Mariesa + Brian chose to take their annual vacation to San Diego this year! With such a hard 2020, it’s nice to come visit family and get away for a while. They decided to take couples photos together at my favorite place: Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma.

I went to college at PLNU just down the street, so these cliffs not only have a piece of my heart, but they were my backyard for 4 years plus one when I decided to stay living here!

These two are traveling from South Dakota, and they’re building their dream home! They wanted to do this photo shoot so they have brand new beautiful photos to frame and show off in their home!

We were so lucky that it was an overcast day. Although we didn’t get that golden hour glow, the fact that there were hardly any tourists made it extra fun for us. And the lighting made for stunning photos. Normally, I’d take couples to my secret spot on sunset cliffs, but since the pandemic, that part has been harder to get to, so we opted for the beautiful and epic arch area by Claibornes cove.

How to photograph on sunset cliffs:

Arch:

I like to start off my sessions here by taking a wide shot of the arch. Have the couple walk down the arch, take a photo of that. Since they can’t hear you so far away, instruct them what to do beforehand. Once they’re down the cliff, point out where you want them to stand.

Pose Idea: #1 – lean her back & kiss! #2 – pick her up #3 – twirl her around like you’re ballroom dancing

Pappy’s Point:

Then, get to know each other a little bit & walk over to Pappy’s Point. I like to do some more movement, sitting, and grand walking poses here, since the ground is level and there’s no chance of falling off lol. Do some sitting poses here with the arch in the background.

Pose Idea: #1 – hold hands and walk like you’re drunk (look at each other)

#2 – pick her up, kick those legs around, then spin!

#3 – sit in between his legs, bear hug her, rock her side to side & give her kisses

Down the Cliffs:

Now, walk down from the point closer to the water. This is the bread and butter of the shoot, where you can do all your shots & still have a ton of variety of backgrounds: the cliffs behind, the coastline, palm trees, cool rock formations on the ground, the water splashing, and the sun setting.

Pose Idea: #1 – hold hands & foreheads rest together, close your eyes

#2 – bear hug from behind, rock back and forth to get hair movement

#3 – pick her up and twist

#4 – hold hands with your hands pointing toward the camera, shoot from below, and kiss

Dry brush:

By the parking lot, there are trails on the cliff edge. There’s some dry brush there I love to use once the sun goes down.

Pose Idea: #1 – straddle each other, hands together (get a ring shot/their hands in a pic)

#2 – piggy back ride

#3 – airplane arms & kiss

#4 – hug him from behind

Leave a comment if I should do more posing guides!