The quinceañera—the lavish milestone party and ceremony for 15-year-old girls in Latin American cultures—is a photographer’s dream, according to Abygail Padilla, half of the Sacramento, California-based husband-and-wife photography team The Padillas. She and husband Juan, both of Mexican descent, specialize in quinceañeras and weddings, and have traveled all over the world photographing the stunning young women in equally beautiful locales.

“Quinceañeras are a little bit more laid back [than weddings], so we can actually have a little bit more fun with it,” Abby explains to host Pat Miller in the “Professional Photographer” podcast episode, “How to Break into Quinceañeras Photography: High-Profit Tips for Portrait and Wedding Photographers.”

“We can get a little bit more creative with the shots because we don’t have to be at a location in under 10 minutes. Maybe we have an hour to kind of play around. So, if you like doing creative photography and events, we highly recommend [photographing] quinceañeras.”

Husband Juan agrees. “We get to explore all this creativity in the lighting and the posing and the energy of a teenager, because they all have these crazy ideas,” he says. “I think the best part about it as well is that we have two clients. [The teenager] wants to be portrayed in high fashion … and then the parents want that more traditional, ‘my child is still a child’ kind of thing, but showing her in a new light. That’s where we can play with all these different styles of photography.”

COMING OF AGE

Quinceañera refers to the new 15-year-old girl herself and has evolved to also refer to the joyful celebration that marks the start of her adulthood. Some sources say quinceañeras originated in Mexico as far back as the fifth century and have roots in Catholicism. Traditionally, the quinceañera starts with a religious ceremony in the church and ends with a long and extravagant party paid for by family members, friends, and sponsors.

“It is a birthday party at the end of the day,” Juan says, “but it has a wedding budget.”

On the “emotion-packed” day of the event, Abby says, the Padillas can spend about 10 hours with the girl and her family. They make sure to capture the “non-negotiable” photos, such as portraits of their young subject in her hair, makeup, and opulent dress with her parents and family members/sponsors of the party, as well as more ceremonial images at the church with the priest, at the altar, and with the Virgin Mary statue. After the church service, the Padillas make a point to photograph the teen having fun with her friends in excited anticipation of the evening party.

“We go to Chick-fil-A with them. We’ll go to In-N-Out Burger with them. We’ve gone to the craziest [places],” Abby says. “We went to the arcade with one set of kids. We just kind of like follow along and get to, I don’t know, just be young again, just kind of follow them around and have fun.”

Documenting the carefree moments of a quinceañera is part of how the Padillas differentiate themselves as quinceañera photographers, says Juan. “I like to make the quinceañera feel like she’s the star of the movie. Traditionally, it was more like stiff-posed photos. But as we grew as photographers, we understood that these quinceañeras already feel kind of awkward,” he explains. “You know, it’s their first time in this dress, their first time getting hair and makeup done. Everyone’s looking at them. So, we just make them feel comfortable and like the star.”

Their philosophy is why they’re hired by so many families for this milestone, Abby says. “To be 15 is a very awkward age. You’re very self-conscious. So just having somebody who can bring out who she is naturally, make her look beautiful, photograph her in a really honest way,” she says. “At least with our clients … they really want something kind of documentary style. So having a combination of both the classic quinceañera photography, but then also bringing in something new, that’s what our clients specifically look for [with] us.”

HIGH FASHION

The Padillas extend that honesty to their quinceañera subjects in a portrait session before the actual event. Those high-fashion, magazine-cover-like sessions are similar to an engagement or a senior session and capture the girl’s personality and hobbies, while also helping her feel pampered and beautiful in an age-appropriate way.

“The girls will come with their giant dress. It’s the first time that they’re trying it on. But we always encourage the kids to bring multiple outfits [of] whatever they like to do,” Abby says, adding that many of their subjects are in theater or play competitive soccer. “So, the girls will bring their soccer ball, they’ll bring their shoes, they’ll bring multiple outfits. And so just depending on what they want to bring, what they want to do, they let us just really create whatever we want. The dress is so big, so you might as well go crazy and do all this fun cinematic lighting and super dramatic shots.”

The Padillas have traveled to Mexico City, San Francisco, and even Paris for pre-event photo sessions. During the podcast, they describe the cold, drizzly 12-hour day in Paris where the young woman “felt like a model,” says Abby, remembering Juan lying on the floor of the Trocadero to get the best angle for a photo of the quinceañera. “People were looking at her [and some asked], ‘What magazine is this for? This is amazing.’”

BREAK INTO THE MARKET

While quinceañeras are often large, fancy affairs, they are celebrated differently in the U.S. and in Mexico, Abby says, partly due to the timing of events. Just like weddings, the celebrations also differ in extravagance levels, but all deserve sophisticated, cinematic keepsake photography. And photographers do not have to speak Spanish or have Latin American heritage to tap into this market, she adds, as everyone is welcoming and English is often the primary language spoken. To help other photographers break into quinceañera photography, the Padillas are teaching a workshop at Imaging USA 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, called “Quinceañera Photography with Purpose.” They say that quinceañera photography can be a natural add-on genre for wedding and event photographers, and shared these tips in the podcast for breaking into the market.

• Visit quinceañera planning groups and communities on Facebook and other social media.
• Shadow a quinceañera photographer and look for second-shooter opportunities “just so that you can see what an event day is like,” Abby advises.
• Attend a quinceañera expo. You do not need to speak Spanish or have Latin American heritage to photograph or attend quinceañeras, but you may want to get some quinceañera experience before taking this step, Abby says, as the expos are more Latin- and Spanish-immersive.
• Build a portfolio of similarly styled photos to show you understand the looks of the girls.
• Talk to managers/owners of dress boutiques, makeup artists, and models in your area and show them your work so they can recommend you when families come looking for photographers.
• Attend the Padillas’ Imaging USA workshop.

“Anytime you go into a new market, you’re not going to start anywhere at the top, right? So, you just kind of have to understand that if you set your intentions that you want to get into this market, you’ll get a few, and then from there, you can start getting recommended by other family members for other quinceañeras,” Juan says. “And that’s the beautiful thing about quinceañeras, that you could potentially have clients for many, many, many years to come.”

Don’t feel you need permission to get into quinceañera photography, Abby adds. Exploring the genre is about pushing yourself creatively as a photographer, even if you’re intimidated. “Maybe a person that isn’t Latino is going to be like, ‘Oh, I don’t feel comfortable going.’ But the more that you are around us Latinos,” she says, “you’re going to feel like family.”

Melanie Lasoff Levs is director of publications.