Maternity Photographer in Davis, CA
Serving Davis
Elegant maternity portraits for Davis families — in the Lodi studio or outdoors, with a wardrobe of gowns to borrow.
Families across Davis trust Jesica Allen Photography with their most precious moments. For seventeen years and 227 five-star reviews, Jesica has photographed newborns, maternity, milestones, cake smashes, and families from Davis and throughout the Central Valley.
Davis is about 45 minutes northwest of Lodi, so every session is an easy trip to her private studio in downtown Lodi. Maternity sessions sit best between 32 and 36 weeks, when the bump is round and you are still comfortable on your feet — so Davis families tend to book early in the third trimester.
The Studio
Worth the drive to Lodi
A world-class 3,000 square foot studio in the heart of downtown Lodi, built entirely around families — a private kitchenette, a private family living room, and a private changing and feeding room, plus a children's make-believe playspace to keep little ones happy through the session.
For maternity sessions the wardrobe is the draw — a collection of flowing gowns in soft neutral tones to borrow rather than buy, in a range of sizes, with somewhere private to change and no rush about any of it. Davis families arrive, settle in, and leave the rest to Jesica.
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Davis
A little about Davis
The UC Davis arboretum runs for miles along the creek through the middle of town and is the best single piece of ground for maternity portraits within an hour of the studio — mature planting, water, and shade in every direction whatever the hour.
It is at its best in spring, when the wisteria and the redbuds come out along the waterway. Downtown is a proper college downtown: low brick blocks, bicycles chained to everything, and Central Park at the end where the farmers market — among the best regarded anywhere — sets up twice a week.
Davis is about forty-five minutes northwest of the studio. Many of its families are here for academic work, photographing a first baby a long way from home, and the arboretum in April is a setting they tend to want in the frame precisely because it is the place they will remember living.
It is a town with an unusual relationship to its own landscape: the greenbelts run continuously through it, so you can cross Davis end to end without meeting a main road, and the creek corridor through the arboretum is the best of them. Spring is the obvious season for wisteria and redbud, but autumn along the same water is quieter and less photographed, and for a gown the low October light through those trees is arguably better. Forty-five minutes back to the studio, where the wardrobe is, if the valley wind gets up.
“Loved working with Jesica! It was our first time ever doing a professional photoshoot and she made the experience so memorable and wonderful! She is very sweet and explained everything very well.”
Magdalena Jones • Maternity & Newborn · Google Review
Davis — good to know
Do you photograph Davis families?
Yes — Davis is part of our core service area, about 45 minutes northwest of Lodi. Davis families book maternity sessions here every month.
Where do Davis maternity sessions take place?
Either in the private Lodi studio or outdoors around Davis and the Central Valley — whichever suits the look you want. Studio sessions have the wardrobe and the controlled light; outdoor sessions have the setting your family already knows.
When should Davis families book a maternity session?
Between 32 and 36 weeks for the session itself, which means reaching out early in the third trimester. Multiples or modified activity are photographed earlier — say so and the date moves.
Where do maternity sessions happen in Davis?
The UC Davis arboretum, and it is the best single piece of ground for maternity portraits within an hour of the studio — mature planting, water, and shade in every direction whatever the hour. Central Park and the low brick blocks of downtown are the alternative, and they photograph exactly as the college town they are, bicycles chained to everything and all.
When is the arboretum at its best?
Spring, when the wisteria and the redbuds come out along the waterway — it is genuinely lovely and it is the season most families ask for. Autumn along the same water is quieter and every bit as good, and it is the underbooked half of the year if spring is already full.
We are only in Davis a few years. Is the arboretum worth insisting on?
Very much so, and Davis families are right to ask for it. If these are the years you will remember living here, the arboretum in April is the place worth having in the picture — far more than a studio wall, however good the light on it.
What if I would rather be in the studio?
Forty-five minutes southeast, with the gown wardrobe and light that does not depend on the sky. A good number of Davis families photograph in the arboretum in spring and come to the studio through the summer, which gives two quite different sets of pictures.
Inside a session
Inside a maternity session
Now Booking · 2026
Let's save your due date
Newborn dates are limited each month and held by your estimated due date. Reach out early in your third trimester to reserve yours — and for maternity, milestone, and family sessions any time of year.
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