Best Location for Your Senior Session in Charleston

Next to “What do I wear for my senior session?”, “What location should I choose for my senior session?” is one of the most frequent questions that I get. Whether you are a local just overwhelmed by the possibilities, or a visitor to Charleston and don’t know the best nooks and crannies in town, this guide will help you determine the best location for YOUR senior session.

The setting for your session is an important part of your portraits, but it is only a PART of the story you are telling: location, wardrobe, hair & makeup, facial expression, and posing all come together to form a portrait that tells the viewer what you want to express.

Charleston is such a beautiful city with so many gorgeous backdrops. Deciding the overall vibe for your session is a great way to start determining what locations will suit you best. Do you like romantic and dreamy? Historic and charming? Industrial and gritty? Unique and different from everyone else? Let’s dive into some of my favorite locations in Charleston.

Historic Charleston

This tops the list because it is always a fan favorite. Textured stucco buildings with charming window boxes overflowing with flowers, cobblestone streets, ancient brick walls covered in ivy and moss and resurrection ferns, decorative shutters in amazing colors, exquisite wrought iron gates . . . the list goes on!

The sheer amount of variety you can achieve in one square block makes historic Charleston a fabulous location for a reason. I love the way the afternoon light reflects off the pastel homes and gives skin tones a bright, beautiful pop. There are SO many places to sit and lean, which makes for endless posing possibilities.

Our fair city is always changing, too, which makes for some seasonal surprises. I know just where that wall of wisteria is in the spring, where the hot pink crepe myrtles arch just so perfectly over the sidewalk in the summer, which house ALWAYS delivers with unbelievable window box gardens in the fall. 

By the same token, there is always something under construction – dumpsters, scaffolding, neon orange cones – so we always need to be prepared with a Plan B in case a specific location is unable to be utilized (although I CAN make a construction site work for a backdrop if that’s the look you’re going for!).

Also, garbage collection and recycling day is currently on Mondays. This means that huge, ugly bright blue and green bins will be lining the streets from Sunday evening into Monday. It’s hard to avoid these suckers (and I won’t move personal property), so it’s a consideration to make when planning a session in this location.

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell where private homes end and public spaces begin, so it’s very important to note that we ALWAYS need to be respectful of private property. Bad behavior from photographers and tourists has become an unfortunate issue for historic Charleston dwellers, and it’s definitely not okay to violate their private spaces (i.e. moving their Amazon deliveries out of the way on their doorstep, entering gated gardens, climbing on walls, etc.).

Local Parks

In our subtropical climate, we are blessed to have greenery year-round.  There are some trees that change colors in the fall and drop leaves, but for the most part we don’t get the stunning colors of fall as in many other places. While that may be a bit of a disappointment in the autumn, it means that we never really have a season where everything looks dead and brown!

Our local parks are beautiful in every season and are the perfect place to find those iconic oak trees dripping with wispy Spanish moss. I love the way that sunlight filters through the branches to give a warm glow at the end of the day. 

Two of my very favorites are White Point Garden and Hampton Park, both with lovely wooden benches and adorable gazebos in the center, which adds structural features that we can utilize for variety in posing.  In fact, Hampton Park in the winter is the best time to find blooming camellias, stunning in every shade from white to dark red.

Palmetto Islands County Park in Mount Pleasant is also a nice park with lots of shade and even some waterfront/dock locations (but no blooming flowers at any time).

Local Beaches

The beach is another wildly popular location for senior sessions, especially for folks who travel to Charleston for a destination session. The grassy dunes, white capped waves and golden sunsets make for a backdrop unlike anything else. The barefoot vibe is very relaxed and summery.

The beach does have its pitfalls, however. Lighting on the beach can be very harsh in full sunlight because there is nothing to filter the light and no shade. There isn’t a whole lot of variety at the beach – water and sand as far as the eye can see – and there typically aren’t any structures to sit or lean on (unless we get lucky with some palmetto trunk that’s washed ashore). It’s usually pretty windy, which can destroy your hair and get sand stuck to your skin.  For these reasons, I usually suggest adding a few minutes at the beach to the END of your session instead of having an ENTIRE session at the beach. This way you can get the beachy look and go home to rinse off all the sand 🙂

Bonus points if you want to bring a surfboard and get in the water!!

There are three Charleston-area beaches – Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island and Folly Beach – but be aware that NO commercial activity is allowed on Sullivan’s Island beaches (meaning that professional photography is prohibited – personal photography is always okay!). 

Marshy Waterfront

I feel like this is like the beach category above without the sand. Our ecosystem in Charleston is so unique, and the grassy marshland around the city is a gorgeous one. In general, the lighting here is beautiful for about 30 minutes a day and we need to time it perfectly to get that golden glow because there is no shade here to soften the hard shadows.

Pitt Street Bridge, Shem Creek Park and Waterfront Park in Mount Pleasant are great spots for a quick stop to capture this coastal look. Have access to a private dock or boat? That would be even better and would give you a unique setting unlike anyone else’s!

Industrial and Gritty

I don’t get this request often, but I have to admit that I LOVE these spaces! Usually more popular with the guys, an industrial location is a great alternative to the refined and pastel: metal staircases, railing, cable, concrete, glass, rusty and overgrown. These kind of spots are a little more difficult to find in our historic city (we don’t have a real “urban” feel as many metropolitan areas do), but I have a few favorites.

Also, never overlook the potential of a great parking garage! While it may not be the look for everyone, it is a perfect spot when it’s raining (for obvious reasons), but you can also find some pretty cool Charleston vistas and sunsets. It’s also an incredible location to showcase your beloved car/jeep/truck (again, guys LOVE this).

Plantations & Historic Sites

Plantations and historic sites such as Boone Hall Plantation, Magnolia Plantation and Charlestowne Landing are undisputedly one of the major attractions to the Charleston area. They are stunning locations with manicured gardens and gracious homes. Plantation venues make an amazing backdrop, which is why they are a top choice of brides and grooms for wedding locations. This, in turn, makes them not-so-great locations for a senior session.

First, the plantations charge a photography fee for non-wedding sessions. This cost can exceed $250 for a single session. In addition, the scheduling of a non-wedding session can be quite a headache, since the properties are closed to the public when weddings are taking place (pretty much every single weekend). This means that we can’t access these properties during the most ideal lighting times.

While not impossible for a senior session, these are very tricky to schedule and adds an additional fee that I have to pass on to my clients. I don’t recommend them.

Private Property

This is where things can get really interesting. I always love hearing that my clients own a sunflower farm or a shrimp boat or an airplane . . . I love getting creative with the places that are important and unique to YOU! The possibilities are absolutely endless, so think about it: what do YOU have access to that NO ONE ELSE does? Let’s incorporate it into your session!

Studio

This location gets a bad rap, and it’s because it’s often associated with uninspired volume photography (class pics, anyone??). But a creative studio session can totally elevate your senior portrait experience.

First of all, a climate-controlled indoor location is an awesome place to be when the weather is imperfect: raining or humid or freezing or boiling hot. You hair doesn’t frizz and your makeup doesn’t melt. You have access to a bathroom and a mirror and all the water and snacks you could want.  It’s also private, meaning that you don’t have all those looky-loo tourists wondering what you’re doing in downtown Charleston or in the middle of a park.

You don’t have to lug around anything with you or get changed in the car – bring it all inside and you’re set! You can hang up your clothes (AND steam them, if necessary) and bring any amount of props you want without the hassle of carrying everything for blocks.  It allows ME to get more creative with lighting and backdrops and props. 

A studio session is perfect to showcase attributes you want to show off, especially sports and activities you are involved with. With a little bit of advance planning, the options are literally endless! Together we can create some incredible portraits that truly show who you are (without being at the mercy of the environment).

Best Location for Your Senior Session

On the whole, Charleston is an incredible place to live and visit for its natural and architectural beauty. It’s no wonder that so many folks visit every year. If you haven’t considered traveling to Charleston for a destination senior session, you absolutely should! While there is no one BEST location for your senior session in Charleston, I hope that you have gotten some great inspiration to get started planning. I recommend selecting two very different locations from the list above to give yourself the most possible variety.

Ready to schedule YOUR senior session in Charleston? Contact me today to get the ball rolling!