San Diego Photoshoots

Locations

Where to shoot in San Diego

Balboa Park is the centrepiece — Spanish Colonial Revival facades, arcades, tiled fountains and the wooden Botanical Building reflected in its lily pond. It is large, varied and shaded, which makes it the best option when the coast is too bright.

La Jolla Cove gives you sandstone cliffs, clear water and a resident colony of sea lions and seals. It is the most dramatic coastline in the city and the busiest.

Sunset Cliffs on Point Loma is exactly what the name suggests — a west-facing cliff edge with the Pacific in front of it and no obstruction at all.

Coronado Beach and the red turrets of the Hotel del Coronado sit across the bay, with the city skyline behind and sand that genuinely sparkles in low sun.

Old Town and the Gaslamp Quarter cover the historic and the night-time city, with adobe and Victorian brick respectively.

Torrey Pines, at the northern edge, gives you eroded sandstone bluffs and the rarest pine in the United States.

Timing

Watch for May Gray and June Gloom

San Diego has a local name for its only real weather problem. A marine layer settles over the coast through late spring and early summer, and locals call it May Gray and June Gloom. Mornings stay overcast and often do not clear until afternoon.

September and October are the clearest, warmest months and the best time to plan around guaranteed light.

The coast faces west, so sunset is the hour everywhere on the water — Sunset Cliffs, La Jolla, Coronado. Balboa Park works better in the morning while the arcades still have direct light in them.

Winter is mild, green and quiet, with the occasional storm. It is an underrated time to shoot here.

What to wear

Light, and warmer than you think at the coast

Inland San Diego and coastal San Diego can differ by several degrees, and the cliff edges at Point Loma and Torrey Pines are windy whatever the forecast says.

Warm colour works against sandstone and the blue of the Pacific — terracotta, cream, gold. Against the tiled colour of Balboa Park, simpler and darker clothing gives the architecture room.

The cliff paths are sandy and uneven. Flat shoes for the walking, and whatever you like for the frame.

Before you go

Wildlife, cliffs and permits

The sea lions and seals at La Jolla are protected wildlife with minimum approach distances, and parts of the area close seasonally during pupping. Those closures move year to year and need checking against your date.

Sunset Cliffs is actively eroding and the edge is undercut in places. It is photographed from the marked paths and the stable ground back from the drop, not from the lip.

Balboa Park and San Diego's city parks can require a permit for commercial photography depending on the shoot. We check what yours needs before confirming.

Parking at La Jolla Cove and Sunset Cliffs is limited and fills well before sunset, which is another reason the good slots get booked early.

Arranging it

How a San Diego shoot gets booked

San Diego shoots are arranged directly with our team rather than booked online. Tell us your dates, how many of you there are and whether you want the coast or the park, and we will confirm what can be arranged and what it will cost.

If you are coming in May or June, build in a second option. The marine layer is the one thing here that does not cooperate.