Everyone assumes Orlando means theme parks. Most couples I shoot there want the opposite, and Orlando quietly has some of the best gardens, brick streets, and lakefront in the state.
I am based in Tampa and drive over regularly. Here is where I take people.
Winter Park
If you only have time for one area, make it this one.
Park Avenue gives you brick streets, storefronts, and old oaks. Central Park sits right alongside it with a rose garden and a train running past. And the Winter Park chain of lakes is a few blocks away.
You can get architecture, greenery, and water within a few blocks without moving the car, which makes it the most efficient location in the metro.
Kraft Azalea Garden
Also in Winter Park, on Lake Maitland. Enormous cypress trees, a lakefront lawn, and a set of white stone columns known locally as the Exedra that everybody photographs and that still looks good.
Small park, free, and it gets busy at sunset because photographers know about it. Weekdays are much easier.
Harry P. Leu Gardens
Fifty acres of botanical garden a few minutes from downtown. Formal rose garden, a bamboo grove, camellias, and a lot of old oaks.
There is an entry fee and photography policies to check, so call ahead. Worth it if you want lush and structured.
Lake Eola
Downtown, with the swan boats and the fountain, and the city skyline directly behind it. This is the postcard Orlando shot that is not a theme park.
Best right at sunset when the fountain lights come on and the skyline starts to glow. Parking is street or garage, and it is busy most evenings.
Mead Botanical Garden
Quieter than Leu, more natural and less manicured. Boardwalks, wetlands, and a butterfly garden. Free, which is unusual for a garden this size.
Good pick if you want green without a fee or a permit process.
Downtown Orlando and Thornton Park
Brick streets, bungalows, murals, and low buildings. Thornton Park especially has that walkable neighborhood feel with texture in the backgrounds.
Good for couples who want something with a little grit rather than gardens.
The Cypress and Moss Version
If you want Old Florida rather than city, the lakes east and north of town give you cypress, Spanish moss, and open water. Lake Baldwin has a shoreline path and a quieter feel.
A Note on Light Here
Orlando is inland, which changes things compared to the coast.
There is no water on the western horizon, so sunsets are softer and shorter than a Gulf beach sunset. The color tends to be pastel rather than fiery, and it fades faster once the sun is down.
Practically: be in position earlier. On the coast I can shoot fifteen minutes past sunset. Inland that window is shorter, so I plan the last location to start about forty minutes before rather than twenty.
Sunset here runs a few minutes earlier than Tampa. Full timing guide here.
Picking Between Them
One location, best variety: Winter Park.
Gardens: Leu Gardens if you want formal, Mead if you want natural and free.
City and skyline: Lake Eola into Thornton Park.
Old Florida: the lakes, with cypress and moss.
Two locations in one evening: Winter Park into Kraft Azalea. Five minutes apart.
Practical Notes
Permits. Most public parks are fine for a couple and a photographer. Botanical gardens and some city parks have policies for professional shoots, so I check before we book a date.
Traffic. I-4 is genuinely unpredictable. If we are shooting at sunset I build in extra time, and I would rather arrive thirty minutes early than miss the light.
Bugs. Anywhere near the lakes at dusk, especially May through October.
It is hotter inland. Without the coastal breeze, Orlando in summer feels warmer than Tampa. Dress accordingly. More on that here.
Shooting in Orlando
I travel to Orlando regularly and there is no additional fee for engagement sessions there. If you are getting married in the area or just want to shoot somewhere with gardens and brick streets, send me a message. More work on the portfolio.