Montage Laguna Beach Family Session | The Fliglia Family | Lau + Rob + Beckham + Sienna | Orange County Family Photographer | Cori Kleckner Photography
There are some Laguna Beach locations that give you so much variety without ever feeling like you’re photographing in the same little stretch of beach the entire time, and Montage Laguna Beach is one of them.
For this family session, we were able to move through so many different looks in one evening. We started with bright, open light and those warm sun-filled images that feel so quintessentially Southern California. From there, we wandered toward the cliffs and rocks, incorporated the sand and water, and ended up with a gallery that feels incredibly diverse while still flowing together naturally.
One of my favorite parts about photographing families at Montage Laguna Beach is how much the landscape changes within such a small area. You have open beach, rocky coastline, dramatic cliffs, soft sand, ocean views and pockets of beautiful light all within walking distance. It gives kids room to move and explore instead of feeling like they have to stand in one place and smile at the camera.
Their son especially loved climbing around on the cliffs, which ended up creating some of my favorite photographs from the session. Those are always the moments I’m drawn to most. Letting kids interact with the environment, climb, explore, run near the water and actually be themselves gives the photographs so much more personality than trying to keep everyone perfectly posed.
We also had the prettiest warm sunlight coming through during part of their session, giving us those bright, glowing Laguna Beach family photos alongside the moodier rocky coastline. I love being able to give families both. Some images feel soft and sun-filled, others feel a little more dramatic with the cliffs and ocean behind them, and then there are the simple barefoot moments right on the sand.
That variety is one of the reasons I continue coming back to this part of Laguna Beach for family photography sessions. You can create an entire gallery that feels like several different locations without having to pack everyone into the car and move somewhere else halfway through.
For families looking for a Laguna Beach family photographer, Montage is especially beautiful if you want your photos to feel relaxed, coastal and natural while still having plenty of visual interest in the background. I photograph family sessions throughout Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Orange County, with a focus on candid interaction, movement and all of those little in-between moments that actually feel like your family.
And while the Laguna Beach coastline is obviously beautiful, the location is really just the backdrop. The best part is getting to photograph your family exactly as you are in this season: kids climbing rocks, sandy feet, windblown hair, someone running toward the water and all.
Those are usually the photographs that end up meaning the most.
CORI KLECKNER PHOTOGRAPHY IS AN ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA PHOTOGRAPHER SPECIALIZING IN MATERNITY, NEWBORN, BABY, FAMILY, CHILDREN’S AND LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
