Why Senior Portraits Are a Must-Have Experience

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of capturing milestones, and senior portraits hold a special place in my heart. This is such a unique time in High School Senior life—a moment to reflect on how far they have become and all the exciting possibilities ahead of them.

An urban-themed senior portrait of a student posing confidently

Every session I capture is unique because it’s built around you. Whether we’re embracing the golden sands and ocean breeze of Laguna Beach or exploring the bold, dynamic textures of an urban Orange County setting, my goal is to create something that truly reflects your personality.

Outdoor portrait of a High School senior guy

When I start planning a session, I always ask, “What makes you, you?” Maybe you love the relaxed, natural feel of Laguna Beach senior portraits, with the waves crashing behind you and the soft glow of golden hour. Or perhaps your vibe leans toward urban-themed high school senior portraits—full of vibrant graffiti, dramatic architecture, and a little edge. Wherever your heart leads, I’ll guide you every step of the way.

Senior guy standing confidently with hands in his pants pockets, dressed in a casual button-up shirt and jeans

High school is such a fleeting, incredible chapter in life. It’s filled with growth, possibilities, and memories worth holding onto. I encourage every senior to choose locations and outfits that feel authentic—whether it’s running barefoot on the beach or wearing a statement piece that makes you feel unstoppable downtown. These portraits aren’t just pictures; they’re a reflection of everything that makes you who you are right now.

A bold and edgy senior portrait of a high school student

Close-up of a senior guy with a serious expression, wearing a classic button-up shirt

With over 20 years behind the camera, I know how to make sessions fun and stress-free. I’ll help you feel comfortable and confident, whether we’re capturing spontaneous laughter or nailing that perfect pose. My goal? Always the same—to create meaningful images that capture the real you, and today, that’s exactly what we’ll do.

Senior portraits are a way to share your story with the world—through graduation announcements, social media, or a cherished family keepsake. Every time you see your photos, I want you to feel proud, happy, and connected to this moment in time. So, let’s make something unforgettable together. Contact me today to book your Laguna Beach or urban-themed senior portrait session, and let’s turn this milestone into something extraordinary.

Exciting News! We’re looking for fashion-forward high school seniors to be part of an exclusive urban-themed photoshoot in beautiful downtown Laguna Beach! This is your chance to showcase your unique style while experiencing a fun and dynamic session with a professional photographer. Don’t wait—spots are limited. Reach out now to learn more and reserve your place in this one-of-a-kind experience!

Check out more urban-inspired senior sessions in Orange County by exploring our Downtown Santa Ana Art District Senior Session

Is 2021 the year you commit to developing your personal brand?  Since 2020 has been a super challenging year for many small businesses, I want to help by giving away four half day branding sessions!   In these sessions I will provide you with a professional headshot that will get you noticed.  But that isn’t all, we will deep dive into your brand and create an entire library of images that you can use in your marketing to help attract your ideal client!

What is included in this giveaway:

  • Up to 5 hours of shooting for your business
  • 50 fully retouched files for your marketing
  • A consultation and branding questionnaire to make sure we get the best images for your business
  • 7-10 outfit changes/ looks
  • Multiple shooting locations that work with your company
  • Your session highlighted on our social media and blog to help promote your business!
  • Valued at over $2000

To submit your small business to win, please fill out this form:

Link to form

You may be asking yourself, how do I use these images in my business to help develop my brand?  

Take for example our wonderful client Kailyn.  Kaitlyn is an executive Well-being and burnout coach, helping restore energy, fulfillment and ease to your everyday.  Her mission is to help high-achieving women in high-pressure environments bring self care, passion and enjoyment back into their life.

Branding portrait session in downtown Laguna Beach

Here are just a few of the branding questions we went through when planning her session:

Branding photography session for a business coach

What feeling do you want to invoke with your brand?

  • Color, delight, joy, energy, vibrancy, zest for life, healthfulness/ well-being
  • Fun, playfulness, passion, movement
  • Depth, power, strength, intelligence results, competence
  • Calm, stillness, rest, spaciousness

What do your clients get when they work with you?

  • Life restoration, valuable insight, passion, playfulness, support and commitment

We selected each style/ vignette based on these answers.  This included clothing, makeup and hairstyling and location selection for the session.  Here are some of my favorite images from Kaitlyn’s professional branding photo session.  To check out Kaitlyn’s website and see how she used some of these images, you can click here!

Personal branding session in Laguna Beach studioTo book your branding session you can call us at 949.510.3862!

Orange County Photographer

Best Location for a family session in Orange County- For rustic family portraits

After nearly 20 years of being a professional photographer in Orange County, I have discovered lots of amazing places to photograph families.  So many of my Orange County photography clients come back year after year.  Each time they return for a session, they want to make it unique.

If my clients are looking for something rustic, that has a great Fall feel to it, I always suggestion the Nellie Gail trails in Laguna Hills.  This location has a great old fence, meandering paths and lots of open shade.  One of my favorite spots on the trails is a grove of pepper trees.   These trees have red berries and fluffy red flowers that are the perfect accent to a Christmas outfits.

This location works with Fall colors, monochromatic type colors (such as grey and black) and with holiday colors.  Here is a beautiful family portrait session.  The old metal tunnel gives a great urban feel to this otherwise rustic backdrop.

Orange County Family photographed in the field surrounding Laguna Hills. This family when with a black and grey color scheme for their family photographs.

Husband and wife posing for their family photography session in Orange County Tween age girl photographed in Laguna Hills on the horse trails Tween girl photographed in Orange County with her family at a OC family portrait session. Casual family portraits on the horse trails in Orange county Youngest brother portraits at Nellie Gail trails in Orange County. Family portrait session in Orange County. Photograph of the youngest son in the family leaning on a fallen log. Teenage boy photographed on the horse trails in Orange County Family portrait session in Orange County. Urban inspired photoshoot in Orange County. Family photos with teenage kids in Orange County CA Orange County school age boy posing for professional pics. Teenage boy at a family photography session in Orange County Tween girl photographed in Orange County for a family portrait session. Three older siblings posing for a family portrait session in Orange County. Fall family portraits in Orange County on Nellie Gail Trails. Siblings leaning on a fence for family picture in Orange County OC family photographed on the horse trails in Nellie Gail.

If you are ready to document your family and experience a fun Fall family portrait session, you can get more information by clicking here.

Blue Sky’s Studio is a family, high School senior and branding photography studio that specializes in magazine quality photography in Orange County, California.  Kristin loves photographing Orange County families, high School seniors and Orange County businesses including corporate headshots.   To schedule a session with Blue Sky’s Studio, in Laguna Beach or other Orange County surrounding areas, you can send an email to Kristin@blueskysstudio.com.  We are now booking for the Fall Portrait session 2020.  We are taking special precautions because of Covid-19 to ensure that you are safe and healthy.

Blue Sky’s Studio specializes in photographing on location in the following areas, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, Coto De Caza, Dana Point, The Ritz Carlton, The Montage Resort, the Surf and Sand resort and the Monarch Beach Resort.

High School Senior guy portraits at Table Rock Beach

I am often ask why I love photographing high school seniors at Table Rock beach, especially the guys.   This Laguna Beach destination not only has a beautiful sandy beach, but also lots of rock formations to give more interest to the portraits.  There are patches of flowers and green as well as a cave with a burnt black background.  This beach is as close as your high school senior portrait session will get to both a beach and an urban environment.

For Stephen’s session he decided to mix up a casual look, with a more formal look at the beach.  In order to make the suit feel authentic, we loosen his tie and untucked his shirt.   Of course we also incorporated a lot of UCLA gear.  Here are a few of my favorites from the session.  Enjoy!

High School senior portrait session at Table Rock Beach in Laguna Beach. Senior dressed in Formal clothing. Table Rock Beach High School Senior guy portrait session. Laguna Beach high school senior portraits at the beach. Urban inspired high school portraits at the beach in Laguna Beach. High School senior guy at the beach with an ocean background. High School senior guy sitting on the beach with an ocean background. High School senior beach session in Laguna Beach. High School senior portrait session on old stairway. High school senior portraits at Table Rock beach with an urban background. High School senior portraits of a guy graduate going to UCLA in the Fall. UCLA incoming freshman senior portraits at Laguna Beach.

We are now taking booking for the class of 2021 through the end of the year.  We have a very limited number of spots available because of the holidays.  To book your session call 949.510.3862 or email me at kristin@blueskysstudio.com.

 

Blue Sky’s Studio is a family, high School senior and branding photography studio that specializes in magazine quality photography in Orange County, California.  Kristin loves photographing Orange County families, high School seniors and Orange County businesses including corporate headshots.   To schedule a session with Blue Sky’s Studio, in Laguna Beach or other Orange County surrounding areas, you can send an email to Kristin@blueskysstudio.com.  We are now booking for the Fall Portrait session 2020.  We are taking special precautions because of Covid-19 to ensure that you are safe and healthy.

Blue Sky’s Studio specializes in photographing on location in the following areas, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, Coto De Caza, Dana Point, The Ritz Carlton, The Montage Resort, the Surf and Sand resort and the Monarch Beach Resort.

 

 

how to select the perfect photos from your session

Just about every photo session with us includes an in-studio review session about a week or two after your photo shoot. We know that a lot of photographers simply send an online album with photos to choose from, but I think it’s important to go the extra mile to help our clients.

If you’ve ever had professional photography done you know that we take a ton of photos during your session. This is great, because as a photographer I have so many more photos to choose from when looking for the perfect poses, lighting, smile, etc.

But if you’re looking through an online album of photos it can be really hard to choose between hundreds of different options. That’s why we are right there to help you.

This is one of the biggest reasons I make your review session a priority. My team is experienced in the art of finding and selecting the best photos from your session.

So here’s a  little behind-the-scenes look at how our white-glove review session works.

It starts as soon as your photography session is finished.

That’s right, as soon as I’m done photographing you (and/or your family) I begin going through the images and selecting the best first round. This usually ends up being several hundred photos.

A little while later, after I’ve had a little artistic space from the images, I go back and get a little pickier, looking for the best poses, the best facial looks, smiles, etc.

Then we start editing.

From there, I select my favorite twenty to twenty-five images to edit. This is when my team and I tap into my nearly twenty years of photo-editing experience to optimize lighting, smooth wrinkles, or remove blemishes, or even shave off a few pounds.photo editing

High-quality portrait prints.

After we’ve made these gorgeous images absolutely picture perfect, we print them on our high-quality, archival photo paper and put them in mattes to display on our reveal wall. I’ll explain what that is in just a bit.

Your Review Session.

A week or so after your photography session we’ll call to set up a good time for you to come by our studio and see your photos in three amazing ways.

Slideshow.

We always put together a beautiful slideshow to show you some of the best pictures from your shot, sometimes with a little video from your shoot as well.

 

Reveal Wall.

When you first walk into the studio the reveal wall will be covered, but during your session we’ll pull the curtains aside to reveal those painstakingly edited images, matted and ready to be framed. You’ll be able to see your beautifully printed images, hold them in your (white-gloved) hands, and even take some home!

Digital Selections.

We’ll also have a selection of close to a couple hundred favorite photos on our flat screen display. We’ll work with you to narrow down the best shots, by comparing your favorites side-by-side and helping you understand the differences (even the minute ones) to each photo so you can pick ones that you’ll love for years to come.

You can always order individual images, but our best offerings are in our wall art, artisanal albums, Italian photo boxes, and other professionally printed packages. No matter what your taste, needs, or preferences, we’ll help you choose the perfect images and even edit them to your specifications.

We know that our clients come to us for a top notch experience and so we strive to give you the best photography experience of your life, along with the portraits that you’ll cherish for generations.

Want to see the behind the scenes video for this photo session? Click here to view the video.

fall-family-portraits


Are you ready to book your session? Call us now.

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