Summer is finally here! With summer comes beautiful weather and outside time. My favorite place to take pictures is outside in nature. The sun and the colors lend themselves so well to joy filled pictures! For those of you learning photography, now is a great time to practice taking pictures outside in all different lighting. There are endless photoshoot ideas you could try. The following are a few of my favorites!

Greenhouses

This year I tried something new that quickly became a favorite! I went to a greenhouse to capture my nephew exploring all the plants! This was such a fun shoot because of all the variety. The greenhouse I went to had almost every kind of plant you could think of! The variety at a greenhouse gives you lots of opportunity to change up backgrounds and framing.

Greenhouses are also great because they have such even lighting. Even if it's a harsh, sunny day, inside the greenhouse will have even lighting because the roof and walls are acting as a giant soft box! (Check out my post here for more discussion on lighting.) This kind of light all but guarantees great pictures.

Parks

Parks are another great option! You could go to a local park or travel around to different ones. Just like greenhouses, parks can have a lot of variety. The park near where I grew up is right next to a lake so it has a small beach, a pier, a playground, a gazebo, and a basketball court! No matter where you go, the only limit is your creativity.

Here are a few suggestions to get your wheels turning: If you're photographing kids, you could capture them playing, exploring, or enjoying the environment. For any age, you could use the space you're in like interacting with trees, buildings, or foliage. If you don't have any models, you could just take pictures of the park itself! Try capturing both small details and the big picture. No matter the subject or the space, get creative and photograph things as you see them! (For a few more tips on taking awesome photos check out my post here!)

Places With Water

Another of my favorite photoshoot locations are places with water! Although they can be tricky to find depending on where you live, they are so pretty! Water can add such a unique sense of peace to a photo. Personally, I think even photos of giant ocean waves can look peaceful!

In keeping with the theme of this post, "places with water" is a pretty vague statement. That can mean river, stream, rain, lake, ocean, or puddle! Of course, there are photoshoots you can do in each of these places: go fishing, play in the water, go swimming, use an umbrella in the rain, or jump in puddles. You can also bring props with you or use whatever you find in your location!

Pro tip for if you're in a space where your camera may get wet: cut a small hole in a plastic grocery bag, wrap it around your lens, secure with a rubber band, and pull the rest of the bag over your camera. This keeps water off pretty well but you'll want to make sure your camera dries off completely before storing it in your camera again!

No matter the places you travel this summer, keep your camera close to capture those moments! Whether planned or spontaneous, photoshoots are a fun way to capture the world around you. Get creative and practice, practice, practice!