Choosing your location – Natural/Park Settings in the Toledo, OH area
What’s the number one question (after pricing) from most of my clients? It is always “can you send me location recommendations?” I love and hate this question. Yes! Of course I can send you location recommendations. We are blessed in the greater Toledo, Ohio area with our amazing (free) metroparks system and the Toledo Botanical Gardens. We have multiple downtown areas to explore beyond downtown Toledo. We are surrounded to the east by Lake Erie which offers beautiful beach options. We have small lakes and rivers in every direction. I can rattle off 30 of my favorite places to shoot every time I am asked for location ideas. But the hardest part is showing you what those locations look like if you have never visited. It’s hard for you to search online these locations and see them the way I do. What is full of potential to me in every season may seem drab to you when driving by. So I am posting some of my favorite, easy, locations as a reference when planning your session. Look them over. See what you like and don’t like about each setting. It’s a great starting point when discussing where to take your photos.
This first post will look at just natural park settings in the Toledo, Ohio and Monroe, Michigan area. There are so many more than what I am showing.
The Toledo Botanical Gardens
The ultimate love it or hate it in Toledo locations. The Toledo Botanical Gardens is either the most beautiful location every spring and summer for your photos, or the most cliche location all your friends use. I personally find something new and wonderful every time I visit here. This location is monstrous and often not fully utilized. It offers a wooded area, tall grasses, walking bridges, water features, three seasons of flowers, and funky artist buildings. There are so many ways to keep it different from everyone else in the area.
Toledo Metroparks
We are blessed with our metro parks. I have lived in quite a few areas, and Toledo has the most extensive, free metropark area I have come across. The amazing parts is how different they all are. If you to roam and roam and roam during your session, go to Oak Openings. You could shoot all day at Oak Openings and never feel like you are in the same area. If you want a quiet time with tall trees, a few walking bridges, and beautiful wildflowers, head over to Secor Metropark. If you are searching for a mix of water, stone work, and greenery, Sidecut is always beautiful. Wildwood has so many areas to explore, you can always find an offbeat path. Between the manor house, walking trails, summer wildflowers, and buildings at the east entrance, it’s hard not to find new beauty at each session.
Hopefully this gives you a “what to expect” look at the locations. We varied the seasons and locations in hopes of giving a complete look at the metro parks. Check back next week for Urban locations and also “best of both worlds:” Locations that offer both urban and natural settings without having to drive anywhere.
Alexis Fischer is a Wedding, Newborn, Modern Senior, and Family photographer servicing the Toledo OH, Sylvania OH, Maumee OH, Perrsyburg OH, Northwest OH, & Southeast MI areas. For more information regarding services or booking, please use the contact section at the top right of this page.