Top Locations for Senior Pictures that Aren’t in Downtown St. Louis
While downtown St. Louis has its share of cool urban cityscapes and beautiful parks, you might be looking for something a little different for…
While downtown St. Louis has its share of cool urban cityscapes and beautiful parks, you might be looking for something a little different for your senior pictures. Or maybe you just prefer to stay out of the city altogether. You can still capture that urban vibe or have a gorgeous park as your backdrop without heading downtown. With 10 years of experience in the photography industry, I’ve had the chance to work with seniors at lots of spots outside the city that are just as unique, beautiful, and/or give you that feeling of being in a town. To save you the hassle of hunting for the perfect locations, I’ve put together a list of my top favorites that keep you out of downtown.
Shaw Nature Reserve
Shaw Nature Reserve is the dream location for any flower lover wanting senior pictures surrounded by beauty. With the Whitmire Wildflower Garden in full bloom, charming wooden and brick buildings, a peaceful lake, and wooded trails, you'll have a variety of nature-filled backdrops. From vibrant spring flowers to quiet winter scenes, Shaw Nature Reserve offers stunning settings no matter the season.
Location: 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110
St. Charles
St. Charles offers the perfect blend of city charm and historical beauty, with brick streets, historic buildings, and lovely parks, making it a great choice for senior pictures. The area features unique spots like storefronts, fences, light posts, a rustic cabin, and even inoperable train tracks for a variety of photo opportunities. With its seasonal offerings, from flowers in the spring to fall colors on the trees and winter’s architectural backdrop, St. Charles provides a versatile setting for portraits year-round.
Location: 408 S Main St, St Charles, MO 63301
Queeny Park
Queeny Park is an ideal location for senior pictures, featuring a mix of open fields, flowers, and vintage architecture. With three buildings, a flower-lined brick pathway, and a spacious grass field, the park offers a variety of settings for both nature and country-inspired shots. Open year-round, it provides beautiful backdrops in every season, from colorful blooms in spring to fall foliage and even winter’s serene landscape, all at no cost to visit.
Location: 1675 S. Mason Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131
Eckert’s
Eckert’s is the perfect spot for anyone who loves the charm of farm life and the beauty of fresh produce. Whether you’re looking for a rustic country vibe or colorful backdrops from changing crops, this location offers a variety of picturesque scenes all year round for your senior pictures. From picking peaches and apples in the orchard to getting lost in a sunflower field or pumpkin patch, there’s a backdrop to suit every mood and season.
Belleville Location: 951 S Green Mt Rd, Belleville, IL 62220
Millstadt Location: 2719 Eckert Orchard Ln, Millstadt, IL 62260
Faust Park
Faust Park is a great spot for senior pictures if you want a mix of nature and unique architecture. With its beautiful woods, lake with grassy paths, historic log cabins, and the stunning Butterfly House, you’ll have plenty of beautiful backdrops to choose from. You can even make your session extra fun by visiting the Butterfly House or hopping on the carousel for one-of-a-kind portraits.
Location: 15025 Faust Pk Dr, Chesterfield, MO 63017
10 Things to Bring to Your Senior Pictures
Besides your outfits and accessories, you may be wondering what else you can bring along to your senior pictures. To make your session more unique, you’ll want to bring along…
Besides your outfits and accessories, you may be wondering what else you can bring along to your senior pictures. To make your session more unique, you’ll want to bring along objects that represent you, what you like, your hobbies, or maybe even things you’ve made. Sometimes it’s hard to think about what you could bring to your session. That’s why I’ve created this list of 10 things you can bring along to your senior pictures. This isn’t an extensive list, but hopefully it will give you some ideas.
#1: Pets
We all love our pets, so why not include them in your senior pictures. They’re part of the family and mean so much to you. Whether they’re wild and crazy, or laid back and relaxed, you’ll want to remember their personality just as much as yours, along with remembering the pet you loved dearly in high school.
#2: Sports Equipment
If you’re involved in some sort of sport, then you’ll most likely want to include this in your session. From footballs, to bowling balls and tennis rackets to rollerblades, whatever sport or activity you’re involved in this is the perfect addition to your senior pictures.
#3: Artwork
This is the perfect way to represent yourself and show off your favorite art pieces you’ve created yourself. If you’re an artist, why wouldn’t you want to show off your artwork during your senior session? You could even bring along paintbrushes, an easel, paint tubes, pencils, or anything else that you use to create whatever artwork you like to make.
#4: Chairs
You may have a fun or unique chair sitting around your house that would be great to include in your session. Chairs are perfect for changing up poses or having seating arrangements in different locations like in tall grasses.
#5: Instruments
For the music lovers or band students, your instrument makes the perfect prop to include in your session. You’ll be able to show off your love for music or even look back some day and remember what guitar you used to play when you were in high school.
#6: Signs
Maybe you have some signs from whatever sports or activities you’re involved in, or maybe you have a chalkboard you can write your graduation year on. Whatever signs you have that are all about you, bring those along to your session too.
#7: Awards
You’ve worked hard to earn any and all awards you have, so you’ll want to show off your achievements during your senior pictures. Whether it was for a book you wrote, for being an outstanding student, or for winning a competition you’ll want to be sure to include these in your portraits.
#8: Cars
Whether it’s a sporty car or just your first car, your car is your car. And if you love it or just want to remember what the first car you drove was, then bring it along to your session. Cars are a fun addition to any senior session.
#9: Hobbies
Whatever your hobbies are, you can easily find something to bring along from them. If you like skateboarding, bring along your skateboard. Maybe you like photography, a camera or even printed photos work perfect. For book lovers, bring all your favorite books. Even if you’re a gamer you can bring along your controller. Or maybe you have a collection that you’d love to surround yourself in. If it means something to you, then it will make the perfect addition to your senior pictures.
#10: Fun Objects
Any type of object can be included into your session. If there’s something you see that you think would be a fun addition to your session, bring it along. It never hurts to bring something and not use it, vs. wishing you would have brought something. Fun objects can include glitter, frames, your initial, American Flags, smoke bombs, old suitcases, or even sparklers. The list is endless.
The Best Time to Take Senior Pictures
You’re probably wondering when you should take your senior pictures. There’s a lot of thought that goes into when you should take them, but it really all depends…
You’re probably wondering when you should take your senior pictures. There’s a lot of thought that goes into when you should take them, but it really all depends on you. There are multiple factors you should take into consideration when picking the time of year to take your senior pictures. Maybe you haven’t thought about all of those factors, so I’ve made a list of them for you here in hopes it’ll help alleviate any stress you may have picking the perfect date.
Season
We all love certain seasons in the year. Whether that’s spring for all the beautiful flowers, summer because it’s warm out, fall with all the pretty leaves, or winter because of the snow, you’ll want to think about how you want your background to look for your senior pictures.
What Are Your Busy Seasons?
If you’re involved in any activities or just know you tend to be busy during a particular season, you’ll want to take that into consideration when planning your senior session. Don’t let stress overrun your senior pictures. If you’re super busy during a particular season, I would advise either not having your pictures taken during that season or preparing in advance for your session. Preparing in advance would look like scheduling your session months in advance, spending a couple weeks picking out your outfits, and even scheduling hair, makeup, and nails weeks before your session.
Outfits You Want to Wear
If you have certain outfits you’d like to wear, you’ll want to consider what season they fit most in and how warm or cold it is outside. You don’t want to be wearing a tank top in the middle of winter or a sweater on a blazing hot summer day. You’ll also want to think about the colors you’re choosing to wear. Pastels are perfect for spring while burnt oranges and mustard yellows are great for fall.
Temperature / Weather
Each season has its pros and cons when it comes to the temps and weather. Spring can have beautiful, warm days, but can also have periods of cold and rain. Summer is generally beautiful out, but it tends to be hot. Fall can have beautiful, comfortable days, or be really cold and rainy. And for those that love the cold, winter is perfect for you and occasionally can have a nicer day. If you choose to have your session in the winter though, prepare too most likely be cold.
Time of Day
I personally always have my sessions an hour or two before sunset or after sunrise, most of them are before sunset though. This means that in the summer my sessions usually start around 6pm or 7pm, while in the fall they generally start around 4pm or 5pm. If the summer hours are too late for you, you may want to consider a session later in the year so you’re not out as late. And if the fall hours are too early for you, or conflict with other activities or school, then you might want to consider having your session in the summer.
Location
Certain locations are only open during specific times of the year, and some locations hours change based on time of year. Other things to consider about location would be if you’re considering going somewhere like Eckert’s and know that certain fruits and vegetables grow at certain times of the year, or some places have waterfalls that they turn off during the winter, so they don’t freeze. If there’s a specific location you’re wanting to go to, make sure you schedule your session around the hours and seasons of that location.
5 Tips for Stress Free and Fun Senior Pictures
Senior year can be full of stressors like studying for exams, getting good grades, and picking out the college that’s perfect for you. That doesn’t mean your senior pictures should or will be too though. In fact, they should be fun and a way to get away from…
Senior year can be full of stressors like studying for exams, getting good grades, and picking out the college that’s perfect for you. That doesn’t mean your senior pictures should or will be too though. In fact, they should be fun and a way to get away from all the stress. It’s a day all about you, where you get to dress up and feel as beautiful as ever and have amazing portraits taken of yourself.
My goal is to make sure you enjoy your session, laugh a lot, and forget about all the stressors in the world. We’re taking a day to celebrate you. These 5 tips are sure to help you avoid stress during your senior pictures and will also make sure you have the most fun ever at your session!
#1: Plan Early
We all know planning early helps avoid stress, so by researching your senior photographers in advance, knowing what time of year you’d like to have your pictures taken, and having your sports schedule in front of you during your consultation will help make the planning go smoother. This also gives you ample time to schedule things like hair and make-up appointments or shop for new outfits before your session.
When it comes to scheduling your session, spring and fall are always the busiest times of year for senior pictures. If you’re wanting to schedule a spring or fall session, then you’ll want to consider booking a few months in advance to ensure you get your prime date.
If you’re planning your session a little bit last minute, no worries. You can still eliminate stress by talking everything through with your photographer. You may not get the exact date you were looking for and may be short on time for buying new outfits, but you can discuss any concerns you have with your photographer, or even ask for outfit ideas and they will gladly help you make your senior session as smooth as possible, even if it’s last minute.
#2: Picking A Location
Location is everything during your senior pictures. It will change the mood of your portraits and can influence what you wear to your session. For instance, you most likely won’t want to dress in your cowboy boots and hat if you’re going somewhere more urban. That’s why it’s important to know exactly what look you’re going for.
You may already know exactly where you want to go, or you could be wondering what good locations there are around St. Louis for senior pictures. If you’re unsure of where you want to go, but you have an idea in mind or you know what kind of backgrounds you like, then your photographer will be able to suggest the perfect locations for you.
If you haven’t already, start thinking about what you’d like your background to be. If you’re outdoorsy and love nature, a park with pretty flowers could be perfect for you. If you like a more urban feel, but want to avoid downtown, there are locations for that too. Knowing what you’re looking for will help your photographer point you to the perfect location for your senior pictures.
If you want to see some of my favorite locations around the St. Louis metro area for senior pictures, check out my list of The Best Senior Picture Locations in St. Louis.
#3: Get Pampered
Your senior pictures are an excuse for you to get all done up. If you’re not the best at doing your hair, or want someone who can do cute nail decorations, or maybe even want your make-up done really well, then it’s a great idea to schedule appointments to have any or all of these done.
Once you know the date of your session, you can start scheduling your pampering appointments. Your hair and make-up should be done the same day as your senior pictures, but your nails can be done a couple days in advance, as long as you don’t chip them.
By scheduling these appointments, you can just sit back, relax, and not worry about doing it yourself. You’re letting the pros take care of you, plus they will get exactly the look you’re going for.
Also, by having someone else do your make-up, they’ll put on the perfect amount of make-up, whether you want a more natural or done up look, for senior pictures. Just let them know you’re having your pictures taken.
#4: Be Yourself
Your senior pictures are all about you. You’re the one graduating and celebrating such an amazing achievement. Pick the outfits you love, go to the places you want to go, bring along any props that show off your unique personality, and just overall be yourself.
You don’t have to get super dressed up if that’s not your thing and you don’t have to dress a certain way, because everyone else is. Remember to just be yourself and have fun.
A great way to help show off your unique personality is to bring along props like sports equipment or paintings you’ve done. This will make your session even more about you.
Don’t let anyone tell you how you should look for your senior pictures, because it’s all about you. Be your unique self. If you want to have fun and feel stress free at your session, then just be yourself. You’ll even feel more comfortable in front of the camera because you will be confident in yourself.
#5: Put Everything Together
Start putting everything together for your senior pictures a couple days in advance. Maybe even a week if you’re a busy person. Put everything in the same spot, and even pack stuff in a bag. This will help you keep everything together so that the day of your session you’re not running around the house looking for your favorite bracelet or shoes.
Not everything can go in the bag though, because you don’t want some clothes to get wrinkled, or it’s a large prop that doesn’t fit in the bag. Make sure you place it next to the bag. By keeping everything in one spot, you are less likely to forget it.
You can even make a list that you leave next to your bag to check off everything as you pack it, especially if you have some items that you can’t pack until the day before or the day of.
By staying organized, this will help you remain stress free the day of your session and will help you feel more confident and have fun. Nobody wants to start their session stressed out, and it can jeopardize the way some of your images turn out at the beginning of your session.