Everybody knows about the big-name locations in Orange County to have your engagement photography taken at. Places such as amusement parks, various resorts and of course, the beaches. But what about a place that many people have never heard of? Northwest Open Space is the perfect location for your Engagement Photos. In fact, Northwest Open Space Engagement Photos in San Juan Capistrano by Three16 Photography brings a touch of wilderness to your photos. 

Northwest Open Space is approximately 500 acres of nature at its finest. If you have your engagement photo session at the right time of the year, this place is phenomenal. So, we highly recommend having your session towards the end of Winter to the beginning of Spring, and especially after the rainy season. There are many trees, but during this time the orange trees are just popping with oranges, so you get that amazing color in the background of your photos. The fields of flowers are also in full bloom, and the yellow from the Mustard Plants can be seen everywhere. If you choose to have your photos outside of this time frame, you’ll still have trees, but much of the fields will have a dead-like look to them as the flowers and oranges are not in season.

In addition to the blooming flowers and trees, there are some great hiking trails as well as some really nice farm-like ranch wood fencing that can give your photos a rustic feel to them. There is also a metal shed along the way, which may not seem like much, but it will fit your rustic or nature theme quite nicely. In addition, Northwest Open Space is not very well known so there are not too many people that will interfere with or show up in the background of your photos like you would at other locations.

Other than going during the down season, the only real challenge is finding the place. There are no markers indicating where to find it. If you are traveling on Camino Capistrano and go past the Dr. Joe Cortese Dog Park, you’ve gone too far. The entrance is actually behind the dog park.

What is our typical session look like for Northwest Open Space engagement photos? We typically start out with us going into the field of flowers. After spending time there, we take a hiking trail for more photos and end our session at the metal shed.

We definitely recommend this hidden gem as it is full of nature, especially during the right time of the year.

You can learn more about the Northwest Open Space as your engagement location by visiting sjcopenspacefoundation.org.

Some locations are subject to permit and/or travel fees.