Jeff Smith's Guide to Head and Shoulders Portrait Photography

anyone who wears it, provided you use common sense and pair it with a black
or very dark background.
As mentioned in chapter 1, clothing selection usually comes first, then a co-
ordinating background selection is made. However, if the client requests a par-
ticular background that contains color, you must be prepared to reverse the
process and select clothing colors that coordinate with the colors in the back-
ground. Obviously, this isn’t always possible, but you can cover your bases by
asking every client to bring in one top that is solid black and one top that is
solid white. With these two color choices, you should be able to use any back-
ground that you have. Black and white are neutrals that will work with any
other colors; black works well with all darker colors, while white works with all
softer colors and pastels.

Common Problems.

With clothing, the easiest way to know what to do is to know what not to do.
If you think in terms of all the problems that clothing can create for your clients
and then help them avoid these problems, you will learn how to use your clients’

26 JEFF SMITH’S GUIDE TO HEAD AND SHOULDERS PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

A background that is neutral in color will

work well with clothing of many colors.