Your Place, or Mine? | places to take pictures in Omaha

Places to take pictures in Omaha

I can’t tell you how many times I get asked what are the best places to take pictures in Omaha.  A lot of family photographers have their clients choose the location for their session (spoiler: I don’t make my clients do my job for me).  And others just simply aren’t budgeting in professional photography for a season.  I also have newborn clients that are really torn between in-home lifestyle photography and the clean crisp studio photography.  So, this begs the question: your place or mine?  This blog post is going to be JAM packed with incredible information for everyone looking to take a picture or have their picture be taken in Omaha.

There are pros and cons to each option.  Lots of people value in home newborn images because this is the place their baby will take their first steps in, their first of everything and having that documented in that place is special beyond belief.  The problem is, our homes aren’t always “picture ready” and some of our homes aren’t necessarily “instagram ready”.  With my 6th daughter, I hired a photographer for an in home session and it was wonderful to be able to stay at home.  But you know what I did within the first two weeks of birth?  I was cleaning and straightening up every inch of my house to a degree I had never done before.  And I’ll let you take three guesses on how that made me feel with 5 young children undoing everything after I had gotten to it.  Truthfully, a LOT of things ended up shoved into closets and drawers just to get the job done.  But I’ll let you also guess how long those things stayed there.  Yeah.  Far too long.  So I don’t know if I can really help you decide what’s best for you, because I totally get it.  Those images are so special to me.  But I also know how not-ideal this was for me!  If this is you and you just absolutely have to have your images in your home,  I have some really helpful tips for making this a little less stressful and your home serene and beautiful for YOUR best places to take pictures in Omaha.

1.  Set aside just one or two rooms with the best possible light (your photographer can help you determine that if you need it!) that you can clean and section off well before the birth.
2. Hire a house cleaner the day before. You’ll thank me later.
3. White is a reflective surface.  If your room doesn’t have as much light as you’d like it to, make sure you bring in as much white as possible, including furniture!  In your master bedroom you can use these sheets, this duvet cover, these throw pillows, these curtains (they will help “send” the light farther into your room!), this curtain rod, this bench at the end of your bed and this chair.

Personally, I love my studio.  I’ve worked countless hours to get everything exactly as it should be to not only make your images look the best, but to allow the light to bounce around in such a particular way that it highlights every beautiful feature of your family and diminishes any flaws.  It is truly magical.  Newborn session in the studio are my absolute favorite and I secretly hope this is what you choose. ♡

If you are here wondering where the greatest places to take pictures in Omaha are because you are going the DIY route.  I’ve got you.  In the fall I love to go to Chalco.  There is a sweet spot on the north side that has some gorgeous tall grass that dances in the light at sunset.  It is dreamy.  I don’t suggest going there in the spring, however, since ticks make their great emergence during that time.  Old Market or the Heartland of America Park in downtown Omaha is a fantastic urban location any time of the year.  There are beautiful buildings that make dreamy backdrops if that’s the look you’re going for.  In a pinch, you can also just keep an eye out!  There are so many lovely little pockets of landscape on the side of the road throughout the metro.  Just be sure you’re not trespassing!  The last place I love going is Elmwood park by University of Nebraska.  It’s probably the most wooded area in all of Nebraska! (besides Fontanelle forest, maybe…). So beautiful!  Definitely one of the more unique places to take pictures in Omaha.

Locations in Omaha for Great Images

If you’ve made it this far, you deserve a prize for sticking with me!  Whether you are embarking on your DIY family photos or you are simply a new mom wanting to take MORE images of your baby.  I’d love to equip you with a few tips and tricks for making those images the best they can be!  Tip #1: never get your phone close to someones face when taking a picture.  If you need to be closer, step back, and zoom in with your phone.  Without getting too technical, you’ve just made a very important decision to not give your subject a bigger-than-life nose.  When you are too close, it distorts your subject’s face and is quite unattractive.  Tip #2: find the light.  Natural light is always the best choice.  Turn all the lights off in your home (yes, it might be dark) and get really close and snuggly with window light.  Even better if your light is coming in diagonally across your subject’s face.  Tip #3: if you want to be in the image, try using this tripod.  It even comes with a remote!

I find it an absolute joy to photograph families during some of their most precious memories.  Even if you are here merely looking for the best places to take pictures in Omaha so you can DIY your images, I hope you found some helpful tips here and I’m so glad you stopped by!

If you are thinking about hiring a Omaha newborn photographer  I would absolutely love to have a chat with you about an experience with me.  I am so very passionate about not only getting your memories printed for your home but also serving you.  You have enough on your plate right now.  Let’s not let those images sit unseen on a USB drive, but let’s also not add another thing to your to-do list.  From the details of picking outfits to designing to delivery, I will handle it all so you don’t have to.  In order to give my clients this luxury service, I only take a limited number of clients per month so contact me as soon as possible to get on my calendar.

Head over to my friend Michele’s blog to read a fun post about pet friendly family photos.

If you are looking for a places to take pictures in Omaha you might also be interested in reading these helpful blog posts:

• Interior Design and Your Family Photographers Omaha NE
• Session Success: Tips for Toddlers | Bellevue Family Photographer
• The 3 Best Spas in Omaha NE for an amazing Prenatal Massage

Virginia Schultz is a published Omaha newborn photographer specializing in motherhood storytelling and custom heirloom artwork for busy and stylish moms in the Omaha & Lincoln metro. From handmade albums to exquisite, museum-worthy frames, her passion is to serve clients by designing artwork for them that will last generations.  Your memories deserve to be seen.

Currently serving Sarpy, Douglas, Cass, Landcaster, Saunders, Mills, Pottawattamie & Washington Counties including Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Papillion, La Vista, Gretna, Elkhorn, Boys Town, Bennington, Council Bluffs and surrounding areas.

You can see my work featured on the cover of the August 2022 magazine and the September 2022 magazine.