One of the first questions families ask after booking is where we should shoot. There isn’t one perfect Bay Area family photography location. (That’s why we love it here). We are also not limited to one spot for a full session. See Package Options Here.

The right setting depends on what you want to remember, how your family naturally spends time together, and where everyone will be able to settle in. The ages of the kids can also be a factor since some places can be riskier than others.

Are you a beach-strolling, windblown, sandy-toed family? A field-roaming, rock-hunting family? Do you bake cookies around the kitchen table, walk to the neighborhood ice cream shop, or spend weekends exploring somewhere together?

I’ll always look for beautiful light and interesting backgrounds. More importantly, I want to choose a place where your children can explore, your family can connect, and the photographs can feel like you.

Maybe you just want something different than before!

At Home

Home gives us more than a pretty background. It holds the objects, routines, and imperfect little details that belong specifically to your family. We might photograph everyone piled onto the bed, reading on the couch, making something in the kitchen, or wandering into the backyard. You don’t need to deep clean or have a perfectly designed house. We only need a few pockets of light and room to be together. If home is where your heart is this year, see this blog about the best time of day for an indoor family session.

Open Landscapes

The Bay Area’s open hills or trails change constantly throughout the year, from bright green and wild in spring to warm and golden later in the season. These spaces give children room to move, collect rocks, climb, and explore. They work especially well for families who want photographs that feel free, earthy, and a little windswept. (Movement in the hair is something to embrace!)

Beaches, Creeks and Water

If your children are like mine, we will likely get up a little wet. Bring a towel and enjoy. From coastal sessions to lakes, rivers, and creeks, water places tend to be less controlled, in the best way. There may be wind, fog, wet feet, and children who want to run directly into the water. If your family is happy leaning into that, the movement and unpredictability can become part of the story.

Forests

Trees and shaded paths create a quieter, more enclosed feeling than an open field or beach. These locations can feel storybook-like, peaceful and intimate, and they may give us more flexibility than places that depend entirely on golden-hour light, but they also mean we start a little earlier in the day for light.

Urban Spaces and Neighborhoods

A family session doesn’t have to take place in the wild. Interesting architecture, storefronts, sidewalks, cafés, and familiar neighborhood corners can create photographs that feel energetic and personal. A walk to the library, favorite record store or ice cream shop may say more about your life right now.

Something of Your Own

We can also begin with a place that already matters to you: a grandparent’s garden, a vacation house, the neighborhood where your children are growing up, park your car at an empty lot, or somewhere your family returns to every year. And if none of the obvious options feel right, we can scout something new or create a setting of our own.

Formal Gardens or Landmarks

Gardens, historic properties, iconic landmarks, and thoughtfully designed spaces can offer something different than the more wild spaces. Some require reservations or photography permits, but the added structure can be worthwhile when you want something lush, layered, or visually distinctive, and that may even lend itself to fewer crowds depending on the location. Of course, each location will have its specific requirements.

Create it

Sometimes the best location isn’t a location at all. We can begin with an idea and create a little world around it.

That might look like rolling out a canvas in the backyard and letting everyone paint together, setting up an outdoor dinner, building a blanket fort, planting something in the garden or bringing a favorite family ritual outside. The activity gives everyone something real to do, especially children who don’t want to stand still and smile for the camera.

It doesn’t need to be elaborate or perfectly styled. A few thoughtful elements, an activity your family can settle into, and beautiful light are often enough. The goal isn’t to manufacture a memory. It’s to create the conditions for something honest, playful and completely your own to happen.

I’ll help you choose

You don’t need to book with the location figured out. Tell me what you want the photographs to feel like, what your children enjoy for this moment (those messy handprints might not always be there, and I can tell you from experience they are not clingy forever), and whether there are any practical considerations around walking, timing or accessibility. I’ll help you narrow down the setting from there.

And the big question: what if not everyone in your family shares the same vision? That happens often.

See what I did with a client here.

Getting the booking process started here

Kelley