How I Find the Right Location for You

Motherhood editorial session, Los Angeles.

People ask me all the time- where should we do our photos?

It's one of the first questions that comes up, and I understand why. There is a worry about choosing the wrong place, somewhere that feels generic, of driving somewhere and it just doesn’t align with you.

I always tell them the same thing. That's my job.

Motherhood photography session at home. Los Angeles.

The Philosophy of the Where

The Jungian analyst Irene Claremont de Castillejo wrote about what she called diffuse awareness, the feminine capacity to sense the whole before the mind focuses on the parts. To feel the underlying unity of a thing rather than analyze it into pieces.

This is how I find locations.

I'm not running through a mental list of pretty parks. I'm listening to what you tell me about what you like and dislike and to the intuitive hit of the kind of environment and light I'm imagining for you. I'm feeling for what's already True for you, and then finding the place that reflects it back.

You might belong in wild, overgrown gardens where the light glows golden and diffused. You might belong in the clean geometry of an architectural space where the light falls sharp and bold. You might belong in the editorial clean light of the studio, or in your own kitchen giving ordinary chaos of a Tuesday morning, which turns out to be the most perfect place of all.

I don't impose a location on anyone, I find the one that reflects back to you, You.

Family photography session at home. Los Angeles.

Why I Don't Give You a List

I could send every client a list of beautiful spots in Los Angeles. There are so many. Los Angeles has been my muse for the last decade and I know a many of her best angles.

But a list doesn't know you. It doesn't know that your daughter runs everywhere and needs open space, or that you do better in a more whimsical realm or in the controlled environment of studio lighting. It doesn't know that you love the connected feeling you get from old architecture, or that you've always felt nostalgic in natural, dappled light.

I know those things because I’m curious and interested. I am not waiting to respond, or running a checklist, but genuinely receiving what you're telling me about what you want from your session. It’s a collaboration and that's why your photos look like yours.

I also know the light. The Fall light drops lower, the shadows get longer, and the light has a warmth that is just a little more inviting.

Family photography session, Los Angeles.

What This Means for You

You don't need to have a Pinterest board of locations. Tell me what you want to remember. Tell me what feels True for you right now. We’ll find the location… and You in the good light.

Family photography session, Ventura County.

Lifestyle photography session, Santa Monica.