Senior Photography 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.

Blue Sky's Promotions, In a field, Senior Photography

Orange County Family Photographer: The Super Bloom

As an Orange County Family Photographer, my focus is always on documenting local families throughout the years. That means, often I start photographing a family when their children are young, and then continue the sessions all the way through their high school senior portraits. Sometimes this even includes their kid’s weddings!

This is such a magical part of being a photographer. I love people and creating connections and long term bonds with them. There is nothing better to me than having a Mom cry over the beautiful portraits of their high school senior, Or Dad laughing at a silly face their young child always makes.

Recently, I have fallen in love with moving portraits of my clients. These are small snippets of video that help more completely tell the story of the family as it changes and the kids grow over the years. I only regret that I didn’t think of this sooner (with the help of my videographer Rebekah Pantel), so I could have had these videos for my kids as they grew up.

There is no better place to do one of these session than in the open fields of Laguna Beach, San Juan Capistrano or Upper Newport Back Bay. The yellow mustard is gorgeous and the soft water in the background makes the images really dreamy. All of the rain this year has lead to the “super Bloom” with flowers we may not see again for another 10 years.

This month, anyone that books a portrait session with Blue Sky’s Studio will have a videographer at their session to help tell their complete family/ senior portrait story. This is a $99 value is free if you book by May 30.

Here is a sample of a moving portrait video of the gorgeous Sofie Salvino!

And more favorite still images from the session!

To book your session or inquire about one, and include a videographer, click here or email me at kristin@blueskysstudio.com.

Fashion, Senior Photography

High School Senior Photography: Styling Chloe’s session

Most of you probably know about our annual high school senior photography styled session giveaway. We pile Blue Sky’s team, including Brittany Norton for hair and makeup, Rebecca Pantel for video and Lily Fassnacht for styling and second shooting into a van with the senior portrait winners. Then head out to a destination that we think will make a unique backdrop for a senior photography session. Some recent locations include downtown LA art district, Balboa Park in San Diego and this year Salvation Mountain in Joshua Tree.

High school senior portrait at Salvation Mountain

When I put together the inspiration boards for the 2019 Styled senior session giveaway, I envision a magazine editorial. I want all of the clothing, hair and makeup and styling for the session to compliment the location. As you can see from this image, Salvation Mountain has a LOT of color. Since it is out in the middle of nowhere, in the dusty desert, it almost has an “end of days” vibe. For this session, I mixed bright, bold colored clothing with combat boots and edger accessories. The very first article of clothing I purchase was this yellow dress, from Urban Outfitter. I knew it would look amazing on Chloe with her dark hair and eyes and it would stand out against a colorful background.

Styled high school senior portrait session at Salvation Mountain

One of my favorite things about being a senior portrait photographer is that I get to create sessions that are inspired by fashion. Making a senior photography session feel like an editorial shoot for my client’s favorite magazine, make everyone involved feel great. Not to mention that we create gorgeous images of the senior that their family will enjoy for generations to come.

If you are a 2020 graduating senior and would like to be considered for next year’s session, please fill out the form and we will get in contact with you.

Now just a few of my favorite yellow dress images from the day. More from the Salvation Mountain Senior portrait session to come in the upcoming weeks.

Salvation Mountain styled senior session

To inquire about your own personalized session please email me directly at kristin@blueskysstudio.com.

At the Beach, Senior Photography

Orange County High School Senior Portraits: Annie Cooper

Have you ever considered a destination High School Senior portrait session in Orange County? There are so many amazing places to shoot including Laguna Beach, Disneyland, the Mission, open fields, flower fields, the list goes on and on.

Right now high school seniors are getting those envelops in the mail telling them they are accepted to the school of their dreams. And, many other seniors are deciding to go on an adventure or take a gap year. This is the perfect time to book a portrait session for your senior.

Why should you do a personalized session for your high school senior portrait session? Because this is the time that they are transitioning for kids to adults. They are developing their own style and deciding what they want to do with their future. At Blue Sky’s Studio we want to capture who they are today to cherish for all time. Having a portrait session and being treated like a model helps your senior gain confidence. For you, the session will create a beautiful collection of portraits to enjoy for all time.

we want to capture who they are today to cherish for all time. Having a portrait session and being treated like a model helps your senior gain confidence. For you, the session will create a beautiful collection of portraits to enjoy for all time.

One of the most popular locations for me to shoot is Treasure Island beach near the Montage Resort. The best part of this location is that you get AMAZING beaches on all sides. In addition, you get the beautiful park area and interesting artwork that can be incorporated in the portrait session.

I love these senior portraits of Annie. Annie traveled from the Phoenix area to have her senior portraits taken in one of her favorite places, Laguna Beach. She has amazing style and Annie already is a successful Vlogger and Lifestyle Content Creator (seriously these kids today are ON IT!). Here are just a few favorite images from our session.

High School Portraits at the beach in Laguna Beach

Treasure Island Beach High School Portraits

High School Senior portraits at Laguna Beach

If you want to learn more about booking your high school senior portrait session in Laguna Beach, click on the button below.

Learn more about a Blue Sky's High School Portrait session

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.