Main Street Park is located at 3788 Main Street next to the Main Street Boat Ramp in Middleburg on the North Fork of Black Creek
Pros: For such a small park (5 acres) there is a surprising variety of photo opportunities, including a boardwalk, wooden steps, a fishing pier, and some lovely trees.
Cons: It is a rather small park and there are often quite a few people out around the boat ramp, especially during the summer time.
Recommendations: No longer than a 30 minutes session, great for families with small children
Entrance to Eagle Landing is located at the intersection of Oakleaf Plantation Parkway and Eagle Landing Parkway in Orange Park off of Branan Field Road.
Pros: Very meticulously manicured landscaping, small bridge and manmade waterfall.
Cons: The sprinklers have been known to come on at unexpected times! While very pretty, there is not a large variety of photo backdrops. Some walking involved to get to that area.
Recommendations: No longer than a 30 minute session, good for families and children.
Spring Park Green Cove Springs is located in downtown Green Cove Springs at the end of Springs Street off of Hwy 17 adjacent to the St. Johns River.
Pros: A natural spring constantly flowing water, a huge fishing pier, gazebo, beautiful natural trees/grasses, bridge, of course – the St. Johns River.
Cons: Popular location for parties and weddings so sometimes you have to work around them.
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for families, children, engagement, or even bridal shots
Kathryn Abby Hanna Park is located at 500 Wonderwood Drive, Atlantic Beach
Pros: Tremendous variety of photo backdrops, from a lake, to lush vegetation, to stately trees, to sand dunes, to the beach itself.
Cons: Entrance fee of $3 per car, can often be a little crowded during the summer time
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for all types of photo shoots
Public Beaches
Pros: Its free! The beach is such a beautiful place, especially at sunset.
Cons: Because it is free, it is very often crowded and it can sometimes be difficult to get shots that don’t have other people in the background.
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for all types of photo shoots
Anastasia State Park is located at 300 Anastasia Park Rd, St. Augustine
(The following pros/cons/recommendations would be applicable to any of the state parks along the beach)
Pros: An absolutely gorgeous pristine beach environment. Generally less crowded than public beaches.
Cons: Entrance fee of $8 per vehicle.
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for all types of photo shoots
Ringhaver Park is located at 5198 118th Street , Jacksonville.
Pros: Gorgeous variety of scenery, boardwarks, awesome trees (some are great for climbing!), the Ortega River, an interesting variety of vegetation, and a HUGE playground.
Cons: To get to all of that beauty requires a pretty good amount of walking. The loop to go out to the river is around 2 miles or so round trip.
Recommendations: Because of all the walking involved you should plan for a minimum of a 1 hour session. If you have small children you may want to bring a stroller!
Alpine Groves Park is located at 2060 State Road 13 on Swiss Lane, Switzerland
Pros: Wonderful variety of photo backdrops including a turn of the century barn, outbuildings, and plantation style home, gorgeous vegetation, pretty park benches, and an amazing view of the St. Johns River.
Cons: Popular wedding spot so sometimes you have to work around the party, which isn’t too difficult considering the size of the park.
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for all types of photo shoots
Memorial Park is located at 1620 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville
Pros: Historic location in downtown Jacksonville, huge old trees, concrete walkway along the St. Johns River, large open green.
Cons: Very popular park so you have to work around people to get your photos and parking can sometimes be tricky.
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for all types of photo shoots
Treaty Oak Park (Jesse Ball DuPont Park) is located at 1123 Prudential Drive, Jacksonville.
Pros: Treaty Oak is AMAZING. There really is no other tree around like it.
Cons: Not exactly in the nicest part of town and is a frequent stopping place for homeless people.
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for all types of photo shoots
Ronnie Van Zant Park is located at at 2760 Sandridge Road off CR 739 B in the Penney Farms/Lake Asbury area, Middleburg.
Pros: Beautiful fishing pond with lots of decks and bench seating, beautiful trees, very cool and fun Frisbee golf course
Cons: Not the largest variety of photo backdrops around, but still very pretty.
Recommendations: No longer than a 30 minute session, good for families and children.
Ft. Caroline National Memorial Park is located at 12713 Fort Caroline Road, Jacksonville.
Pros: Free National Park, old ruins, pier, gorgeous trees, St Johns River
Cons: Park closes at 5:00, so you can’t always do photos during the best lighting times (i.e. the hour before sunset)
Recommendations: 30 minute and 1 hour sessions, great for all types of photo shoots
Have you tried going downtown? I've seen some photo shoots where people are on RR tracks and around old brick warehouses or fountains (maybe the Landing). Of course, you'd be working around other people but still it's a thought.
ReplyDeleteThe park at the Univ of North Florida is real pretty too and has board walks and water and trees.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any recommendations for where you live, but I just want to say how impressed I am with your work! You are very talented and I'm happy that your new photography business is going so well! I love looking at your pictures.
ReplyDeleteHow about the entrance to Eagle Harbor in Fleming Island? It also has a bridge and waterfall and all that neat stuff. Cons - parking is not great. Or the brick streets of Green Cove. They have some really cool buildings with the brick streets. On the weekend its fairly dead. Almost anywhere in Avondale and Riverside. There is a park I love off 17. I'll have to find the address for you. It's on the water and you can see downtown Jacksonville. It would be neat just for the background.
ReplyDeleteOH WHAT WOULD I GIVE TO HAVE YOU TAKE OUR CHRISTMAS PIC. I saw all those pic and locations and got a HUGE lump in my throat sooo homesick... Floridasick... JarvisSick! WE MISS YOU! Your work is AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, there was a really pretty (if a bit small) park right by the Ortega River Bridge, over near Herschel. I don't know what it's like *now*, but given that it was in the really nice section of Ortega, there's probably a good chance it's not a meth lab. ;)
ReplyDeleteIf you have a way of getting access to NAS JAX, there are some really pretty areas/parks right along the river, back where the hospital is and all of the BIG officer housing is.
And even though it's crowded sometimes, you can't go wrong with the Gardens at the Cummer. It's free on Tuesday afternoons, so you might want to scout it out with the kiddos.
Thanks everyone for the great recommendations!
ReplyDelete