10 SECRET LOCATIONS TO TAKE LOS ANGELES ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS

Los Angeles itself has its special little nature gems. Here are four of my favorites: 

1. Los Angeles Reservoir Park: 13 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Outdoors! Has cactus, long corn grass, cute area with little flowers, red-berry tree, green grass area with LA city view in the back, can see the Hollywood sign very well too!
• Hike: Very easy and short

2. Arlington Arboretum: 18 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Mini garden with several different garden spaces; ex. cactus, tropical, etc. Less manicured than Huntington Botanical Garden
• Entry Fee: Free

3. Huntington Botanical Garden: 16 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Garden with several different garden spaces; ex. cactus garden, tropical garden, Japanese garden, etc. Click image above to see a full blog post of a session there
• Entry Fee: Adults // $25 on weekdays, $29 on weekends 

4. Los Angeles Zoo during Christmas Time: 18 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Pretty lights everywhere and several garden locations as well
• Entry Fee: Adults // $20 
• Blog Post Example: Click here to see Kyler + Bianca’s couple session at the LA Zoo last Christmas

Going slightly farther than LA, we can find some beautiful areas. Here are some of my favorites in Palos Verdes and San Pedro.

1. Pelican Cove in Palos Verdes: 30 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Outdoors! Has long grass, in the spring it has yellow flowers growing, a variety of different visual areas to photograph making it look like we went to three completely different locations
• Blog Post Example: Click here to see Skyler + Rachel’s couple session at Pelican Cove Park in Palos Verdes in the Spring

2. Friendship Park in San Pedro: 26 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Outdoors! Has a “land-meets-ocean-meets-sky”  area that is so beautiful. A part of it looks like hills in Scotland too
• Parking Lot: right attached to park, it is a local park and will have people on weekends

3. White Point Natural Reserve: 27 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Outdoors! Has long grass (non-native mustard) that can be laid on, has cactus, and open field
• Parking Lot: street parking

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Malibu and its beautiful cliffs, rocks, and beaches. Here are some of my favorite locations in Malibu.

1. Point Dume: 45 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Cliffs, green hills as backgrounds, green bushes all around with a dirt trail in between, the ocean in the distance. From this location we can also go down below to the actual beach and photograph with the rock formations near
• Hike: It’s an easy hike upward from the parking lot
• Parking: Lot, $5-8
• Blog Post Example: Click here to see Charlie + Jasmine’s couple session in Point Dume. Click here to see Brandon + Jessica’s anniversary couple session in Point Dume.

2. Malibu Creek State Park: 45 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Empty field with mountains in the background in one view, there are green hills that fill the space as well on another side, and then a “wall” of trees in another part of the park. It’s a green nature area
• Parking: Lot, $3

3. Malibu Beach: 35 miles from my place

• Location Attributes: Rocky beach where we can take several different images with the rocks but also the ocean. It has an area with just rocks, without the ocean in site, and vice versa too.
• Parking: Lot, I forget the fee but I think it was ~$3-5