Best places for graduation photos in Monterey

The old adobe courtyards and early-California architecture around the plaza give a cap and gown a genuinely formal setting instead of a generic lawn, with room enough in the gardens for a small to medium group photo afterward. Weekday visits dodge the foot traffic that peaks here on weekends, and late afternoon light catches the walls at their warmest for the last few frames.

For graduation photos: a campus-adjacent backdrop that reads academic.

Modern academic halls and broad open quads give a cap and gown its own campus to be photographed on, with plenty of room across the lawns for family and friends to gather in. Go on a weekend once classes clear out, when the quads sit quiet, and let the late-day sun rake across the buildings for warm, open portraits.

For graduation photos: room for the cap toss and the reaction.

Steps, columns and oak-shaded walkways here are built for exactly this, with the courtyards and lawns sized to hold a grad group and the families who came to watch. Mid-morning brings soft, even shade under the oaks, and the campus empties out on weekends once classes have cleared for the day.

For graduation photos: a setting that suits regalia without competing with it.

A 1797 mission facade and a walled, bougainvillea-lined garden give a cap and gown a formality that a campus quad doesn't quite match. It's a working parish, so plan around service times and go on a weekday morning, ahead of the tour groups, when the courtyard stays calm and the stone glows warm.

For graduation photos: space for family to gather after the solo frames.

The white-stone hall's formal steps and columns carry real institutional weight for a cap and gown, and Friendly Plaza right beside it has the shaded lawns to fit a whole group of family afterward. It's an easy walk from the rest of downtown, so late afternoon light on the facade is worth timing around before moving on.

For graduation photos: clean architecture behind a gown and hood.