• Madrid — hard, dry light at altitude, and a lot of stone and brick. Stronger colours hold up better here than they do on the coast.
• Beaches and coves — light fabrics, pale tones. Strong blue competes with the sea; cream and sand do not.
• Cities in winter — layers. A coat you can take off gives you two looks without a change, and in Madrid in December you will want it.

Shoes, which everyone forgets

Half of photogenic Spain is cobbled. The Albaicín is a cobblestone hill, Santa Cruz is a narrow maze, Toledo climbs, and the path below Ronda's bridge is loose gravel with no railing in places. Thin heels and cobblestones do not coexist.

The practical answer is two pairs: something good for the standing photographs, something comfortable for moving between locations. Shoes are out of frame in half the shots anyway.

Packing, specifically

You are working from a suitcase, so:

• Two outfits maximum per person. More than that and the session becomes a changing exercise. Two gives you variety without losing light.
• Roll rather than fold, or hang everything the night before. Creases are the single most common problem with holiday-session clothing.
• Bring one thing that moves — a skirt, a dress, a scarf, a loose shirt. It will be in your favourite photograph.
• Check the forecast, then check the sunset time. A June session in Spain can start at nine in the evening; it will be cooler than the day was.

With children

One rule above the others: comfortable. A child in clothing that itches appears in every frame as a child in clothing that itches, and no amount of editing fixes it.

Nothing bought that morning, nothing tight at the neck, and a spare set if you are going anywhere near water.

The thing that actually matters

That the clothes look like you. The photographs people end up hanging at home are not the ones where they were best dressed — they are the ones where they recognise themselves.

If you are unsure about a specific outfit, send your photographer a picture before the session. The photographers on Photo Spain do this constantly and can tell you how that colour will behave in that location at that hour. There is also a Spanish-language version of this guide if that is easier to share with family.

Frequently asked questions

Should the whole family wear matching outfits for the photoshoot?

No — the uniform of everyone in a white shirt and jeans reads as staged and flattens everyone into one shape. Coordinate instead with a palette of two or three colours that sit well together, distributed unevenly: cream, terracotta and a muted green, say, each person leading with one and carrying a little of another. Quick test: if you all look like a team in the mirror, there is too much coordination.

What clothes cause problems in photographs?

Visible logos and slogans, which date a photograph and pull the eye to someone's chest; very fine stripes and small checks, which can produce moiré that cannot be fixed afterwards; neon and heavily saturated colours, which bounce onto skin; pure white and pure black together in full Andalusian sun; and brand-new clothes straight out of the packaging, whose fold lines show in every frame. What helps more than colour is fabric that moves — linen, cotton voile, chiffon, a long skirt or a loose shirt.

What shoes should I wear for a photoshoot in Spain?

Two pairs: something good for the standing photographs and something comfortable for moving between locations, because half of photogenic Spain is cobbled — the Albaicín is a cobblestone hill, Santa Cruz a narrow maze, Toledo climbs, and the path below Ronda's bridge is loose gravel with no railing in places. Thin heels and cobblestones do not coexist, and shoes are out of frame in half the shots anyway.