Soon to be father, Henry, visited the LA Arboretum weeks before the session. It was their original location — beautiful grounds, accessible, a sensible choice for a maternity session in the summer. He walked around, took a look, and came back with a simple verdict: too hot and crowded.
So we switched.
South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes sits at a different elevation, on the cooler western side of the peninsula, with morning hours that let you move through the grounds before the day heats up. That’s where we decided to have their Maternity session, this garden has every elements that matters to a photoshoot: the light, the temperature, the crowd level, the Butterfly Garden sections we wouldn’t have found anywhere else.
How We Collaborated
Henry and Adrienne are the kind of couple who prepare and collaborate, which I find lots of joy working with.
We had a Pinterest board together. Not just a board Adrienne added a few pins, or one Henry glanced at and approved, they were collaborative and enthusiast about the kind of images they wanted. Henry went shopping for their outfits while Adrienne was working. He came back with what they’d landed on. She tried them. Shared with me their findings, and we finalize on the outfits based on their likes and what works for the location and occasion.
This kind of preparation is rarer than you’d think, and it truly shows in the photographs.
Planning a Maternity Session at South Coast Botanic Garden
We arrived at South Coast Botanic Garden during opening hours — early enough that the garden was still quiet, the light still coming in at a low angle, the air still cool from the marine layer. Palos Verdes mornings in August are a different thing from the valley or the basin. The fog burns off slowly. The temperature stays reasonable. The crowds show up later.
We moved through multiple sections of the garden, finding what each one offered that morning. Henry and Adrienne took posing sequence direction well, and were very much enjoying the process as we move around the garden.
We found ourselves at the Butterfly Garden. The light in there comes through differently. The butterflies don’t care that you’re there, it was quite a fun highlight to end our photoshoot together.
Planning a Maternity Session at South Coast Botanic Garden
South Coast Botanic Garden sits at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd in Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274 — a 87-acre botanical garden on the Palos Verdes Peninsula with diverse garden sections including rose gardens, succulent gardens, a children’s garden, and the Butterfly Garden.
For maternity sessions specifically, a few things are worth knowing:
Go in the morning. The garden opens early, and the morning light on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is genuinely different from midday — softer, cooler, and less crowded. For a maternity session where comfort matters, morning is the right call.
Plan for multiple sections. The garden is large enough to move through several distinct backdrops in one session — floral, woodland, open lawn, enclosed garden spaces. If you have a 90-minute session, you can cover real ground.
Don’t skip the Butterfly Garden. It’s easy to walk past. The enclosed space creates a different quality of light and an intimacy that’s hard to find in an open garden. It’s worth the detour.
Coordinate with your photographer before the shoot. Henry and Adrienne’s session worked as well as it did partly because we’d already talked through what they wanted. The Pinterest board, the outfit planning, the location scouting — all of it meant the morning of the session could be about being present instead of figuring things out.
