Tex Kelly Productions
Editorial photography portfolio image from Hammond Trail in McKinleyville, California

Photographer · McKinleyville, California

Photographer in McKinleyville, California.

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

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

Hi. I'm Tex.

Welcome to editorial photography, McKinleyville edition.

I'm a North Coast filmmaker and photographer, voted Humboldt County's Best. Editorial, commercial, and brand photography in McKinleyville 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 McKinleyville 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 McKinleyville photography sessions and brand campaigns.

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

A note from McKinleyville

Editorial and family photography in McKinleyville, California, award-winning photography across Hammond Trail, Clam Beach, Mad River, and Pierson Park. Coastal-and-forest portrait variety minutes from the Eureka studio.

The Approach

Photography in McKinleyville. Made for this place.

The McKinleyville location

McKinleyville backdrops, picked on purpose.

McKinleyville packs more landscape variety into a 5-mile radius than almost anywhere else on the North Coast. Hammond Trail bluffs over the Pacific, Clam Beach's miles of open sand, the Mad River corridor, and Pierson Park's mature redwoods all within a single shoot window. The McKinleyville High Panthers community brings steady senior-portrait demand, and the airport-adjacent commercial corridor generates brand and headshot work.

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

The McKinleyville session

No templated compositions. Real editorial direction.

A session here moves. We start on the Hammond Trail bluffs while the light is wide and even, then drop to Clam Beach when the tide gives us the open sand. From there it is five minutes to the Mad River corridor and the redwoods at Pierson Park. We direct as we go, watching how someone actually stands and moves, not running them through a set of poses. By the end you have coast and forest in one afternoon.

The McKinleyville hometown advantage

Local to McKinleyville. Scouted for years.

The advantage is knowing the order to shoot in. Clam Beach opens up at low tide and closes off at high. The Hammond Trail overlooks hold their light longer than the river, which falls into shade early under the redwoods. We know which Pierson Park stands stay shaded at noon and which bluff faces the afternoon sun. That is why a McKinleyville shoot covers this much ground without anyone feeling rushed.

Photography, McKinleyville, California
Hometown editorial, Humboldt County.

Now booking, McKinleyville

Now booking McKinleyville photography for the year ahead.

McKinleyville 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 McKinleyville session → or call (707) 382-1108

Recent Work

Photographer in McKinleyville. 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 McKinleyville.

  • Hammond Trail

    Bluff-top coastal trail with ocean overlooks. Dramatic wide editorial composition.

  • Clam Beach

    Miles of open Pacific shoreline. Editorial-scale wide and long-lens portraits.

  • Mad River & Pierson Park

    River corridor and old-growth redwood park 5 minutes apart. Coastal + forest in one session.

What's Included

What's included with photography in McKinleyville.

  • 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 McKinleyville.

  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 McKinleyville. FAQs

Frequently asked questions.

  • Where in McKinleyville is best for senior portraits?
    Depends on the senior's vibe. Hammond Trail for dramatic ocean bluffs; Clam Beach for editorial wide compositions; Mad River for river-corridor naturals; Pierson Park for old-growth-redwood classic Humboldt look. Most sessions combine 2-3 locations within a single 90-minute window.
  • Do you charge a travel fee for McKinleyville sessions?
    No. McKinleyville is 15 minutes north of the Eureka studio and there's no travel fee within Humboldt County. The coastal-and-forest proximity makes it one of the most production-efficient session locations in the county.
  • 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 McKinleyville, 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.

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