Ridge Trail view of Rolling Hills

This image was taken on Ridge Trail, looking south onto the rolling hills and rock, which the model is standing on. The best way to get to this location is by car. I recommend parking just down below the hill at the trail head off of Skyline Blvd (37.324622, -122.204899). Park here and then head south as you reference the GPS coordinates along Ridge Trail. Stand on the path and then have your model stand out on the rock directly in front of the pathway to give the image a strong subject.

The summer and fall months will have golden hills (like I have in my photo), while the late winter months will appear green and the spring will be bursting with wildflowers. Wildflower season is supposed to be beautiful here, but I haven't had the pleasure of seeing it for myself yet!

The ridge faces west and provides amazing views toward the sun setting over the ocean far off in the distance. With golden hour light, the hills transform and truly become a site worth seeing.

Make sure you bring a 24-70mm lens (or somewhere in that range), as you'll want to shoot with a wider lens to incorporate all of the landscape.

Additionally, you can bring a telephoto lens so you can compress the hills behind the rock itself.

Have your model play around with different poses. Looking out at the sunset can be a fun way to put more of a focus on the background itself.

A composition technique that I like to practice at this location is to get low and use the golden grass as foreground to create even more depth in your photos.

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