I am often asked what locations do I recommend. My response is most of the time; What is your vision or what type of look are you wanting? If I know what you are looking for, I can match you to an ideal spot! Salem and surrounding areas have so many options for sessions. Tall grass, trees, vintage house, rose garden, fields of flowers, barn like buildings, and yes downtown vibes! I have given you a small samples of sessions I have taken around town and I have labeled each location and time of year if multiple locations.

It doesn’t matter if you are having an engagement session, maternity session, family or senior session, we can find you some great options here in the Willamette Valley! As I was going through some of my sessions, I had so many great options, I wanted to share these with you as the “Family collections” 

These photos are taken in Stayton at Pioneer Park, this is a wonderful location and it has so many options for different looks and areas to take photos! It is a great location if it rains, but be aware if it’s raining there will be a lot of photographers there and we can all share the location! The North Santiam is also located just down the road from Pioneer Park in Stayton and it’s a great option to add a different look to your families gallery. North Santiam is a drift boat launch so you may need to be aware of this in addition to the rocky terrain.

I have added some summer and fall looks for the same parks so you can see different options for different times of the year. 

This cute family chose to take photos at Waterfront park. There are so many options for this location to shoot here. There is a fair amount of walking and you might have some people to edit out of your photos or wait until people have passed. It is VERY busy on certain times of the year!

What to Wear: I have to mention clothing selection just for a moment. As you notice in most all of these photos for family photos, everyone did a great job on their outfits! My suggestion is to find a color family of 3-4 colors and try to stick with solid outfits (limiting your prints, plaids, patterns). You will be so much happier with your family pictures if you stick to this concept. If you need help with this, I am happy to give suggestions, color palettes or links to my Pinterest pages. 

Bush Park is HUGE! it is 90.5 acres of walking/running paths, it is located in the heart of Salem on Mission/High/Leffelle Streets. There are wooded areas, rose gardens, a gazebo, a vintage house, an art museum, a play ground and even a green house. So warning, when you say “lets meet at bush park” you will need to be specific!! I haven’t even been to all areas of the park, there’s lots to explore at this park!

Time of day: I get asked this a lot, I always try to schedule any session at GOLDEN HOUR. This is 1-2 hours after sunrise or 1-2 hours before sunset. We are lucky in Oregon we have a lot of days with clouds. This can work in your favor! Clouds are a great filter!! So don’t be disappointed to not have a “blue bird day”. 

I will say one big exception to this: if you have littles (aka little people), I want to take pictures when they are the happiest! We will find shade, or use a shield to help with some of the glare or spotty light. 

Deepwoods Estates is one of my favorites, I am still amazed when I hear people say, “I’ve lived in Salem all my life and I’ve never been here.” It is a magical location for a wedding or event! Deepwoods in historic house the gives tours and has beautiful decorations during the holidays. They have a house, green house, public restrooms, carriage house, Pringle creek runs in the back of it and it has a lot of walking trails in the back of the property that gives you a lot of options for photos in this location!!!

I hope you find this useful! I am in the process of doing one for senior sessions as well so make sure to check this out as well! Make sure to follow me on social media to check out more fun locations!! 

Willamette Mission State Park is located North of Keizer off of Wheatland road. It is a fee park, so you will need to have a pass or pay $5 for entry. The park is HUGE to put it mildly, 1680 acres according to google! There are miles of bike & walking trails, you can fish, kayak, play disc golf or even go camping! This park has a lot of different areas to take photos and wonderful fall color!! In the Spring there are fields of daisies that make for some of the sweetest pictures!!!

Minto Brown is location out south Salem location on yup you guessed it Minto Island rd. (off River road) This too is a huge park (1200 acres) this park near the Willamette River. It gives you a lot of options for tall grass, wooden bridges, boat docks, a pond with lilly pads, you might even see a wild bunny run across you path! It’s also one of my favorites, but be prepared to walk!

I hope you have enjoyed a little look at locations around the Salem/Willamette Valley to take pictures of your beautiful family. I will be adding more locations for you so stay tuned!!! Make sure to keep checking back. Senior sessions locations will be coming next!