Which One's Better? This One or That One? - Not the Photo, the Shirt

You've been asked to come to the photo shoot with several clothing options, so the photographer or stylist can choose what works best with the background/concept/skin tone, etc.
Out of 5 or 6 options, the subject already knows what they like best, or what makes them feel most comfortable/beautiful/attractive and so on. So what's the point?

A major part of the photographer's job is to "thaw out" the subject so they feel comfortable and express something authentic effortlessly. And our second skin—the clothes we love or hate—can have a huge impact.

The Power of Clothing Comfort in Photography

After a day shooting additional dishes for Simona's (Simonchu) catalog. These are my favorite type of shoots—once a year we gather for food photography and tastings of new dishes. The best "work" days! click click, munch munch.

Simona loves her black outfit. Reminds me a bit of Steve Jobs' approach—one less decision to make every day. No deliberating in front of the closet.

Though during the shoot, I asked to see another shirt option and suddenly she pulled out one that looked really right to me. Warmer, colorful but not loud—in short, appropriate. Maybe it was just the "newness" in my eyes because I wasn't used to seeing her wear anything other than black. And maybe that also contributed to the final image...

But honestly, what does it matter? The moment she asked me to also edit the photo we didn't choose (the one with the black outfit), I knew she'd pick that one for her website.

The Psychology of Image Selection

It's very, very important to give multiple options, to offer professional opinion, but also to understand that the subject has a comfort zone. And it might be that in the end, they'll connect not necessarily to the image that conveys something specific, but to the image they have a more internal connection to.

So choice can be difficult. Like it's hard to decide which image is more suitable or which shirt to wear this morning to the photo set. There's a theoretical right and wrong, but not an absolute one.

The thing is, we often think we know what works best from a technical or aesthetic standpoint. The lighting might be better in one shot, the composition stronger in another. But photography isn't just about technical perfection—it's about how the subject feels in their own skin, or in this case, their own shirt.

When someone feels genuinely comfortable, it shows. There's an ease, a natural quality that no amount of perfect lighting can manufacture. And sometimes that comfort comes from something as simple as wearing the outfit that feels most like "them", even if it's not what the photographer initially had in mind.