We are so lucky to live here; Bay Area photography locations are genuinely some of the most beautiful places to photograph families and expecting mamas. Within an hour of almost anywhere in the bay you have dramatic coastline, ancient redwood forests, manicured gardens, golden hills, and neighborhoods where the light does half the work before I lift my camera. These are the Bay Area photography locations I know best, from Woodside to Marin, and why each one works for the families and mamas I photograph.
Whether you’re expecting and dreaming of a maternity session, planning family photos with young children, or simply trying to figure out where to shoot in the Bay Area, this guide covers the ten locations I trust most. I’ve also added a special section on the Bay Area seasonal flower fields, available for a few weeks each year.
1. Filoli, Woodside
Filoli is my most requested Bay Area photography location and one of my personal favorite places to frequent in the Bay Area. Once you’ve seen what it photographs like, it’s easy to understand why. The formal estate gardens in Woodside offer manicured paths, historic architecture, and flowering trees. The beauty changes completely with every season, but it is always reliably there. Magnolias in late winter, tulips and cherry blossoms in spring, lush fullness in summer, warm golden foliage in fall. Filoli is always stunning, it just changes what kind of stunning it is.
For maternity sessions, Filoli is in a category of its own. The gardens feel made for this season — the abundance, the color, the sense of something beautiful and fleeting. It’s one of my absolute favorite places to photograph expecting mamas.
For families with young children, the paths and open spaces give children room to explore. My own children love to play fairies in the “magic forest” at Filoli.
One practical note: Filoli’s hours don’t always align with traditional golden hour, particularly in certain seasons, so timing is worth discussing when we plan your session.
Worth knowing: Gamble Garden in Palo Alto offers a similarly lush and beautiful garden setting on the Peninsula. It’s a lovely option for families who want that garden aesthetic with more flexible hours or want to bring their pup.
Read more about Filoli photography sessions.
2. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Golden Gate Park is one of those Bay Area photography locations that rewards local knowledge. The park spans over 1,000 acres and offers an extraordinary variety of backdrops that feel completely removed from the city.
Golden Gate Park is particularly wonderful for families with young children. The tree canopy creates naturally diffused light that lasts throughout the afternoon, meaning we’re not dependent on that narrow golden hour window. More flexibility on timing, no less beauty in the images.
Worth knowing: the San Francisco Botanical Garden, located within the park, deserves its own mention. Distinct garden sections ranging from ancient tree ferns to California natives that photographs beautifully for both maternity and family sessions. The lake draws geese and fish that children find completely captivating — a natural distraction that works beautifully in our favor. A wonderful option if you want something more curated and garden-like within the park setting.
See a Golden Gate Park family session. Explore more about San Francisco sessions.
3. Baker Beach and Crissy Field, San Francisco
Baker Beach needs very little introduction — the Golden Gate Bridge backdrop makes it one of the most iconic Bay Area photography locations and possibly in the world. The combination of golden sand, crashing waves, and that unmistakable bridge creates images that feel both timeless and completely specific to this place.
Baker Beach is at its most beautiful at golden hour when the late afternoon light turns the bridge and the cliffs warm and golden. For maternity sessions the sweeping views create something genuinely cinematic. For families the open stretch of sand gives kids room to run freely while the backdrop does its thing.
On the other side of the bridge, Crissy Field offers a different perspective — open grassy fields, red roofed buildings, a smaller sandy shoreline, and panoramic Golden Gate views.
Read more about Baker Beach maternity sessions here and San Francisco sessions here.
4. Rodeo Beach, Marin County
Rodeo Beach is dramatic in the best possible way. Dark volcanic sand, rugged coastal cliffs, wildflowers on the headlands in spring, and the kind of moody cinematic light that makes every image feel like it belongs in a film. It’s unlike any other Bay Area photography location and photographs completely differently from the golden coastal look you get further south.
The light at Rodeo Beach in the last hour before sunset is extraordinary and the dramatic landscape amplifies it beautifully. It can also be less crowded than most San Francisco beaches which means a more relaxed session with fewer strangers in the background.
Rodeo Beach works beautifully for both maternity and family sessions. For maternity the drama of the landscape mirrors the magnitude of this season. For families the open space gives children endless room to run and explore.
View a Rodeo Beach session and read more about Bay Area beach sessions.
5. Alameda Beach
Alameda Beach is my home beach — and one of my most quietly beautiful Bay Area photography locations. What makes it special is what it doesn’t have: crowds. While other Bay Area beaches get busy on weekends, Alameda Beach mostly stays accessible and peaceful. Parking is easier, the beach is wide and open.
For families with very young children Alameda Beach is one of my top recommendations. The calm accessible setting means less logistics and more presence. It’s also the location I know most intimately, which means I know exactly where to be and when to get the best light.
Like all beach sessions, Alameda Beach is best at golden hour when the light turns warm and golden across the water.
Read more about Alameda sessions and Alameda Beach family sessions.
6. Oakland Redwoods
The Oakland redwoods are one of my favorite Bay Area photography locations for families with young children. The ancient trees create a soft filtered canopy of light that lasts for hours throughout the afternoon. This means we’re not racing the clock for bedtime because timing can be more flexible.
The redwoods give children somewhere to go: roots to climb, hollows to investigate, paths that wind and disappear. And the scale of these trees puts everything in perspective in a way that shows up beautifully in photos.
I have a favorite trail in the Oakland redwoods that’s perfect for families and young children. I share it with families when we’re planning their session.
Read more about Oakland sessions and an example Berkeley redwood grove session.
7. Woodline and Lover’s Lane, Presidio
Woodline and Lover’s Lane in the Presidio are among San Francisco’s most beautiful Bay Area photography locations. The tree-lined paths create a tunnel of soft dappled light that photographs beautifully. That combined with San Francisco’s often cloudy weather makes this another excellent option for families with young children who can’t always do a late golden hour session. (Or an expecting mom who wants to go to bed earlier!)
The Presidio’s mature cypress and eucalyptus trees create a particular quality of light that feels almost dreamlike. It’s a completely different aesthetic from the coastal drama of Baker Beach or Rodeo Beach. It works beautifully for families and expecting mothers who want something more intimate and forested within the city.
One practical note: parking in the Presidio can be challenging, particularly on weekends. I always advise clients to build extra time into their arrival to find a spot without stress.
Read more about Presidio Woodline sessions and San Francisco sessions.
8. Old Borges Ranch, Walnut Creek
Old Borges Ranch in Walnut Creek is one of my favorite East Bay photography locations and one that consistently surprises families who haven’t been before. The working ranch setting — rolling golden hills, ancient oak trees, weathered wooden fences, open pastures — creates a warm, distinctly California backdrop that photographs beautifully year round. Spring brings wildflowers and green hills. Summer turns everything that particular shade of golden that feels uniquely Northern California.
It works beautifully for both maternity and family sessions and is particularly lovely for families who want something natural and unhurried without driving to the coast. Easy parking and open space for children to move freely.
Read more about an Old Borges Ranch maternity session.
9. Your Local Bay Area Park
Never underestimate a neighborhood park as a Bay Area photography location. Some of my most meaningful sessions have happened at the park families already visit every weekend — the one where the kids know exactly where the good climbing tree is and head straight for it the moment we arrive.
Familiar locations make a real difference, especially with younger children. When kids are somewhere they already feel comfortable they settle in faster, open up sooner, and forget the camera exists more quickly. That ease and familiarity translates directly into more natural more joyful images.
Local parks also tend to have beautiful light — open shade under mature trees, golden light in open grassy areas. I do try to stay out of direct view of play structures during sessions — not because they aren’t lovely, but because bright plastic equipment can compete with the natural tones of your outfits and the landscape. (And your children’s attention.) A little positioning and we’re set.
Dracena Park in Piedmont is one of my East Bay favorites. Heather Farm Garden in Walnut Creek is another beautiful option that also welcome leashed dogs on leash. See a Dracena Park family session.
10. Your Home
In-home sessions are the most underrated Bay Area photography location on this list, and often produce the most meaningful images. The ordinary details of your family’s everyday life, the morning light in your kitchen, kids piled in bed, a toddler pulling books off a shelf — these are the images families come back to again and again years later.
Home sessions are most commonly associated with newborn photography but they work beautifully for maternity and family sessions too. For an expecting mama in her third trimester a home maternity session can be genuinely easier and more comfortable than traveling to a location. The images of you in the space you’ve prepared for your baby carry a particular intimacy that outdoor sessions can’t replicate.
For family sessions with very young children, home is often the easiest and most relaxed option. No packing, no logistics, no getting everyone in the car. Just your family in the place where you actually live.
Home sessions usually work best in the morning when natural light is at its most beautiful. I’ll do a quick walk-through when I arrive to find the best light in your space.
Read more about in-home newborn photography.
Bonus — Seasonal Flower Field Photography Locations in the Bay Area
Some of the most breathtaking Bay Area photography locations aren’t available year-round. Seasonal flower fields, rose gardens, lavender fields, wildflower meadows, and almond blossom groves and other floral locations, offer a narrow window of extraordinary beauty that’s unlike anything else I shoot throughout the year.
When the timing is right these locations are genuinely magical. They create images that feel almost too beautiful to be real. But the window is short (sometimes as little as one to two weeks!) and once the blooms peak and fade, the moment is gone until next year.
Early blooms in the Bay Area
Some of the Bay Area’s most spectacular early blooms — magnolias, wisteria, tulips — have a short window, sometimes just a week or two. Timing a session around peak bloom requires flexibility, but the images it produces are completely worth planning around.
See an example of a maternity session in early spring at Filoli.
Almond blossoms just outside Bay Area
Another one of the earliest blooms of the year, typically February through early March. Soft white and pink blossoms against bare branches create a delicate ethereal quality that photographs stunningly for both maternity and family sessions. The window is short (sometimes just two weeks) and highly weather dependent.
Bay Area rose gardens
Typically at their peak in late spring, usually May through early June depending on the location and the year. Rose garden sessions feel lush and romantic in a way that’s hard to replicate anywhere else in the Bay Area. Beautiful for maternity sessions, family sessions and even newborn sessions given the timing usually aligns with warmer weather.
Northern California Wildflowers
California’s bloom season varies by year and location but when it happens it’s extraordinary. Golden poppies, lupine, and wildflower meadows create sweeping colorful backdrops that feel uniquely California and uniquely beautiful. Half Moon Bay and the surrounding coastline offer some of the most stunning wildflower and coastal grass settings in the Bay Area as one example. Dramatic cliffs, open Pacific horizon, and golden coastal grasses that photograph beautifully for both maternity and family sessions year round. I track blooms for the families I work with and can share that knowledge as we are planning our session.
See the full story from this East Bay flower field session.
Lavender near the Bay Area
Typically mid-June through July depending on the location. The purple rows, the soft light, the fragrance. Lavender sessions have a timeless romantic quality that works beautifully for maternity sessions especially.
If seasonal flower field Bay Area photography locations are calling to you, the key is planning ahead and staying flexible. I keep track of bloom timing throughout the year and reach out to clients when the timing looks right. If you want to consider a flower field session, mention it when you reach out. It’s one of those things that rewards early planning and a willingness to move quickly when the moment arrives.
Choosing the Right Bay Area Photography Location for Your Session
Not sure which Bay Area photography location is right for your family or your maternity session? That’s genuinely part of what I help with when you book. I’ll ask about your vision, the season, your children’s ages, and the mood you want the images to have. If you’re planning around fall family photos specifically, timing matters even more, since the best dates go fast. Then we’ll find the right location together.
Once you’ve chosen your location, the complete outfit guide covers exactly what to wear for every setting.
Ready to Book Your Bay Area Family or Maternity Session?
Rebecca Pattison is a lifestyle family, maternity, and newborn photographer based in Alameda, California, serving the greater Bay Area including the East Bay, San Francisco, Marin County, the Peninsula and beyond.
Get in touch here to check availability and start planning your session.
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