At the Park Archives

At the Beach, At the Park, Blue Sky's Promotions, Family Photography, Senior Photography

The Five best spots to photograph around Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach has the very best spots for unique family and senior photography. Since I not only work in Laguna Beach, but also live in the downtown area, I am always keeping my eyes open for the most unique spots to photograph high school seniors and families. Here are just a few of my favorite spots in the downtown area to get amazing, unique shots of your senior or family. And if you book and shoot before the end of September, you will receive 50% off of the session fee.

Heisler Park/ Picnic Beach Area

From beautiful vistas, to unique art pieces, to garden spots and yes even a sandy beach, if you are looking for a lot of variety in your portrait session, Heisler Park is my top choice. Check out a few of my favorite recent images shot in this location.

Downtown Laguna Beach

In just a three or four block area, there are so many great backdrop choices in downtown Laguna Beach. Some of my favorite spots include the red phone booth, the alley behind the Presbyterian Church, the area around the library, the flower stand on Forest Avenue and the rose garden on Forest.

Laguna Beach Neighborhoods

Around the Laguna Beach High School area is a perfect location to shoot a senior portrait session or even a family session. There are some really cool green areas, lots of trees, two small parks and lots of hardscaping with texture and character. Even more important to me and my clients, there is a lot of parking. Here are some of my favorite spots in the neighborhoods surrounding Laguna Beach High School.

Main Beach Laguna Beach

Try to avoid main beach on the weekends, but during the week, especially in the Fall, this is an amazing backdrop for a session. You have the iconic Lifeguard tower, the fun boardwalk, the rocks at the north end of the beach and the open sandy views of the south end of the beach.

Portrait by Brianna Caster and Co of my kids

Alta Laguna Beach and Laguna Canyon Areas

For a more organic background, Laguna Beach has Alta Laguna Park and the open canyon space. This year, with the super bloom, we have been so fortunate to not only get tall grass and open fields, but lots and lots of yellow flowers. Here are just a few examples of the variety of locations in the canyon and at Alta Laguna Park.

Now is the perfect time to book your session. We are office 50% off of the session fee in September as our early bird special. To book your session or to get more information, click here.

At the Beach, At the Park, Fashion, Senior Photography

Popular Trends in High School Senior Photography

Where should I shoot my OC Senior Portraits?

Orange County is an excellent spot for amazing high school senior portraits. We have beaches, open fields, city scapes, historic architecture and gorgeous parks.

Blue Sky’s Studio strategy for any portrait photography session is to start with your personal fashion style. If you tend to dress more edgy and high fashion, I would definitely recommend choosing a city background or in the studio. If FreePeople clothing is more your vibe then a flower field, a beach at low light or an open meadow would enhance the look of your session.

Fashionista Senior Session

If you love trendy clothing, fun accessories and the latest style in shoes and boots you are probably a fashionista. For your session, we want to highlight your amazing style. That means staying away from really busy backgrounds so all of the emphasis in the image is on you and your cute outfits. Here are some of my favorite spots for this type of session.

Boho Senior Session

If you love vintage clothing, neutral colors, free flowing hair and lots of texture, then a Boho inspired session is probably your jam! Think of Free People Clothing, or shop at your favorite vintage store or even raid your Mom’s old wardrobe. I love these sessions when the colors are really monochromatic as is the background look. The perfect locations for this type of session include.

Alta Laguna Park In Laguna Beach
San Juan Open Spaces A gorgeous field in San Juan Capistrano
James Dilley Wilderness Park In Laguna Canyon
San Clemente State Beach With gorgeous white cliffs and wide open beaches (to see more beaches in San Clemente Click Here.
The Great Park in Irvine Complete with small zoo, open fields, split rail fences and flower fields.

Endless Summer Session

Shooting your high school senior portraits on the beach is great any time of the year. It is true that Southern California is a photographers paradise. There are so many sunny days every year that it doesn’t matter if you book in August or February, you are sure to get at least a few, beautiful sunny So Cal days. Here are my top five spots for an endless summer session.

Enter to win a free fully styled high school portrait session with Blue Sky’s Studio!

CLICK HERE

If you are really into bold colors and statement clothing, you can read more in the Color blog post by clicking on this link: Using Color in your shoot to create style.

At the Park, Family Photography, Orange County Photography

Cute DIY Easter Photo Ideas

Easter has come so early this year and while we’d love for you to bring your little cuties in for a professional family photo session for Easter, we realize you might just want some fun photo ideas that you can do at home.

So, we’ve gathered some fun photo ideas that you can recreate yourself.

Let’s start with the littlest ones. Babies are so fun to pose with colorful props, because let’s face it, they make everything look adorable. And as long as they’ve had a nap, they don’t usually protest. ;)

Little Bunnies

How about dressing up your little bunny and taking a photo of her sitting in the grass at your local park? This sweet,ruffly romper gives this little girl a beautiful Victorian touch for Easter.

This romper is available on Etsy.

Or if she’s younger, how about curled up on a fuzzy blankie?

Pro Tip: To make photo shoots easier with any baby or young child, make sure they’ve had their nap and have some favorite toys and silly faces at the ready. For newborns, it’s best to pose them while they’re still sound asleep.

This adorable crocheted bunny outfit is available on Etsy.

Easter Eggs and Baskets

Add some color and fun, by duplicating this adorable baby easter basket photo. All you need is a basket, plastic Easter eggs, and a bunny headband.

Pro Tip: To get baby in a good mood play with the eggs with her before you begin and have another adult handy who can entertain her with tickles or giggles while you take the pictures.

Have older kiddos? You can have even more fun with creative photo ideas! Check out some of these.

Ducklings

How about this Japanese cutie with her baby ducklings?

This picture doesn’t require a lot of props either: simply an umbrella, rain-boots and some rubber duckies.

Pro Tip: Get your child involved in the fun by having them help you arrange the duckies. You could even encourage them to come up with a story about the duckies to get them even more engaged in the game and photos.

Egg Art

Another way to get the kids in on the fun is to have them make the first letter of their name in the grass with Easter eggs! Then experiment with fun and silly poses in the grass until you get the right shots. Make the whole exercise silly and you’ll get some great candid pics like this one.

Tea Party

Host an Easter tea party with your kids and snap pictures while they play. Make some of their favorite treats and let them explore how they might have fun with their tea party.

Pro Tip: situate your play table under the open shade of a tree and experiment with different angles to get the lighting right.

Picnic in the Park

If your kids aren’t into tea parties, what about a picnic? This setting can easily be done with a cute old blanket and some yummy lunch. Pet bunny is optional, of course.

Springtime Blossoms

Take advantage of the beautiful trees blooming all around Orange County this time of year. While you’re playing in the park with the kids, take a moment to snap some photos! They don’t need to be as posed or color coordinated as this one, just have fun with it. Some of the best photos come from playing around.

Candid Confetti Egg Game Photos

Speaking of playing around, is one of your family traditions playing the confetti egg game? If not, maybe you should adopt this fun (yet messy) Easter tradition!

It makes for some great, silly and very candid photos.

Pro Tip: If you’re taking photos with your camera phone set your camera to “burst” to get multiple fast images with each click. This will help you to capture the action best. Click here to learn how to adjust your iPhone camera settings. And if you’re on an Android device, click here.

Click on the photo to get instructions on how to create and play the confetti Easter egg game.

However you celebrate Easter or springtime, we hope you have fun and capture some great candid memories. And when you’re ready for some professional family photos we’ll be here too.

At the Park, kids modeling, Kids Photography, Orange County Photography

Orange County Family Photographer- 2 year old session

Orange County Family Photography– How to manage a two year old at a portrait session. Everyone that knows me is totally aware that I am obsessed with toddlers. I love the way they talk, I love the things that they say, I love to play games with them, they just totally crack me up. So while lots of photographers shy away from photographing toddlers because it isn’t easy, I think as long as you have a good understanding of what will go on during a toddler session, everyone will remain calm and have fun!

Toddlers usually start out a little shy of the camera– let’s face it, this is a new environment and most of the time the photographer is a stranger pointing a black box at their face while everyone is yelling at them to smile or say cheese. In my experience, this does not work. At Blue Sky’s Studio we typically prep the Mom or Dad before the session and ask if they will just let us quietly talk with their child in the beginning with no expectations, no smiling, etc. A typical reaction would be this, where the little one looks at their Mom or Dad for reassurance.

Once a toddler starts to warm up, the best way to get great expressions is to play games with them. I will often snort like a pig and tell them that is what my doggies say. They will typically laugh and say noooooo, that is what a piggy says. You get the point, they play along and they will usually give you an amazing huge smile like this.

Now is when the real fun starts, I always tell the parents not to worry at this point because things are going to get a little crazy, but these are going to be a true representation of your child’s personality. You know, something like this:

Things to remember about toddlers- You get about an hour to photograph them and then they are usually done. You can bring multiple changes of clothing, but often times they will not tolerate more than three clothing changes. I frequently have parents say to me, “I don’t think you got anything, my child wasn’t really cooperating.” I smile and say, “we will see”. Here is just a few of my favorites from a recent session. When she got a little tired out, big brother was there to give some love and affection and then she was back to her camera ready self!

We named her curl Fred!

We played tons of games with the hat.

Had to give brother some affection while she took a break!

To book a family or kids session, click here!

At the Beach, At the Park, Family Photography, In a field, In home, Orange County Photography

The Best Orange County Locations for Photos (Part 2)

In my years as an Orange County photographer I have more than a handful of amazing locations up my sleeve. So here’s part two of my best Orange County Photography Locations. (The first 10 locations are here.)

Rancho Las Lomas

This resort and zoological garden is a little known Orange County setting for great photography. Located in Silvarado Canyon, it’s lush setting is perfect for family photos.

San Clemente State Beach

Traveling a little further down the coast San Clemente State Beach is a less crowded, more varied seaside backdrop for a stunning photography session.

Nellie Gail Trails

Nestled in south Orange County are the 26 miles of trails of the Nellie Gail Ranch. The native California greenery gives way to beautiful grasses and trees, making this an especially unique photography location.

Your Home

Sometimes you don’t need to travel at all to find the perfect setting for your family photos. Sometimes you need only stay at home. At home photo shoots can be especially fun as they not only show your family’s story, but your home as well, adding an especially unique element to look back on.

Downtown Laguna Beach

I’m lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful beach communities in Southern California and my studio, in Laguna Canyon is just minutes from one of the best “downtowns” in the county as well. This location is a treasure trove for a variety of shooting possibilities. (Read even more in this recent post about Laguna Beach Photography)

Los Rios Historic District

San Juan Capistrano boast several great photography locations, but one of the most fun is the Los Rios District, just across the train tracks from the Capistrano Depot. You can even stop for a bite to eat or tea time after your shoot.