El Matador Beach Maternity, Malibu, CA | Jake & Alona
Jake and Alona are two of my best friends. We spend quite a bit of time together between golfing, riding bikes, filming, and weekend barbecues. On top of all that, I have had the pleasure of photographing their engagement photos in 2018, their wedding photos in 2019 and now in 2020 we traveled to El Matador Beach in Malibu, Ca to do a maternity photo-shoot. I know it’s crazy, my friends are having a child!
El Matador is very popular for photography. Each evening, this rocky Malibu beach is loaded with engagement photographers, wedding photographers, maternity photographers, and of course, regular beachgoers. I was pretty nervous to tackle this shoot on a Saturday evening knowing how bad the crowds can get. I tried to just go into it with an open mind and fresh eyes and decided that I would make any free space work.
It appeared a lot of photographers were crowding specific areas at El Matador. With this being a popular Instagram location, I can see how it would be easy to go there with a desire for a specific shot. I really try not to go into any photography session with a pre-conceived photograph or expectation in order to not be left disappointed when a crowd gets in the way of a said shot.
We just kept walking down the beach and eventually, it seemed we had reached a point where no other sessions taking place. After shooting for just a few minutes it was pretty clear that we had secured an awesome beach spot and we had a very wide, unobstructed view of the rocky Malibu shoreline.
I think my favorite part about photo sessions, is not knowing what we are going to capture. I am always keeping my eyes open for something unique. Often, I will call it a day and say that we have enough and almost every time, as I am packing up I notice a dramatic change. In this case, right after I called the shoot a thick fog rolled in and you could hardly see the shore of El Matador. I recognized this as an opportunity to use a flash to backlight Jake and Alona and light up the moisture in the air. What we were left with are the last 2 images. I couldn’t decide if I liked the color or black and white version better so I put them both in this blog post.
Jake and Alona, thank you for having me shoot your maternity photos. You both knew I had never done them before and you trusted me anyway. I am very happy with the results and I hope you both are as well. I can’t wait to meet the little guy!
ABOUT ME: Hi! My name is Nic Hilton. I am a destination wedding photographer based in Los Angeles. I shoot many weddings in the Mammoth Lakes area as well as Southern California but I am available to travel worldwide! Contact Me today because I would love to tell your story.