In the last article I looked in a general way at where to go for your location session. If nothing comes to you yet then here are a few more specific ideas for where to go in Cork:
Currabinny Woods (51.812170, -8.304958) is an excellent location for family photos. It has everything: it’s compact, good parking and not too far away. It has plenty of options for kids of all ages in most weather conditions.
Fitzgerald’s Park (51.8962438,-8.4958268) is another good location and very handy from the city. We normally start at the Museum end and work our way through the park. Lots of options here including the trees, stumps, sculptures, benches etc. They new playground is a lot more photogenic but because there are usually so many other kids there we leave that to the end after the session (sometimes it can be used as an incentive if you’re careful with it – more on incentives later)
The Japanese Gardens, Ballinlough (51.8863896,-8.4489809) may not be the most selubrious location but it’s very handy for the office and the lower part of the park offers enough options for a good family photo shoot. There’s a nice bit of cover there, benches, trees and the quarry as backdrop so it has worked very well for me on many occassions.
The Lough (51.885795, -8.488243) is more limited in terms of stuff to sit, stand or lean on but there’s enough there to work with and the Lough itself looks nice as a background. The far end is probably nicer than the Hawthorn end but we usually stroll around and see what works best. The playground is very bright and can be busy for photos.
Ballincollig Regional Park (51.890118,-8.61589) is a bit further out of town and quite a large area. The area closest to the car park is pretty open but there are areas near the river and down the far end that could be used. It’s probably more suitable to older kids who don’t mind walking further.
Faran Woods (51.8888995,-8.75678) is even further out. It’s a good location but there are a some of things to watch out for (apart from having to pay for the Car Park!). The playground is on the way in so you can get a bit stuck there if you don’t manage things properly. It’s a nice wooden playground but there’s more opportunities to be had in the woods themselves.
Rostellen Woods (51.8446453,-8.1904122) is out the other side of the city but handy for Midleton or East Cork in general. It’s a nice compact woods with options for views of the harbour is your kids can walk that far. The ruins on the shore also offer some nice options for posing and backgrounds to add to the forest pictures.
Killeagh Woods (51.9427735,-7.9922103) is even further out East of the City but is a really nice compact woods with lots going on there to work with: a stream, bridges, woods, benches, all that. Take the left behind the Thatched Cottage and left again to go up along the river.
Fota Gardens (51.8927924,-8.3058249) is a great location for photos with plenty of options for playing and forming informal groups: house steps, carved seats, fernery, rose gardens, orangery etc Technically you may need permission to shoot in the grounds but I’ve never had a problem there. Much of the Arboretum is evergreen so it works well all year round but if you’re looking for Autumn colour, it’s not your location of choice.