Booking a Beach Session this Fall in San Diego.

If you are looking into booking a beach session this fall, you came to the right place. We’re going to talk about how to plan your beach session this fall, how to manage your expectations, and create beautiful memories.

As many of you know, Fall is the busiest season for photographers all over the country. The first thing you need to do is to make sure you book a spot as soon as possible, as most photographers tend to book up months in advance. The beach is specially tough to pick because there are many factors into scheduling a photoshoot there. Most of the time my beach sessions are done at sunset, but sunrise sessions are also highly recommended. By sunrise I mean starting time should be 10 minutes before the official sunrise. If your family is normally up very early, that might be a great idea. The beaches are empty. The ocean is clear. Parking is easy and the light is gorgeous. Plus you will have the whole day ahead of you and not have to worry about a shoot.

If you’re not an early person, then you should plan your beach session at sunset. My style of photography works great about 30 minutes before sunset and about 10 minutes into dusk. The only beach I would photograph in San Diego earlier than sunset is Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach because the pier can provide some shade from the sun. 

We are so fortunate to live in San Diego. I dare say that Fall is the equivalent to a perfect Summer: it is still warm, the tourists are gone, kids are back to school and if we are lucky we can get the most beautiful skies.

When you choose to do a photo shoot at the beach, you always need to check the tide with your photographer. Some beaches are highly affected by the tides. Windansea, for example, works great at a very low tide, but not so much at high tide. The same goes for Scripps pier: at high tide we can’t walk north towards the cliffs, and that is one of the prettiest places to photograph in San Diego. The two locations that would work well at high tide are Coronado and Pacific Beach.

If you can book your photos for a week day, please do so. By booking it during the week, we avoid crowds, parking tend to be easier, and there are more availability to choose a date that works at the right tide at the right time. And since we talking about Fall, keep in mind that weekends are the first days to fill up, specially at sunset. If family photos at the beach are a must for you and weekends are your only options, contact me right away to make sure you can still find a sunset spot on a Saturday and Sunday. And remember that until the contract is filled out and deposit made, your spot is not secure.

My favorite beaches to photograph in San Diego are Windansea, Coronado, and Ocean Beach. They have beautiful rocks and cliffs and I am always very comfortable shooting at those locations.

Picking outfits for a photo shoot at the beach should not be a hard task. Shoes are not recommended, so right there is one less thing to worry about. Clothes should be comfortable enough to move around the sand and maybe get a little wet. My recommendation is always to work with a three color combo: two main colors and one accent color. For instance, a good color combo could be white and royal blue and bright orange as the accent color. Keep in mind that matchy-matchy outfits are not ideal when picking clothes for your photos because it blends everybody in and it is not visually interesting. In this case, I would mix-and-match between white and royal blue among the members of your family. For example, a white dress for one person and a royal blue dress for another, while a boy could wear white shorts and a striped white and royal blue T-shirt. Don’t be afraid to mix-and-match patterns and stripes along with solid colors. The bright color could be added in small doses: a secondary color on a print, earrings, jacket, shoe…
You can find many ideas and inspiration for beach sessions here on my website or on my All Colors Photography instagram account.

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If you live in San Diego or are planning on visiting Southern California this Fall, you should consider a beach session and experience the true San Diego lifestyle.