Field notes · The road trip
Orange County Photo Locations
Every one of these is a place I've actually stood in with a camera, usually at the exact moment the light went good. Twenty nine stops, running north to south down the county, with notes on the light, the tide, the crowds, and whether the dog can come.
steal it for your own weekend photos if you want. I really don't mind.
And if you'd rather have me figure out the light, the tide, the permits and where to put everybody, that is literally my job.
The beaches · Stops 01 to 12 · North to south
check the tide before you fall in love with one. the ocean does not care about your schedule.
Seal Beach · 33.74° N · 118.11° W
Seal Beach Dunes
Honey-gold dunes edged in ice plant, with enough rolling terrain that kids stop performing and start running. Wide open sky in every direction.
you will find sand in your car for a month. worth it.
Why dunes happen
Dunes build when the sea breeze pushes dry sand inland until something, usually a plant, makes it stop and pile up. California has lost about 60 percent of its coastal dunes since the 1850s, and the most built-up parts of Southern California lost nearly all of theirs, so a set you can still run down is a small treat. The ice plant holding these together is from South Africa, brought over in the early 1900s to steady railroad tracks.
Seal Beach · 33.74° N · 118.10° W
Seal Beach Pier
One of the longest wooden piers in California, at the end of a Main Street that is happily stuck around 1965 and has no plans to leave. The sand runs wide and flat and the waves stay polite.
the whole town moves half a beat slower than the rest of the coast.
A little history
The first pier went up in 1906. A storm took it down in 1935, the WPA rebuilt it in 1939, and at 1,865 feet it is still one of the longest wooden piers in California. Every pier on this list has been knocked down by the ocean at least once. This one just got back up quicker than most.
Huntington Beach · 33.66° N · 118.00° W
Huntington Beach Pier
Classic California, full stop. The pier glows as the sun drops, and the surfers trading waves in the background are absolutely going to end up in your family photos.
let the surfers in. in fifteen years that's the detail your kids point at.
Newport Beach · 33.61° N · 117.93° W
Newport Beach Pier
A wooden pier over wide, flat sand at the top of the peninsula, with room for a big group and the pilings underneath as a second backdrop. On a grey morning the whole thing goes soft and silver, which is its own kind of good light.
six people, one pier, and nobody blinked. a small miracle.
A little history
The dory fishermen have been rowing out from the sand right next to this pier since 1891 and selling the catch off the boats when they land, the last fleet of its kind on the West Coast. Come early enough and the boats are part of the background.
Newport Beach · 33.60° N · 117.90° W
Balboa Pier
Wide flat sand, a wooden pier over the water, and grassy Peninsula Park at the base for when the little ones are done with sand. The Fun Zone is a short walk up the boardwalk.
the fun zone is a short walk away. two looks, one session, nobody moves the car.
Newport Beach · 33.59° N · 117.87° W
Little Corona del Mar
A pocket cove at the end of Poppy Avenue with Arch Rock offshore. The tide pools are protected and absolutely teeming.
the tide pools here are the fastest way I know to make a seven year old forget a camera exists.
Newport Beach · 33.57° N · 117.84° W
Crystal Cove
Wildflower bluffs, tide pools below, 1930s cottages, and a clifftop path tying it all together. More variety in one stretch of coast than most locations manage in total.
the permit, the parking, the tide chart. three hoops, one very good hour.
A little history
The cottages went up in the 1920s and 30s, first as a Hollywood stand-in for the South Seas and then as a summer camp that the same families held onto for generations. The state bought the whole cove in 1979. You can still rent a cottage for the night if you book months ahead and get lucky.
Laguna Beach · 33.55° N · 117.80° W
Crescent Bay Beach
A hidden cove on the north end of Laguna with dramatic rocks, tide pools, and an overlook that takes in the whole crescent at once. The walk down is easy; summer is the catch, when parking disappears and the sand fills up.
easy stairs, polite sea lions, and absolutely no parking in july.
Laguna Beach · 33.51° N · 117.76° W
Treasure Island Beach
Rocky coves, tide pools that are practically an aquarium, and an actual sea cave. It asks for more patience with a tide chart than anywhere else here.
some evenings there are more photographers here than sea anemones.
Tide pool math
Tide pools are at their best on a negative tide, when the water drops below the average low and the reef shows off everything it usually hides. In Southern California those land before sunrise in summer and in the late afternoon in winter, peaking around December and January, which makes a winter sunset the best tide pool light of the year.
Dana Point · 33.48° N · 117.72° W
Strands Beach
Rolling waves, big coastal views, and enough room that you never end up dodging someone else's beach towel. Getting down takes more stairs than any other beach on this list, which is exactly why it stays so uncrowded.
the most stairs on this list. your legs will complain. the view wins.
San Clemente · 33.42° N · 117.62° W
San Clemente Pier
A wooden pier from 1928 with a train line running along the sand behind it, so every so often the entire background rolls past at fifty miles an hour. Late in the day the sun drops into the gap under the deck and comes through the pilings in bars.
stand on the north side and wait for the train.
A little history
Ole Hanson founded the town in 1925 as a Spanish village by the sea and put the pier in three years later. The storms of 1939 and 1983 both took chunks out of it, and it got rebuilt both times, which is more or less the story of every pier on this coast.
San Clemente · 33.40° N · 117.61° W
Calafia Beach
Driftwood, bluffs that glow at sunset, and a train that slides past between the sand and the hills every so often. Weekends get crowded, so this is a weekday spot: same light, a fraction of the people.
come on a tuesday. the bluffs don't know what day it is.
Halfway down the coast
the best spot is almost never the prettiest one. it's the one where everybody forgets I'm there.
You don't have to pick from twenty nine places yourself. Tell me who's coming and what your family is like, and I'll narrow it down to the two or three that actually fit.
Parks and trails · Stops 13 to 25 · North to south
most of these let the dog come, which is usually the deciding vote anyway. the two that don't are marked.
Brea · 33.92° N · 117.85° W
Carbon Canyon Regional Park
Live oaks, a rustic wooden fence, and a meadow borrowed from a fairytale. The northeast corner is where I always end up, and I've stopped pretending otherwise.
forgetting you're being photographed takes about eleven minutes here.
Brea · 33.92° N · 117.84° W
Redwood Grove Trail
A genuine redwood grove that most people living ten minutes away have never heard of. Cool, quiet, and completely out of place in the best way.
yes, redwoods, in orange county. the story's right here.
How it got here
In the seventies a local bank handed out redwood seedlings to anyone who opened an account. When the promotion ended they donated the leftovers to OC Parks, who planted them right here. So there is a redwood grove in Orange County because of a checking account giveaway. This is my favorite piece of trivia in the entire county.
Anaheim · 33.87° N · 117.78° W
Yorba Regional Park
Golden trees, a lake full of extremely confident ducks, and a wooden bridge that looks like it was built specifically to be photographed. Beautiful in every season, but late fall is the show.
this park has my whole heart and I'm not being subtle about it.
Anaheim Hills · 33.85° N · 117.73° W
Weir Canyon
Real California wilderness hiding behind a very ordinary neighborhood. Winding dirt paths, enormous sky, and a warm amber cast over everything once the sun drops.
wear shoes you're not emotionally attached to.
Anaheim · 33.85° N · 117.76° W
Oak Canyon Nature Center
Winding oak-lined trails where the city quietly disappears, with light coming through the canopy in a way that does half my job for me. It's a wildlife sanctuary, so pets stay home and every session needs a permit from the city first.
the light does half my job and the shade does the other half. I mostly carry the bag.
Tustin · 33.76° N · 117.79° W
Citrus Ranch Park
Hilltop grass, old citrus groves, and a gazebo looking out over the city. The light here is unusually generous, soft and warm with a clean backdrop in whatever direction you point.
never crowded, which I probably shouldn't be telling you.
Seal Beach · 33.75° N · 118.09° W
Gum Grove Park
A pocket of tall eucalyptus tucked into a Seal Beach neighborhood a mile or so back from the sand, with dappled shade and paths that wander just far enough to feel like a hike. It's the Seal Beach option that lets the dog come.
all eucalyptus, zero koalas. I check every single time.
Irvine · 33.70° N · 117.75° W
Jeffrey Open Space Trail
Fields, tree-lined trails, and seasonal wildflowers, with more visual variety packed into one walk than almost anywhere else local. Four completely different backdrops without anybody getting back in the car.
four backdrops, one parking spot.
How it got here
Before the houses went in, this stretch was orange groves on the old Irvine Ranch, and a few of the old trees and weathered wooden posts are still standing out there. Look down while you walk, too: panels set into the path tell about five hundred years of the ranch's history. Most people jog right over them.
Irvine · 33.65° N · 117.84° W
William R. Mason Regional Park
A lake ringed by a mix of trees that turn nicely in fall, and tucked away from it, a secluded wildflower patch that comes alive every spring. Two very different sessions in one park, depending on the season.
three hundred acres and I use exactly two corners. they're the good corners.
Irvine · 33.66° N · 117.78° W
Quail Hill Park
Quintessential California rolling hills, golden in summer and fall and a shocking green after the winter rains. It's close to everything and still feels wide open, all sky and hillside in every direction.
five minutes off the 405 and it looks like the opening shot of a western.
Lake Forest · 33.65° N · 117.68° W
Serrano Creek Park
A genuinely impressive eucalyptus forest tucked into the middle of Lake Forest. The light filters down cool and green and layered, and it photographs like a set.
smells exactly like an expensive candle, except it's free.
Laguna Hills · 33.60° N · 117.70° W
Oso Parkside Path
Perpetually deserted and always beautiful. Filtered light along a grassy pasture, a rustic fence, and a quiet that makes it feel less like Orange County and more like somewhere you'd invent if you could.
a cowboy once rode through the background here. on a horse. it's in the gallery.
Coto de Caza · 33.56° N · 117.59° W
Thomas F. Riley Wilderness
Wild rolling hills, grand old oaks, and trails that wander off without a rooftop in sight. Families get room to run, and seniors get a dozen backdrops in one walk, fence included.
every senior leans on this fence eventually. it's practically tradition.
Urban and architecture · Stops 26 to 29 · North to south
for anyone whose idea of a good time does not involve a tide chart.
Costa Mesa · 33.69° N · 117.89° W
Noguchi Garden
A hidden sculpture garden between office towers: pale sandstone, concrete, a dry stream bed, desert plants, and shadows that do half the work. Nobody expects it, which is most of the fun.
four kids, one sandstone wall, zero complaints. a record.
A little history
Isamu Noguchi designed it in 1982 and called it California Scenario: the whole state in a courtyard, with a desert, a redwood forest, a stream and the mountains in about an acre and a half. The office workers eating lunch on the steps have no idea.
Newport Beach · 33.62° N · 117.92° W
Lido Marina Village
White-brick boutiques, flower walls, and wooden docks with electric boats drifting past, less like a photo shoot and more like a very stylish afternoon out. It's private property, so every session here needs permission first.
the boats back there cost more than my car. we're just borrowing them.
Newport Beach · 33.60° N · 117.90° W
Balboa Fun Zone
Frozen bananas, Balboa Bars, an arcade that has not meaningfully changed since 1936, and a Ferris wheel that lights up as the sky goes purple. A natural fit for families and couples who want their photos to look like a day out.
yes, we can stop for a frozen banana. it's in the timeline.
A little history
Newport's frozen banana story starts right here on the Peninsula, where a local historian credits Don Phillips with the very first stand in 1940. The shops across the bay on Balboa Island have argued about who was really first ever since, and the rivalry went on to inspire the banana stand on Arrested Development.
San Juan Capistrano · 33.50° N · 117.66° W
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Stone arches, lily ponds, and the ruins of the Great Stone Church. Grand and quiet at the same time, and the old stone glows warm in the last hour of light.
the only mission in california with its own theme song. ask your grandma to hum it.
A little history
Founded in 1776, the same year as the country. The little Serra Chapel went up in 1782 and is the oldest building in California still in use. The Great Stone Church took nine years to build and stood for six before the 1812 earthquake brought it down, and the ruins are what you're standing next to. The mission still celebrates the swallows every March 19.
Still to come
Three I haven't shot. Yet.
All twenty nine above earned their spot through real sessions, which is why they get photos and these don't. These three are scouted on foot and waiting on the right family to say yes.
Orange
Old Towne Orange
A square mile of vintage storefronts around a fountain plaza that Hollywood keeps borrowing as small-town America.
Newport Beach
Upper Newport Bay
Golden grasses and quiet water that go full coastal countryside at sunset. Mustard blooms in spring.
Newport Beach
Civic Center Park
Rolling lawns, modern architecture, and a herd of giant white bunny sculptures that toddlers treat as a playground.
book one and you get first dibs on a place I've never photographed.
Or somewhere that's yours.
Orange County is big and your family's story is entirely your own. If there's a place that already means something, a neighborhood you grew up in, a trail you hike every weekend, a coffee shop that's basically yours at this point, I'm always up for somewhere new. The best location is almost always the one that feels the most like you.
Sessions have started at
The backyard you're about to move out of
A donut shop on a Saturday morning
Grandma's kitchen table
The trail you hike every weekend
Your kid's favorite playground
The pier where you got engaged
A farmers market you never miss
Somewhere I've never been
Found one?
Tell me which stop caught your eye and roughly when you're thinking. I'll come back with the light, the tide, and what's open.
Check Availabilitymention the stop number. I'll know exactly what you mean.
Daniel Wesley