After, “What do I do with my hands”, "Where should we shoot?" is the question I get asked more than any other, on every kind of portrait session — seniors, families, headshots, boudoir, and engagements. The honest answer is it depends on what you're picturing, how many people are involved, and what look you're actually after. I've got three locations I recommend constantly, and they're not interchangeable. Each one solves a different problem.

1. BEST PARK SETTING: Inniswood Metro Gardens (Westerville)

If you want lush, outdoor, and genuinely beautiful without paying a location fee, this is where I send people first. Inniswood is the best floral garden in the Columbus area — a rose garden, a topiary garden, a waterfall, all professionally landscaped — and there's no charge to hold a professional portrait session there. People even get married here, but be mindful, you can’t reserve the space. You can only shoot at the Rose garden, and you just have to show up early enough to hold the space down.

For portrait work specifically, gardens like this do a lot of the work for you. Natural light, layered greenery, real depth in the background — it's the kind of setting that makes portraits feel timeless instead of trendy.

Best for: senior portraits, family portraits, engagement sessions, proposals, and boudoir — anything where a soft, natural, garden setting is part of the story.

2. BEST VARIETY: My Studio — 289 West Walnut St, Unit #13

My studio is downtown at 289 West Walnut St — Unit #13, which I've taken to calling Lucky #13. Fair warning: the building itself is a warehouse-looking spot with zero brand identity outside, so don't expect a sign or storefront to guide you in. Once you're inside, though, it's not limited to four walls. We can start with a clean studio setup with several backdrop options and then walk outside to a handful of great spots nearby — the Scioto Mile, Bicentennial Park, and a bridge overlooking the entire city are just blocks away — all in the same session, at no extra charge. That combination is the widest variety of looks I can offer without adding to the cost.

Inside the studio you'll find some furniture, several seamless backdrops, and two matte-finish walls. It's built for clean, controlled portraits — not a prop house. If your vision depends on a lot of staged set pieces, keep reading.

Where this doesn't work: large groups. The space isn't built for it.

Best for: headshots, individual and small-group portraits, dating profiles, anyone who wants studio-quality shots plus outdoor looks in one session.

3. BEST PREMIUM SCENE: Peerspace.com

Peerspace is the one people are usually surprised to hear a photographer recommend, but it's become one of the most useful tools I point clients toward. It works like an hourly Airbnb, except every listing is a space set up specifically to be photographed in — lofts, styled interiors, industrial spaces, all across the Columbus area, in almost any vibe you can picture.

Here's why I bring it up unprompted: a lot of clients come into a portrait session assuming the photographer is also going to act as set designer and stylist — that whatever scene is in their head, we'll somehow build it. That's not really how it works, and pretending otherwise usually means either disappointing the client or charging them a lot more for custom set construction.

I had a client recently whose daughter had a very specific vision for her senior portraits and had some anxiety about being photographed in public— a scene I couldn't put together myself, and one my studio wasn't going to replicate. Instead of trying to force it or talking her out of it, I pointed her to Peerspace. She found a listing that matched exactly what her daughter had pictured, booked it, and came back thrilled — the photos looked like the specific scene she'd imagined, not a compromise. If I'd tried to build that scene myself, it would have cost more than the hourly rental did, and it still wouldn't have looked as intentional.

The one tradeoff: you're paying by the hour for the space on top of the session cost. But for a very specific vision, it's usually still the cheaper and better-looking route.

Best for: senior portraits with a specific concept, styled shoots, commercial photography, boudoir sessions, and anyone whose vision needs a real set rather than a general-purpose backdrop.

Which One Fits Your Portrait Session?

  • Want a soft, natural, garden-based portrait setting with zero location fee? Inniswood.

  • Want studio quality plus outdoor looks, no extra cost, and don't need space for a big group? My studio.

  • Have a specific scene in your head that needs to actually exist? Peerspace.

I'm thrilled to shoot at any of the three locations. Tell me what you're picturing for your portraits and I'll tell you which location gets you there.