Salem-Baum Church

Location

Aug 6

Hidden on the backroads of Waterloo, IL sits a beautiful shell of a stone church that was built in 1883. This unique location is sure to make your senior pictures stand out against the rest. With large windows to stand in, a stone pathway, the overall structure, and a gravel road engulfed by trees nearby, you can easily spend an hour in this magnificent location.

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 Salem-Baum Church

With windows almost as high as the walls and wide steps that lead to an amazing entryway, Salem-Baum makes for a beautiful backdrop to your senior pictures. Grass and ivy grow in the building, and a stone pathway leads you from the doorway to the back of the church. A nearby, seldom used gravel road next to the church goes back a short way and has trees and plants galore surrounding it.

The steps leading up to the church make for the perfect spot to sit and get the entryway in your portraits, or you can stand in the entryway yourself and lean on the stone walls. At the end of the pathway is a perfect landing spot to place a chair to sit in, or you can climb up into the windows to stand or sit in them.

Ivy is perfect for changing up the scenery a little bit by adding a little pop of color to the grey stone background. Down the gravel road, you can place a chair in the road and sit in it, or even take some fun walking away or towards the photographer portraits.

What to Expect Each Season

Spring

As the trees around the area begin to grow their leaves and regain color again, and the wildflowers begin to bloom down the pathway, Salem-Baum now stands out from the rest of the dull, brown background. This makes for the perfect time of year to take your senior pictures here while it’s not too cold out and the area regains its color.

Summer

All the plants and trees are blooming now around Salem-Baum, so there is plenty of color around the area. The days will most likely be hot though, and Salem-Baum is not covered by shade unless you’re down the gravel road. The field across the street from the church will be growing corn and can add more color into your portraits if you take any facing away from or outside of the building.

Fall

When the leaves begin to change, the whole area around Salem-Baum is draped in beautiful orange, red, and yellow hues. The gravel road has leaves falling all over the place, and makes for fun leaf throwing portraits, or is even beautiful with the leaves all over the ground. Not only are the beautiful fall colors showing, but the weather is starting to cool off too, making this a prime time of year to have senior pictures taken here.

Winter

While the surrounding trees are dead, a good snow can create a winter wonderland here. If you’re looking for snow portraits somewhere that’s not just all forest, then Salem-Baum is the perfect location for you. Since Salem-Baum has no roof, there will also be snow inside the building. If you want a mixture of stone building and some forest, you can walk down the gravel road to get some forest snow portraits as well.

Pricing and Accommodations

Salem-Baum is quiet and absolutely free. It’s open to the public 7 days a week. Donations are appreciated to help keep the building maintained. There are no restrooms accessible.