The Fort Worth Botanic Gardens are seriously gorgeous, with so many beautiful flowers and foliage, but is it the right location for you senior pictures? My opinion doesn't really matter here, but I will lay out all the pros and cons for you to decide for yourself.
If you're not familiar with the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, here is a little blurb for their website.
"The Fort Worth Botanic Garden was established in 1934 and is the oldest major botanic garden in Texas, located in the heart of Fort Worth’s cultural district. Long celebrated for its beautiful Rose and Japanese Gardens, the FWBG is comprised of twenty-two specialty garden spaces containing over 2,500 species of plants, a garden conservatory, and a public perennial trial garden, as well as naturalized areas and vistas."
There are at least a few botanic garden spaces in DFW including the Dallas Arboretum and Grapevine Botanic Gardens, but I think its really interesting the Fort Worth is the oldest one in Texas. Maybe thats only interesting to me because I am little bit of a nerd. But thats besides the point. I was recently helping my grandmother scan in some old photos and found images of my grandparents and mom at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens in the Rose garden from the 70s! The gardens have been massively updated in recent years, but the rose garden layout is pretty much identical to how it was 50 years ago (maybe longer I just don't have photographic evidence of that :)).
So they're are 22 garden spaces, but it feels a little different when you're walking through it. There's several large sections and trails, with each area specializing in different botanic varieties. Its actually quite large and there are areas of the gardens I have never explored. I just learned there is a cactus garden! And you can bet my next visit there that will 100% be a spot I visit.
Lets start with the Pros list
Its a beautiful year round
If you are the kind of girl that loves flowers, but you want a session in a season besides spring, this is the place to be. In the "wild" flowers really are only around for a few weeks in the spring. Sometimes, we will get lucky and get some fall wildflowers, but thats less common. Its just too hot or cold, or dry the rest of the year to really have blooming flowers in a nature setting. Since the botanical gardens is curated, they are always in bloom. There is never a bad time to have a session at the gardens if that is the backdrop you want.
Lots of variety
The gardens are huge. You can get everything from beautifully landscaped flower bed, to cool structures and walking paths. Not every shot has to look like it was shot in a botanic garden setting. So you can get some less curated looks as well as the perfectly landscaped flowers. And there is not shortage of structures, which also add a lot of interest to your senior pictures. Its really a great place to just wander around and photograph where you see something pretty.
They're open early
Depending on who you are, opening early might feel more like a con. But they open daily at 8a. Which is an absolutely necessity if you want a summer session. Its a great start time for good light and its not insanely hot. And even If you're not planning on a summer session, mornings are a great option year round. You can get your session started and finished by 10 am. So you don't have to miss a ton of school or weekend plans with your friends.
Good lighting
So for the most part, because there are so many trees and structures, we can get great images in a nature setting more times of the day than in a local park. Thats not true for every single location at all times of the day, but because there is a lot of lighting options paired with my use of off camera flash, there is no part of the gardens we have to miss out on.
Great Location
My senior experience sessions include up to 2 locations, and a lot of my clients cannot decided between urban and nature. So this is a great spot if you want a little bit of both. Its location just south of downtown and its so convenient to spend a hour at the gardens and an hour at just about any spot in downtown Fort Worth. Its also right off the highway and really easy to get to.
OK, so the pro list is pretty long, but here are a few negatives to consider when deciding if you want the botanic gardens as a location for you senior photos.
There is a fee
If you want your session at the botanic gardens there is a photography permit required. Its $75 for 2 hours and includes 3 people, which is usually perfect for most clients. It gets myself, my senior client and a parent admission and if you have more family or friends that want to join, they only need to pay the cost of admission which is about $12. So while there is a fee, its fairly modest compared to other photography venues, but not free like my favorite park in Keller ;). They stop selling passes 2 hours before they close, so even if you only want 1 hour we still need to plan our time based on their closing time.
Popular gardens get crowded
Weekends get a little crazy, they have weddings there as well as regular admission guests. So some of the more iconic locations (I'm looking at you Rose Gardens) are hard to get an unobstructed shot. Of course it is impossible to know how many guests there will be or if there is a wedding before the day of, its kind of a chance that we take. For this reason if you want the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens as a location, I highly recommend a weekday.
Closing Time
So I know I listed lighting as a pro here, but I am going to contradict myself just a teensy bit with this one. Depending on the time of year, they close at either 5p or 6p during daylight savings. And remember they sell the last pass 2 hours before, so thats 3p or 4p start time depending on the time of year. If you love that golden hour look, with the sunset behind you and warm light covering everything, this timing is not the best for that. There is a little bit of time in the winter where the session time and golden hour overlap, but for most of the year, its quite early. This is important to consider not only for your time at the gardens but also for a second location and how light might look there as well. But don't worry, I can help with planning all that.
You can't get IN the flowers
I feel like this is an obviously one, but there is not getting inside the flower beds. And that may or may not be a con for you, but that beautiful images with girls laying or sitting in a field of flowers.....this is not the location for that. And in kind of the same realm, there are labels on all the different species, so sometimes those make it in your images. I try really hard to conceal them whenever possible, but its just not always an option, so just something to consider.
So what do you think? There are so many great reasons to plan a session at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, but do the pros outweigh the cons? Is this a location you would consider for your senior pictures?
-XO
Lindsey
0 Comments