The wrong location may make your senior portraits look bad, or distracting, and you might regret not choosing a better location. This is your one chance to choose a beautiful senior portrait location that makes your portraits pop.
WHY IS THIS LIST IMPORTANT?
Great question. My name is Gaby Chiha and I’m one of the photographers behind Pierre Chiha Photographers. My dad, Pierre, is the other photographer. Pierre Chiha Photographers is a portrait studio in Concord that was created in 1998.
We have decades of experience photographing high school seniors around Concord and metrowest Mass. This means we know all the best photoshoot locations. So, we wrote this list for families and seniors preparing for their senior photoshoot.
With this list, you can feel assured that these senior portrait locations are going to help you get amazing portraits. Get inspired and excited.
RANKING CRITERIA
When we look for a senior portrait location there are a lot of different criteria we look for.
- Beautiful nature
- Variety in nature features such as: trees, bushes, flowers, large rocks, beach, lake, river
- Other features such as: benches to sit on, fences to lean on, or unique features that highlight a particular location
- Shady areas
- Can photograph here at sunset
- Photography is allowed
- Personal meaning to the senior
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH PHOTOGRAPHY PERMITS?
Some of the best senior portrait locations are in state parks or wildlife refuges. They are places with beautiful nature and need to be protected so that we can continue to visit and enjoy them in the future.
Because of this, some locations require a photography permit. This helps these locations from not getting overcrowded, or overused, and to receive funding to help maintain the beautiful grounds.
Help the environment and make sure your photographer is equipped with the right photography permits!
At Pierre Chiha Photographers, we’re really proud to say we have the right photography permits. Together we can visit some of the most beautiful locations for your portrait session and feel good about doing the right thing for the environment as well.
BEST SENIOR PORTRAIT LOCATIONS AROUND CONCORD, MA
1. OLD NORTH BRIDGE PARK
Location: 174 Liberty St, Concord, MA
Parking: 2 public parking lots at either end of the park
Entrance fee: None
Photography permit: No
Description: The Old North Bridge park is one of our absolute favorite senior portrait locations. The park is really big and has so much variety in beautiful nature. One of the main attractions is the iconic bridge that goes over the Concord river. It’s very scenic here. This park has endless opportunities to walk around together and find different corners to create amazing portraits. This location is beautiful year round as well; each season presents different nature backgrounds.
View more information about the Old North Bridge here.
2. GREAT BROOK FARM
Location: 165 North Rd, Carlisle, MA
Parking: Parking lot at the farm
Entrance fee: Yes. Unless you park at the ski area parking lot on Lowell Rd.
Photography Permit: No
Description: Even though this is a farm, this is a great senior portrait location because there are so many beautiful spots on the property that don’t look like a farm at all. You have the option to choose if you want portraits that have more of a rustic vibe or if you want to just have regular nature backgrounds. There is also a pond here.
View more information about Great Brook Farm here.
3. THE DECORDOVA MUSEUM
Location: 51 Sandy Pond Rd, Lincoln, MA
Parking: Parking lot at the museum
Entrance fee: $14 / adult, free for residents of Lincoln and other exemption for certain park pass holders. Check The Trustees website for more info.
Photography permit: You or your photographer must have a Trustees Membership to be allowed to photograph here.
Description: Typically you wouldn’t think of going to a museum for a senior portrait session. However, the deCordova Museum is an amazing exception. This museum has a huge outdoor grounds with lots of larger than life art sculptures and exhibits, which is what makes this a great senior portrait location. What really seals the deal for us is that the outdoor grounds also has a lot of beautiful nature, it’s not just about art pieces.
View more information about the deCordova Museum here.
4. THE BEACH
Location: We recommend a beach on the North Shore, like Singing Beach in Gloucester.
Parking: Depends on the beach. At Singing beach there is limited non-resident parking depending on the season. Otherwise you can park at Masconomo Park, which is a short 10minute walk to the beach.
Entrance fee: Walk on fee of $10 / person. If you’re 65 or older it’s free.
Photography permit: No. However, other beaches require a photography permit to do a photoshoot so make sure you check ahead of time.
5. GREAT MEADOWS
Location: Monsen Rd, Concord, MA
Parking: Parking lot on site
Entrance fee: Yes
Photography permit: No
Description: Great Meadows is a national wildlife refuge, which always makes for a great senior portrait location because you can always count on finding beautiful nature that is more wild or natural that hasn’t been too manicured or stripped down. The refuge is large, which means there’s plenty of opportunity to walk around and find a variety of photo backgrounds.
View more information about Great Meadows here.
6. YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Description: No need to include information about location or parking when it’s your own home!
A senior portrait session at your home is great if you have the right environment for it. We don’t recommend a senior portrait session at your home if you don’t have a yard or very little nature, or very little space.
If you do have a large yard and a variety of different nature elements then this could be a great idea to get senior portraits because you’ll also feel a lot of personal meaning in the photos when seeing your yard or home in the background.
7. THE LAKE OR RIVER
Location: Your choice. This particular session was at lake Winnipesaukee in NH
Parking: Depends on the location
Entrance fee: Typically none
Photography permit: No
Description: The great thing about this photoshoot was that it had personal meaning to the senior and his family. We took the time to get senior portraits and family portraits at the same time. Going to a lake or river can be a great senior portrait location because it’s a naturally beautiful location, but also it presents the opportunity to go somewhere personally meaningful. Pierre Chiha Photographers offers photoshoots with the option to go somewhere further in New England to create especially meaningful portraits.
