Locations for Senior Portraits in the Colorado Springs Area
Coloradans are blessed to have plenty of gorgeous outdoor locations to photograph!
Here are a few (but not all!) locations to choose from.
Bear Creek Regional Park and Nature Center
Located on the southwest side of Colorado Springs Bear Creek Regional Park and Nature Center offers everything that shouts Colorado. The park has large grassy areas, trails, pavilions, and sports courts, all perfect areas for portraits. At the Nature Center there are ponderosa pines, scrub oak, bridges, walking paths, meadows full of wildflowers in the summer, tall golden grass in the fall, and a creek with rocks that make the perfect place to sit and dangle your feet in the water.
Cottonwood Creek Park
Located on the northeast side of Colorado Springs. While there are plenty of organized sports facilities at the front of the park, Cottonwood Creek offers an assortment of settings for your photos in the back area. The creek, pines and leafy trees, walking bridges, and areas full of flowers and tall grasses.
Downtown Colorado Springs
Downtown is full of diverse areas for portraits. There are colorful murals, stairways, alleys, and brick, metal, and granite buildings. Colorado Springs has a program that brings artists in to create murals around the downtown area each year, so you can choose any (or all!) of the murals that speak to you to use as a background for your portrait. We can find funky corners and bursts of greenery among both the modern structures and buildings of old.
Fox Run Park
Fox Run is an awesome year-round location for portraits! My favorite spot to photograph is the area around Aspen and Spruce Lakes. I love capturing the reflections off the water, the beautiful leaves as they change throughout the year, and the variety of backgrounds offered with the trees and walking paths. The park sits between Colorado Springs and Black Forest and is easy to get to.
Garden of the Gods
The red rock formations of Garden of the Gods are a well-known background for wedding, proposal, family, and senior photos. The most popular photo location is Balanced Rock. It’s so popular it’s almost impossible to photograph without other people in the frame. While Garden of the Gods is famous for its spectacular red rocks, there are plenty of tall grasses, wildflowers (late spring – late summer), wooden fences, shrubbery, and various trees that serve as the perfect portrait backdrop.
Manitou Springs
Manitou Springs is just west of Colorado Springs in the foothills. It’s a small town with a great small-town feel. Quaint shopfronts, the Penny Arcade, stone steps, and mature trees lend gorgeous backgrounds for your photographs. For those who are adventurous and love water, Rainbow Falls is also a perfect setting for your portraits.
Old Colorado City
Old Colorado City is a great location for portraits. This neighborhood has a quaint, small-town feel. It’s brimming with original brick buildings, unique shops, funky doorways, brick sidewalks, grown trees, several murals, and wrought iron outdoor seating at various eateries along Colorado Ave.
Palmer Park
This park is a hidden gem in the middle of Colorado Springs! It’s easy to get to, has plenty of parking in multiple areas, and has a variety of features. There are unique rock formations, ponderosa pines, yucca plants, meadows with wildflowers in the summer and tall grasses in the fall and winter, and unhindered views of Pikes Peak. All these things make gorgeous backgrounds for your senior portraits.
Red Rock Canyon Open Space
Red Rock Canyon Open Space is just to the south of Garden of the Gods, separated by Cimarron Street. There are ponderosa pines and scrub oaks, a small lake, meadows, and plenty of beautiful red rock formations. There is plenty of variety with only a short hike into the park, which is helpful since you don’t want to get all sweaty and dirty before your senior portraits.
Ute Valley Park
Ute Valley is a beautiful park located on the northwestern side of Colorado Springs. There is hiking in the foothills on the Centennial Boulevard side of the park and a large meadow with tall grasses and a short walking bridge perfect for pictures off Vindicator Drive. There is a single large oak tree that doubles as a backdrop to lean against for your portraits.
While I love all these locations, my favorites are the ones that seem the least likely to be a photographic spot: flowers growing on the side of the road, an outside wall of a building, reflection of a window. You are the main focus of your senior portraits, so the background should complement you. Ready to schedule or senior portraits? Contact me today!
