Have you been to the greenhouse by Potawatomi Zoo? When we first got married, we lived in River Park. We were broke and kidless, so we had a lot of time on our hands and no money to spend, so we found all the free ways to have fun. We walked, biked, walked again, played tennis, walked some more… we walked all over. This greenhouse was basically in our backyard, so we got to know it pretty well on all the walks around IUSB, Potawatomi Park and sweet, sweet Sunnymede. (Sunnymede is so cute!)

It’s a great place to have your photos taken. Read on to find out why.

It’s warm and green all year round.
When you’re in the middle of the dreaded winter blues, you can almost trick your mind into thinking it’s spring time again. The temperature is warm and the plants are lush. After walking around for a while, you almost forget the high glass ceilings are there, and you can start to pretend it’s nice out again! That’s always a sell when the permacloud settles over Northern Indiana.

Toddler solo shot at Conservatory in South Bend

Potawatomi Greenhouse Candid Shot of Mom and baby

Family Pictures at the Potawatomi Conservatory Greenhouse

Candid portrait shot at Potawatomi Conservatory

2. Milestones Don’t Just Happen In Summer

Your baby turns 6 months old in January, and you desperately want pictures but don’t want a documentary style shoot at your house. What do you do? You can hardly expect a baby to be bundled up beyond recognition for her milestone pictures. Braving the cold is not going to make for the most compliant kid. You might want family pictures because your baby turns a year old in the winter, or your whole family is together for mom’s birthday in March. Maybe you forgot to schedule senior pictures and the warmer months are already booked out. The Potawatomi Conservatory gives you the opportunity to do all of these photo shoots with a portrait look, like we would have in summer at a park. It’s a terrific option when you can’t delay for warmer weather.

Family Pictures at Potawatomi Greenhouse South Bend

Where to have family pictures in Winter in Michiana

3. We Can Schedule an Earlier Photo Shoot

If you don’t know, every photographer’s favorite and ideal time to schedule portraits is an hour before the sunsets. In summer, that can get pretty late for families with young children. Stupid late. Why is it still light out at 10 in the middle of summer. So weird. Anyway, since the light in the greenhouse stays a little more even throughout the day, we can schedule earlier. In fact, we have to schedule earlier, because they close at 4. Working around weddings, yoga, events and the couple days a week they are closed, still gives us plenty of chances to meet up and shoot at this great location.