The 10 Best Photo Spots in San Pedro & Palos Verdes
I get this question more than any other. Someone books a session, and two days later the email comes: where should we do it?
Here's my honest answer. The location matters less than the light - a parking lot at 6:40pm in October will beat a famous overlook at noon every time. But some places on this coast really are better than others, and after a few hundred sessions between Point Fermin and the Palos Verdes bluffs I have opinions.
These are the ten I come back to, roughly north to south, with what each one is actually good for.
[IMAGE: wide golden-hour frame of the coastline. Alt text: Golden hour along the San Pedro coastline]
1. Point Fermin Park, San Pedro
The one everybody pictures. Lawns, big palms, the 1874 lighthouse, and a bluff edge that drops straight into the water. There's a reason it's the default.
What makes it work is three completely different backdrops inside a five-minute walk: lawn under the palms, the lighthouse and its white fencing, and the raw cliff edge with nothing behind you but ocean. For a family with a range of ages that's worth a lot - the toddler gets to run on grass, and we still come away with the dramatic frames.
Best for: Families, extended-family groups, anyone who wants the classic San Pedro look. Watch out for: Weekends. It's a popular park and it gets busy. Weekday evenings are noticeably calmer.
2. Royal Palms Beach (White Point)
My favorite spot on this whole stretch, and the one most people have never heard of.
It's the site of an old resort that the ocean took back decades ago. What's left is a row of palm trees standing in the sand, chunks of concrete foundation, and tide pools when the tide cooperates. It looks like nowhere else in Los Angeles. In late light the palms throw long shadows across the sand and the whole place goes gold.
The road down is steep and there's a small parking fee. Bring shoes you don't mind getting wet.
Best for: Maternity, couples, seniors who want something with texture. Watch out for: Check the tide before you go. At high tide there's much less beach to work with.
3. Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro
The outer beach faces open water and has the wide sandy expanse that a lot of families picture when they say "beach photos." The inner beach, on the harbor side, is calmer and shallower - better if you've got very small kids who are going to end up in the water regardless of what anyone intended.
The breakwater and the harbor give you a working-port backdrop you can't get anywhere else, which sounds unglamorous and photographs beautifully.
Best for: Family sessions with young kids, anyone who wants actual beach. Watch out for: It's windy. Plan hair accordingly.
4. Averill Park, San Pedro
A complete change of pace, and the one I suggest when someone tells me they're tired of beach photos.
It's a canyon park in the middle of a residential neighborhood - ponds, a small stream, stone bridges, enormous old trees. Deep green and shady rather than bright and coastal. It's the closest thing we have locally to somewhere in Northern California.
Best for: Fall sessions when you want warm greens instead of blue water. Newborn and maternity in the shade. Watch out for: It's shaded, which means it goes dark earlier than the coast. We start earlier here.
5. Korean Friendship Bell, Angels Gate Park
The bell pavilion sits on a bluff with a 180-degree view - the harbor on one side, open ocean on the other, Catalina on a clear day. The architecture is genuinely striking and the surrounding lawn is big enough to spread out on.
I'm a little careful with this one. It's a cultural monument and a gift, not a backdrop, so we shoot around it respectfully rather than climbing on it.
Best for: Seniors, couples, anyone who wants an image that says San Pedro without saying beach. Watch out for: Very exposed. Wind is a real factor up there.
6. White Point Nature Preserve, San Pedro
Coastal sage scrub, dirt trails, cactus, and low silvery-green brush running down toward the water. It photographs in a completely different palette from the beach - dusty and warm rather than blue.
The trails are easy and it's rarely crowded. If your family has a dog, this is the one where the dog has the best time.
Best for: Seniors, couples, families with older kids, anyone who likes a walk. Watch out for: Actual cactus. Long pants for anyone under about eight.
[IMAGE: session photo on a coastal trail. Alt text: Family portrait session on the trail at White Point Nature Preserve, San Pedro]
7. Bluff Cove, Palos Verdes Estates
Now we're up the hill. Bluff Cove is rocky rather than sandy - big flat shelves of rock, tide pools, and cliffs behind you. The water there is a deeper blue than down in the harbor and there's usually surf.
The walk down is steep and unpaved. I don't send families with strollers or grandparents here, and I say that plainly when someone asks. When it fits, though, it's the most dramatic coastline in the South Bay.
Best for: Couples, engagements, seniors, families with teenagers. Watch out for: The descent, and the rocks are slick. Real shoes, not sandals.
8. Malaga Cove Plaza, Palos Verdes Estates
Not a beach at all. Malaga Cove is a small plaza of 1920s Mediterranean architecture - arcades, tile, a fountain, stucco arches. It gives you a European-looking backdrop about eight minutes from the ocean.
I like pairing it with a coastal spot in the same session. Twenty minutes in the plaza, then down to the water for the last light. It makes a gallery feel like a story instead of a single note.
Best for: Seniors, couples, anyone who wants variety in one session. Watch out for: It's a working plaza with businesses in it. We stay out of doorways.
9. Point Vicente, Rancho Palos Verdes
The bluff by the lighthouse and the interpretive center. Wide lawn, low fence, lighthouse in the distance, and one of the best westward views on the peninsula - which means it's one of the best sunset positions we have.
During gray whale migration you will sometimes get spouts offshore mid-session, which nobody plans for and everybody remembers.
Best for: Sunset sessions, couples, families who want the lighthouse frame. Watch out for: Gates and parking hours. I check before every session here.
10. Abalone Cove Shoreline Park, Rancho Palos Verdes
Tide pools, a curved cove, and cliffs that catch the last light. The trail down takes real effort and that keeps it quieter than places you can drive up to.
Worth saying clearly: this part of the peninsula sits in an active landslide area, and access, roads, and parking on Palos Verdes Drive South change with conditions. I check what's open before I book anything down here, and if you're planning your own visit, you should too.
Best for: Couples, maternity, seniors who don't mind a hike. Watch out for: The hike back up, at the end, in the dark, carrying everything.
The one everyone asks about
Sunken City.
It's the collapsed section of bluff next to Point Fermin, and it's all over Instagram. It's also fenced off, and going in means going over a fence you're not supposed to cross. I don't shoot there, and I'd gently steer you away from taking your family there for pictures on your own. It's an unstable cliff edge above rocks.
If it's the graffiti-and-broken-concrete aesthetic you're after, Royal Palms gets you most of the way there, legally, with better light.
A few things that matter more than the location
Time of day. I schedule almost everything for the ninety minutes before sunset. On this coast that light does something to skin tones that I can't reproduce at any other hour, and I don't really compromise on it.
Wind. Every spot on this list is windier than you expect. It's not a problem - moving hair is often better than still hair - but it's worth knowing before you spend an hour on a blowout.
Parking. Several of these fill up on weekends and holidays. Give yourself fifteen extra minutes. Sessions that start rushed tend to stay rushed.
Fog. May and June are gray here, and it's soft, lovely light for skin. If you specifically want gold, aim for late summer through fall.
Every one of these has shown up in my work at some point. You can see how they actually look in a finished gallery over on the portfolio.
And if you've got a spot in mind that isn't on this list - a beach your family has been going to for twenty years, the trail above your house, your own back steps - those are usually the better pictures anyway. Tell me about your people and we'll figure out where to meet.
