Castlewood State Park

Castlewood State Park is the perfect location for any nature enthusiast that seeks out adventure or just wants to get lost in the woods. With its hiking trail to overlooks of the Meramec River and gentle walking trails through open fields, Castlewood State Park has plenty to offer for senior pictures. Creeks flow around the park and there are abundant woods to give you all kinds of different scenery for your senior pictures. You can even trek alongside the Meramec River, discovering all the beautiful flowers that grow nearby it. Whether you’re a hiker or enjoy a leisurely stroll, you won’t fail to find the perfect view for your background.

Check out my list of the top senior picture locations in St. Louis, MO to get inspired by more locations to have your senior pictures taken.

The Best Part About Castlewood State Park

Castlewood State Park’s best-known feature is its steep, Lone Wolf hiking trail that directly leads you to the most beautiful, scenic views of the Meramec River. Once at the top, it’s a fairly easy walk along the bluff that offers multiple views of the river and a lovely stroll through the woods.

You’ll come across some steps as you finish off the trail, which leads you down to a small tunnel that passes under the train tracks. This tunnel gives you a change of scenery, opening up a little bit of an urban and moody location for senior pictures.

Once through the tunnel, you’re now on flat ground that follows the Meramec River. If you don’t want the major uphill hike, you can still access the river from the far end of the park, taking the trail that leads you past wide-open fields that make for great “freedom” feeling photos.

Along the trail by the Meramec River, you’ll be surrounded by woods, and at certain times of the year, you’ll be able to catch blooming wildflowers amongst the trees. These flowers are great for creating fairytale style photos.

On the other side of the park, you’ll find a quiet creek flowing along a gravel bar. With large rocks sitting along the creek, this gives you an opportunity for sitting or climbing on the rock poses. The gravel bar is also a change of scenery from the sandbars that line the Meramec River.

What to Expect Each Season

Spring

Wildflowers, particularly bluebells, bloom in the spring along the trail by the Meramec River. Trees are also starting to get their color back, but while they haven’t completely regained their leaves, this opens up the views from the overlooks a bit more, while also giving you some color from some of the regrowth. Since spring is the rainy season, you may run into the possibility of the Meramec River trail being closed due to flooding.

Summer

In the summer, the trees will be filled with leaves, giving you plenty of color and fully wooded backgrounds. The grass will also be green in the large, open fields. Since summer tends to be drier, the river levels will most likely go down, and the threat of the Meramec River trail being flooded will be less likely.

Fall

With the number of trees in Castlewood State Park, this makes the perfect location for fall senior pictures. You won’t fail to miss color here. Head up to the overlook too for beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows stretched out over the Meramec River, or walk along the pathways to surrounded yourself in a forest of warm, glowing colors.

Winter

While winter means there’s not growth and the trees will be barren, it’s the perfect time to view the Meramec River from the overlooks. Even though barren trees offer no color, your view of the river is much wider as you can see through the trees. The lower parts of the trail system are also great after a snow to twirl around or feel like your lost in a snowy forest.

Pricing and Accommodations

Castlewood State Park is free and gates are open from 7:00am to one-half hour after sunset, year round. Restrooms are by the playground parking lot.

Address

1401 Kiefer Creek Rd, Ballwin, MO 63021

Senior Pictures at Castlewood State Park

Riley
Castlewood State Park

Riley’s session at Castlewood State Park couldn’t have been a more perfect location for his senior pictures. It was his first…
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Love this location? I can’t wait to dream up your session with you!

If you’re interested in having your senior pictures taken by Amanda Photography, please fill out the form with any other questions you may have, or let me know if you’re ready to schedule a consultation call so we can get your amazing session set up!

You’ll hear back from me within 48 hours, Monday through Friday (unless I’m on vacation traveling the beautiful USA.)

Faust Park

If you’re looking for both nature and architectural senior pictures that are different from the average high schooler, check out Faust Park. With a mix of woods, a lake with a path through grasses, log cabins, and historic buildings, you’ll have a variety of backgrounds and looks in one, small park. You can even make your session extra special by taking a stroll through the Butterfly House, surrounding yourself with beautiful butterflies, or hoping up on the carousel and posing with the horses.

Check out my list of the top senior picture locations in St. Louis, MO to get inspired by more locations to have your senior pictures taken.

The Best Part About Faust Park

One of Faust Park’s best-known features is the Butterfly House. With butterflies flying all around in a bubble filled with trees, flowers, and bushes your photos will be filled with nature and gentle creatures. If you’re lucky enough, the butterflies will land on you and make for extra special portraits.

Head outside the Butterfly house for photos of you walking down the flower and grass filled pathway as you head over to the lake. With trees and tall grasses around the outside of the lake, you’ll have a variety of options for photos with the lake in the background. To add to it, this is the perfect angle for capturing the stunning, glass building that’s the Butterfly House behind you as well.

Just across the lawn stands a small village of log cabins and historic buildings that set against the woods. These buildings are perfect for standing in front of, leaning against, sitting on the steps, and holding onto fences. The wooded background gives your portraits more of a country vibe instead of feeling like you’re in the middle of a city as well.

Towards the back of the park is a pathway through the forest, giving you the perfect whimsical scene as you stroll through the woods or to step into the tall grasses to create a more earthy and adventurous look to your photos.

What to Expect Each Season

Spring

With the number of trees growing in Faust Park, you’ll find plenty of green leaves popping up on trees, giving Faust Park more color. The nature walk will also be blooming with spring wildflowers that are perfect for standing and sitting amongst. Along the lake you’ll also find those spring flowers blooming, giving you more variety for backgrounds with the tall grasses, lake, and Butterfly House.

Summer

Flowers can be found blooming in and around the historic village in small gardens. These flowers are perfect for standing behind, sitting in front of, or even having partially in the background while you lean against a nearby building, giving you both the liveliness of flowers but also an architectural vibe.

Fall

Faust Park is filled with trees that turn vibrant reds and oranges during the fall. You won’t fall short of fall colors here. Trees surround the area, so everywhere you go, whether it’s in the historic village, down the trail, or by the Butterfly House, you’ll find plenty of changing leaves on the trees and laying on the ground.

Winter

With the cabins and historic village, Faust Park offers plenty of scenery during the winter. You won’t have to worry about your background being full of brown trees. The buildings offer multiple, vibrant colors to brighten up your photos being painted in yellows, reds, whites, and greens.

Pricing and Accommodations

Faust Park is free and open from dawn to dusk. Restrooms are across from the playground that’s in between the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House and the historic village.

Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House costs $8 per person or is free for Missouri Botanical Garden Members. Hours vary by season.

Spring/Summer: 9:00am - 4:o0pm
Fall/Winter: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Tuesday - Sunday (Closed Monday)

The carousel costs $2 to ride and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Address

15025 Faust Pk Dr, Chesterfield, MO 63017

Senior Pictures at Faust Park

Abhinav
Faust Park

For Abhinav’s session, we chose to head to Faust Park, because it’s a special location to him. As a child, his mom took…
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Love this location? I can’t wait to dream up your session with you!

If you’re interested in having your senior pictures taken by Amanda Photography, please fill out the form with any other questions you may have, or let me know if you’re ready to schedule a consultation call so we can get your amazing session set up!

You’ll hear back from me within 48 hours, Monday through Friday (unless I’m on vacation traveling the beautiful USA.)

Shaw Nature Reserve

The best place for a flower lover is Shaw Nature Reserve. Whether you’re wanting to walk amongst the flowers, twirl down a pathway, or sit next to your favorite blooms, you’re bound to fall in love with the abundance of flowers that grow here. And if you’re mainly looking for flowers, but want a little more than that, there’s a couple of wood buildings, a brick building, lake, and plenty of woods for more of just a one with nature feel.

Check out my list of the top senior picture locations in St. Louis, MO to get inspired by more locations to have your senior pictures taken.

The Best Part About Shaw Nature Reserve

Whitmire Wildflower Garden is the highlight of Shaw Nature Reserve and for good reason. With its abundance of wildflowers, you’re sure to capture exactly the flower vibe you’re looking for. With the variety of colors and species of flowers, you won’t be disappointed.

The garden is beautifully decorated with logs and rocks throughout the garden. These make for the perfect spots to stand and sit amongst the flowers so you can help preserve them for the next person, while also being surrounded by them. There are also benches and steps along the path that are great for sitting along the edges of the flowers.

Walking down the pathway is also beautiful as you stroll through the midst of flowers. Portions of the path are gravel while others are a paved stone, helping keep that naturalesque feel. The path makes for great walking back and forth photos as you’re surrounded on both sides with flowers.

Featured in the garden are also a few buildings. There’s a large, wooden gazebo that you can view from many angles. You can stand in front of it, sit under it, or lean against the rock wall below it. A small building with a wooden door is also on the property. You can stand in the doorway for some poses or lean up against the door. The 1879 Joseph H. Bascom house is the large, brick building with a small porch that features white polls to lean on or peak around, beautiful benches to sit on, and a white doorway to stand in.

Nearby the garden is also a lake that is great for sitting in the grass or standing in front of. Surrounding the garden are plenty of woods with some trails to walk down to feel surrounded by nature, peak around trees, or squat on the pathway. There’s also plenty of wide-open grasses to twirl around in.

What to Expect Each Season

Spring

With flowers being the highlight of Shaw Nature Reserve, spring is a fantastic time to capture all those wildflower vibes. Having fields of flowers blooming and patches of a variety of flowers growing around Whitmire Wildflower Garden, you’re bound to find not only flowers you love, but be surrounded by them as well. The garden can be a popular spot on the weekends with prom groups taking pictures around April.

Summer

June is peak bloom for the flowers at Whitmire Wildflower Garden, so if you’re looking for a warm day for your senior pictures while being surrounded by flowers and nature, summer is the perfect time to visit. There are also a variety of shady areas from trees and other buildings that can help you get out of the sun for a bit. The woods are also a great, shady area for woodsy and nature senior pictures out of the sun.

Fall

Fall has a different variety of flowers blooming than spring and summer. While flowers are still blooming, there aren’t wide open fields of them, but smaller patches around the garden of select wildflowers. With a large number of trees and forest, you’ll have plenty of fall leaves as well.

Winter

Shaw Nature Reserve is pretty dead during the winter. Not much is really growing. Some tall grasses will still be growing, the lake makes for a great background, and the exterior of the Joseph H. Bascom house is great for incorporating architecture. The amount of nature and forest does create a perfect snowy day backdrop though.

Pricing and Accommodations

Shaw Nature Reserve costs $5 per person. If you have a Botanical Gardens Membership you can get in for free. There are bathrooms located at Whitmire Wildflower Garden just a short distance past the Joseph H. Bascom House.

Hours vary by season and the last entry is 30 minutes before closing:

January - March: 8am - 5pm
April - May: 8am - 7pm
June - August: 8am - 8pm
September: 8am - 7pm
October - December: 8am - 5pm

Address

4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110

Senior Pictures at Shaw Nature Reserve

Meagan
Shaw Nature Reserve

Meagan wanted flowers for her senior pictures, and that's all she was worried about. So, I delivered flowers. We went to Shaw Nature Reserve and their wildflowers were blooming so well, and the…
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Queeny Park

When you want a mix of flowers, open fields, and nature, with a country and/or vintage architectural vibe, Queeny Park is your one stop location for senior pictures. With three buildings and another piece of architecture along with open grass fields, spring flowers, and a brick pathway, you can easily have a one or two hour session here.

Check out my list of the top senior picture locations in St. Louis, MO to get inspired by more locations to have your senior pictures taken.

The Best Part About Queeny Park

In just a small area, there's plenty to do in Queeny Park. Right off the parking lot is a white building that has a barn resemblance. With its long walkway under an overhang that’s perfect for walking portraits, and barn style doors to lean against, you can easily achieve a more country feel. 

As you leave the white building you'll walk down a brick path that eventually turns into pavement and is lined with flowers galore during late spring through early fall. You can sit along the pathway in front of the flowers or stand behind them for full greenery and blooms. There's even a small, green arboretum with brick steps that makes for a wonderful background in your portraits. 

Across from the path is a wide open, grass field with occasional wildflowers blooming. This is perfect for those wanderlust, one with nature, walking through the tall grass senior pictures. 

Back on the path you'll come up to a 1854 Greek Revival style house that has brick pathways around it, wooden steps leading up to the porch, and a circular staircase on the backside of the building. With all the different features of this building, you'll have plenty of posing options, like sitting on the steps, leaning on railings, walking down the path, or even leaning back against a brick wall.

At the back of the building, you'll find plenty of woods and another, older country style building that's in the weeds, giving off a small abandoned vibe. You can squat in the weeds or even sit on a log. 

What to Expect Each Season

Spring

Flowers will start to bloom along the pathway, and you'll have plenty of tall grasses in the field. Short grass will be green and some of the trees will have beautiful green leaves on them as well. There's even a short tree with some pink flowers by the arboretum. You'll be sure to catch some of the blooming flowers while getting some nature and architectural shots.

Summer

More flowers will be blooming along the pathway and all the plants will have their greenery. While summer may bring out the heat, a lot of the pathway is in the shade from trees and the buildings. There's plenty of spots to try to stay cooler and out of the direct sun. You can easily mix up shade and sun pictures during your session to beat the heat. 

Fall

With Queeny Park being loaded with trees, you won't be short of any fall colors. Mums will also be blooming along the pathway during this time. Between the trees and flowers, your photos will be filled with lots of red, orange, yellow, and purple colors.

Winter

Although you won't have any flowers blooming, you'll still have access to the three buildings, arboretum, and pathway which will all create beautiful backgrounds for your senior pictures. And if you still want a bit of a nature feel, the tall grasses will still be around, even though the rest of the plants are gone for the winter.

Pricing and Accommodations

Queeny Park is completely free and open from dawn to dusk. Restrooms are a little bit of a walk but are just down the hill from the main house.

Address

Queeny Park has two entrances to the park that do not connect to each other by road. The best entrance to go in is at 1675 S. Mason Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131.

Senior Pictures at Queeny Park

Rachel
Queeny Park

With Rachel's love for flowers, nature, and all things vintage, we headed to Queeny Park. With the tall, grassy fields, small blooming flowers, widespread woods, and old…
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Downtown

Downtown St. Louis is the perfect location for urban senior pictures. There’s a variety of locations and looks you can achieve when you go downtown. With locations like City Garden, Laclede’s Landing, the Arch, Kiener Plaza, the Old Courthouse, down by the riverfront, Ballpark Village, and outside Enterprise Center you’re sure to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Check out my list of the top senior picture locations in St. Louis, MO to get inspired by more locations to have your senior pictures taken.

The Best Part About Downtown

When you head to Downtown St. Louis for your senior pictures you will find endless opportunities for locations. The Arch is a great location to show off your St. Louis roots by getting the Arch in the background, sitting lakeside in the grass, hanging out in the trees, sitting on the steps leading up to the Arch, or even walking down the pathway to get the Arch in your background.

You can head down to the riverfront for some unique pictures of you with the Mississippi River behind you while you stand or sit on the old, brick parking lot. You can even get some bridges in the background or the Arch depending on where you stand.

Laclede’s Landing is not far from here and is the perfect location for older brick buildings, brick roadways, and for portraits under the Eads Bridges archways. This historic part of Downtown St. Louis is sure to give you the urban vibe you’re looking for without searching for an abandoned warehouse.

Across from the Arch is the Old Courthouse. Having steps to sit on, tall pillars to lean against or peek around, another angle to get the Arch in your background, fences to lean on, and large doorways to stand in, you’ll have a variety of posing opportunities here. You can even stand across the street for the perfect background of not only the courthouse, but other buildings downtown as well.

Just up the street a short way is Kiener Plaza. This is the perfect location to get both the Old Courthouse and the Arch in your background. You can sit on the fountain or stand in the plaza for this unique portrait. About two blocks over is City Garden, which is the perfect location if you’re looking for a little bit more greenery in some of your senior pictures and not just urban backgrounds. It’s full of unique sculptures, and even has a small, man-made waterfall. There are flowers and shrubbery that grow all around the perimeter of the park to give you a little bit more greenery and less buildings for a few portraits.

If you’re either a Cardinals or Blues fan, you may be wanting a few outside of either stadium. Ballpark Village is the perfect location for any Cardinals baseball lover. You can walk down the sidewalk for a few portraits with signs like “Cardinals Nation” in the background, or even capture a few with Busch Stadium. There’s also seating arrangements and turf to sit on and mix up the environment a little bit. Ballpark Village also offers a large STL statue that is perfect for anyone who wants to represent the city they love and are from. Enterprise Center works great for Blues Hockey fans if they want a few around the perimeter of the building, or even a couple with the statues of their favorite past players. You can even have some portraits with the large, player banners in the background to remember your favorite player.

What to Expect Each Season

Spring

Certain parts of downtown will have flowers blooming and others won’t. It depends how urban or garden a certain area is. If you’re looking for blooming flowers, you’ll want to be sure to incorporate City Garden into your session, because it has more greenery. Other areas will most likely only have potted plants due to the lack of greenspace.

Summer

All the grass, trees, and plants around the area will fully have color again, so you can choose any location downtown without worrying about certain areas not having much color. Places like the Arch or Old Courthouse may be busier at this time of year due to tourist visiting. You can easily work around them by going to lesser visited sections of those locations though, which will in turn give you unique portraits that others may not have.

Fall

It may not seem like it, but there are plenty of trees growing around Downtown St. Louis that you’re bound to find some changing during fall. The best places will be in parks like City Garden, and even places like the Arch that have wide open spaces with trees growing. You’ll find a few trees growing up and down the sidewalks that will also give you perfect fall colors.

Winter

With St. Louis being full of buildings, you can easily work around barren trees and plants during the winter. It also helps that the buildings are tall, so you won’t have to worry about tall trees in the background that are brown. You can also head out there after a good snow to change up the scenery a little bit and take unique portraits that most others don’t ever think about.

Pricing and Accommodations

Downtown St. Louis has parking fees in place just about everywhere. Prices vary depending on where you park. Make sure you feed the meter the appropriate amount of money for your session time, plus a little extra to be on the safe side.

Address

Citygarden: 801 Market St, St. Louis, MO 63101
Laclede’s Landing: 801 N 1st St, St. Louis, MO 63102
Gateway Arch: Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO 63102
Kiener Plaza: 500 Chestnut St, St. Louis, MO 63101St. Louis, MO 63102
Old Courthouse: 11 N 4th St, St. Louis, MO 63102
Riverfront: 50 S Leonor K Sullivan Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63102
Ballpark Village: 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, MO 63102
Enterprise Center: 1401 Clark Ave, St. Louis, MO 63103

Senior Pictures Downtown

Will
Downtown
Will didn’t want to head to downtown St. Louis just because he likes an urban setting, but because he has a passion for helping fix the city and make transportation more accessible. He had a reason for wanting the city as…
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Jadon
Downtown
For Jadon’s second session he wanted to take some graduation portraits by the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis. After some portraits by the Arch, we decided to head over to Ballpark…
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