Tex Kelly Productions
Editorial photography portfolio image from Arcata Community Forest in Arcata, California

Photographer · Arcata, California

Photographer in Arcata, California.

Editorial, commercial, and lifestyle photography. Award-winning, FAA Part 107 aerial-capable.

Inquire Call (707) 382-1108
Tex Kelly, photography for Arcata, California

Hi. I'm Tex.

Welcome to editorial photography, Arcata edition.

I'm a North Coast filmmaker and photographer, voted Humboldt County's Best. Editorial, commercial, and brand photography in Arcata runs across portrait sessions, hospitality and restaurant brand work, real estate listings, and the kind of long-form editorial that turns a small business into a recognizable local brand.

My job is to put you, your team, or your space in front of the most cinematic light Arcata and the surrounding Humboldt County have to offer, and to do it in a way that doesn't feel staged. No corporate-stock smiles. No templated compositions. Just real, intentional, editorial photography that reads as a brand asset, not a stock photo.

Now booking Arcata photography sessions and brand campaigns.

Book your Arcata session →
Photography in Arcata, California. Tex Kelly Productions

A note from Arcata

Editorial and commercial photography in Arcata, California, award-winning photography across the Cal Poly Humboldt campus, the Arcata Plaza, and the Arcata Community Forest. University-adjacent brand work, senior portraits, and event coverage.

The Approach

Photography in Arcata. Made for this place.

The Arcata location

Arcata backdrops, picked on purpose.

Arcata is a different photographic market than Eureka, younger, university-driven, denser tree cover. The Cal Poly Humboldt campus generates a steady stream of senior portrait, faculty headshot, and university brand work. Plaza-side businesses (food, beverage, retail) book editorial brand photography. The Arcata Community Forest is a 800+ acre old-growth forest accessible from town.

Photography, Arcata, California
Editorial portrait, Humboldt County.
Photography, Arcata, California
On location, editorial direction.

The Arcata session

No templated compositions. Real editorial direction.

A shoot in Arcata usually moves between two kinds of light. The Plaza gives you open sky and Victorian fronts for brand work. The Community Forest, minutes uphill, drops you into filtered green under old-growth redwoods. We direct to the person and the place, not to a pose chart. For a Plaza business, that means shooting them doing the actual work. We watch the back, then walk over to the trees when the day calls for it.

The Arcata hometown advantage

Local to Arcata. Scouted for years.

The Community Forest light is even but it is not bright, so we know which trails hold detail and which go muddy under canopy by late afternoon. On the Cal Poly Humboldt campus, Founders Hall reads best with morning sun off the front. Senior portraits work because we already know where the redwoods on campus open up. Knowing those spots is the difference between guessing and showing up ready.

Photography, Arcata, California
Hometown editorial, Humboldt County.

Now booking, Arcata

Now booking Arcata photography for the year ahead.

Arcata sessions and brand campaigns book on a rolling calendar, weekday brand work fills first, weekend portrait dates fill around it. Send a note with your timeline and we'll find the right window.

Reserve your Arcata session → or call (707) 382-1108

Recent Work

Photographer in Arcata. A look at the work.

  • Outdoor senior portrait session at golden hour
  • Senior portrait against backlit golden-hour grasses
  • Arcata High athletic senior portrait under stadium lights
  • Special Olympics basketball moment at Eureka High School
  • Available-light editorial portrait, three-quarter pose
  • Open-shade editorial portrait against soft greenery
  • Plated dish styled for a Hunan-restaurant brand shoot
  • Editorial portrait with negative-space composition
  • Surprise proposal in Fern Canyon under the redwood canopy
  • Selective-color basketball action. Special Olympics Eureka
  • Multi-generation family portrait in natural North Coast light
  • Drone aerial above the 2025 Eureka Oyster Festival crowd
  • Backlit editorial frame with halo rim-light
  • Cinematic portrait with shallow depth of field
  • Environmental portrait against open Pacific landscape
  • Window-light portrait, low ISO, soft falloff
  • Side-profile editorial portrait at the coast
  • Mid-action documentary capture during a brand shoot
  • Soft overcast portrait, even diffused light
  • Editorial portrait with painterly background falloff
  • Wide environmental frame at the working waterfront
  • Close portrait with directional sidelight
  • Editorial frame with strong negative space
  • Quiet candid moment between subject and environment
  • Tex Kelly Productions editorial portrait, quiet light
  • Low-angle environmental editorial frame
  • Three-quarter editorial portrait, classic lighting
  • Sony cinema-system editorial frame, high dynamic range
  • Documentary-style editorial frame, candid expression
  • Cinematic portrait, shallow depth and warm grade
  • Editorial portrait against a textured natural backdrop
  • Hard-light directional editorial portrait
  • Editorial frame on iPhone backup unit during a brand shoot
  • Eye-level intimate editorial portrait
  • Editorial frame at twilight with mixed ambient light
  • Cinematic environmental editorial, wide composition
  • Subject-in-motion editorial frame
  • Soft natural-light editorial frame, low contrast grade
  • Available-light editorial frame from a North Coast brand session
  • Backlit silhouette editorial portrait
  • Editorial portrait with shallow focus and warm tones
  • Tightly-cropped editorial portrait, expressive framing
See full photography portfolio →

More from the studio

Beyond the still frame. Selected wedding films.

Photography here lives alongside a full cinematic wedding practice. Here's the moving-picture side, feature-length wedding documentaries and editorial wedding films. Click any thumbnail to play in place.

  • David & Monica's Wedding Documentary, 35 Years Before They Met, His Dad Saved Her Dad's Life

    Feature-length wedding documentary

  • Brunton Wedding Film

    Northern California wedding cinematography

  • Shane & Sofia Weekly. A 45-Minute Wedding Documentary

    Northern California long-form wedding film

  • Mrs. & Mrs. McClurg

    Cinematic wedding film

  • An Emotional, Romantic & Cinematic Wedding Film. Trinidad Elopement

    Trinidad, California elopement

DaVinci Resolve wedding-film edit in progress. Tex Kelly Productions editing suite

The Editing Process

Months in the edit suite, curating the story.

A wedding film isn't shot in a day, it's made over months. Hours of raw cinema footage, multi-camera audio, drone aerial, and second-shooter coverage get assembled, color-graded, and scored frame by frame in the edit suite.

Every transition is intentional. Every cut earns its keep. The goal is a film couples actually want to re-watch, not a montage of clips. That kind of editorial discipline is the difference between a wedding film and a wedding highlight reel, and it's why these turnarounds run weeks instead of days.

Venues + Locations

Where I shoot photography in Arcata.

  • Arcata Community Forest

    Old-growth redwood trail network minutes from downtown. Filtered light year-round.

  • Arcata Plaza

    Historic city square with Victorian backdrops. Brand work for Plaza-adjacent businesses.

  • Cal Poly Humboldt Campus

    University buildings, redwood trails on campus, and Founders Hall for institutional work.

What's Included

What's included with photography in Arcata.

  • Award-Winning Photography

    Medium-format-quality stills with the dynamic range to handle harsh sun, golden hour, and overcast equally well, print-grade detail at billboard scale.

  • Drone Aerial (when relevant)

    FAA Part 107 commercial drone work integrated when the project calls for elevation, coastal, redwood, and architectural scale shots.

  • Print-quality Files

    Full-resolution edited JPEGs and TIFFs, ready for billboard-scale printing or web-optimized for digital deployment.

  • Private Online Gallery

    Password-protected gallery for clients and approved guests, easy downloads, easy sharing, no third-party watermarks.

  • Licensing as Needed

    Commercial and editorial usage rights negotiated at proposal stage, broadcast, print, and digital licensing terms made clear up front.

How It Works

How it works in Arcata.

  1. 01

    Consultation

    We talk on the phone or meet at the Eureka studio. I learn what you need photographed, when, and what the deliverables look like.

  2. 02

    Proposal & Booking

    Within 24 hours of our call, I send a written proposal with scope, timeline, and pricing. Signed agreement and deposit reserves the date.

  3. 03

    Pre-shoot Planning

    Location scouting, shot list refinement, and any logistics coordination, venue permits, model releases, scheduling.

  4. 04

    The Shoot

    Day-of execution. professional camera setup, drone where called for, ambient and supplemental lighting as the project requires.

  5. 05

    Edit & Delivery

    2–3 weeks for portrait/editorial, 6–8 weeks for full wedding galleries. Rush delivery available on request for press deadlines.

Investment

Photography pricing is project-specific. Send a note describing what you need. Tex replies within 24 hours with a tailored proposal.

Photographer in Arcata. FAQs

Frequently asked questions.

  • Do you shoot Cal Poly Humboldt campus photography?
    Yes, campus photography is a regular booking, including faculty headshots, recruitment imagery, athletic stills, and student senior portraits. The campus has open access for most outdoor shoots; institutional bookings are coordinated with university media.
  • What's the best Arcata location for outdoor portraits?
    The Arcata Community Forest for old-growth redwood backdrops, the Arcata Plaza for historic-architecture editorial, or the Cal Poly Humboldt campus for university-themed shoots. All three are within 5 minutes of each other.
  • What kind of photography do you do?
    Editorial, commercial, lifestyle, and event photography, wedding photography, senior portraits, surprise proposals, brand and product shoots, real estate, and editorial features. The same professional camera setup and the same eye across every category, delivered across both California and Northern Arizona service areas.
  • What's the difference between hiring a photographer for weddings vs. portraits vs. commercial work?
    The skills overlap, but the deliverables and process are different. Weddings are full-day, time-sensitive, and emotionally driven. Portraits are 1–2 hour location-driven sessions. Commercial work involves art direction, brand alignment, and licensing. Tex Kelly Productions handles all three with the same standard.
  • Do you do photo + video together?
    Yes. Most weddings, brand campaigns, and event work include both, full photo and film coverage delivered together so you don't compromise on either side. Solo coverage is also available, just plan accordingly.
  • How fast do I get the photos?
    Standard turnaround is 2–3 weeks for portrait and editorial sessions, 6–8 weeks for full wedding galleries. Rush turnaround is available for press, deadlines, and yearbook submissions, let Tex know your deadline up front.
  • What about prints and licensing?
    All clients get full-resolution print files included in their package. Commercial and editorial clients can negotiate licensing terms (web-only, print, broadcast, etc.) at the proposal stage. Print orders directly through Tex are also available.

Nearby photography cities

Photography near Arcata, other locations I shoot.

Flexible on where you shoot? Many clients book a hometown location + a destination second location in the same day. Below are the other cities where I'm currently booking photography, same playbook, same editorial eye, different backdrop.

Inquire

Photographer in Arcata. Tell me about your photography needs.

Every inquiry gets a personal reply within 24 hours.

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