4 Great Locations for Photoshoots in Maryland

Maryland is a beautiful state and an ideal location for photoshoots. We have all four seasons and you can feel and see each one of them. Spring brings bees, butterflies, blooms on trees and colorful flowers. Heavy rains mixed with the crack of thunder add a great soundtrack to the afternoons. Summer is hot and humid, but in most places it’s lush and green. You can find wild honeysuckle and berries in different neighborhoods. At night, the air is filled with lightning bugs coloring the darkness.

Fall brings beautiful reds, yellows, and browns as leaves fall from the trees to the ground. Some fall days have the perfect blue sky, and others are slate gray. It makes you want to grab a cup of hot chocolate and watch a movie or just listen to some easy music. Finally winter comes. The famous Maryland winter that cuts your face and reaches into your bones because it’s so cold. Don’t forget to add the wind that feels like a giant slap. It hurts!

Our seasons are intense. Intensely humid, intensely hot, intensely colorful, intensely cold. With so much intensity and variety, Maryland gives the perfect year round opportunity for photoshoots. If you want to have a photoshoot, you don’t have to wait for one time of year. You can choose a theme for each season if you want.

An example of Cherry Blossom trees in Maryland. This image comes from Northern Virginia Magazine (https://northernvirginiamag.com/sponsored/2020/12/01/6-micro-adventures-that-will-inspire-you-to-visit-montgomery-county-maryland/)

Maryland is also one of the oldest states in the U.S. being part of the 13 original colonies. If you’re not really into taking pictures in nature, you can also find a lot of historical locations instead. There is also a lot of growth and development. With new architecture, walking areas, and outdoor markets, you can choose the natural, the historical, the modern, or combine everything. There might be a lot of places, but I’m going to focus on 4 great locations for photoshoots in Maryland. Even though these are in Maryland, they’re all located in the DMV area.

Hyattsville Arts District

The Hyattsville Arts District is located about 2 miles away from the University of Maryland College Park. In the past, this area wasn’t really much to write home about. With small shops, it wasn’t an area you might plan to spend time in. In fact, it was kind of a dead zone. A spot you’d drive through to get from one place to another.

Fast forward to the early 2000s and things began to change drastically. Now, this district is known for entertainment, coffee, food, arts, and more. Busboys & Poets is probably one of the most famous restaurants there. Pyramid Atlantic is a place to go if you want to have hands-on experiences with printmaking, papermaking, and book arts. Franklin’s Restaurant is a mainstay that has been around the area before the revitalization. It has great food along with a general store at the bottom level. They sell classic childhood games that you might have forgotten about a long time ago. The Hyattsville Arts District is thriving and artsy with people from all walks of life. Weekends in the evening are lively and usually very busy.

*Franklin’s Restaurant the Hyattsville Arts District. Image from https://www.longandfoster.com/MD/Hyattsville*

Why choose the Arts District?

The arts district has a lot of locations to use for photoshoots. With the design of the storefronts and the interior of some shops, you’ll be able to find locations that make your photos unique. The urban aesthetic of the area gives a tough, grungy backdrop. Between the brick walls, corrugated metal siding, and graffiti, there are plenty of options to choose from. That’s just on the outside. Some store owners will let you shoot in their establishments. If they do, you and your photographer will have plenty of branding photoshoot options.

Locations to Start With

Vigilante Coffee Company. Vigilante Coffee is an independent cafe with branches in the Hyattsville Arts District as well as in College Park. White brick walls, bare floors, exposed ducts and steel beams, this place can give a hard edge to any photoshoot. This is a cafe, so between drinking coffee, buying items, and working on a laptop, you’ll have a variety of posed actions to work with. You can check out a video of the location here.
Baltimore Avenue & Hamilton Street. On these streets, you can find multi-colored buildings and graffiti. If you’re looking to do a photoshoot with an urban edge to it, this is the place to start.
Baltimore Avenue & Gallatin Street. This intersection is where Franklin’s is located. You’ll see the Franklin’s sign along with the Hyattsville Hardware Co. building sign. Interesting note, the building has been there since the late 1800s. There are a lot of nice, old-style buildings here with a variety of colors too.

The best tip is to just start off at Busboys & Poets and walk around. You and your photographer will be able to come up with some great ideas for your photoshoot.

Brookside Gardens

Located in Silver Spring, Maryland, Brookside Gardens is one of the area’s best kept secrets. This is one of my favorite places to visit because it’s so peaceful and relaxing. You can go for strolls here or just sit down and relax in the gazebos overlooking the lake. At the right time of day, you’ll see some turtles coming out to sunbathe. Throughout Brookside, there are different gardens including the aquatic, butterfly, and rain gardens to name a few.

Each garden has a distinct characteristic which can play into the mood that you want to capture in your photoshoot. Do you want to have a portrait shoot or a headshot done? The gazebo or the picnic areas are fine for that. Looking to do an engagement shoot? A clear path with flowers on either side will do the trick. Looking for a place to get your wedding shoots done? Brookside Gardens has dedicated areas where you can have that done too.

*Beautiful Brookside Gardens Teahouse showing the changing colors of the leaves. By MontgomeryParksEditor - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92652838*

Brookside Gardens is usually open from 6:00am - 8:30pm daily. The best time to go is early in the morning before visitors come in. There’s nothing worse than waiting for people to get out of the way so you can pose and model for your shot without anyone in the background. Entry is free and photography is allowed there. However, if you’re working with a photographer for your photoshoot, you’ll need a permit. For more information on that, here is their website. You can also reserve space for your important events such as a wedding or celebration.

Downtown Silver Spring

Downtown Silver Spring is a bustling, vibrant area just outside of Washington, DC. Cafes, restaurants, and more forms of entertainment are here. This area is culturally diverse with a large Ethiopian and Latin American population. From late morning until late at night, you’ll find lots of things happening here. If you find yourself in Downtown Silver Spring, be sure to check out the Amina Thai restaurant. Their food and Thai iced teas are amazing!

Why Choose Downtown Silver Spring

Downtown Silver Spring is easily accessible by public transportation; both bus and metro. On top of that, this place is very walkable. Getting from one location to another is easy, so your photoshoot can be done completely by walking. If you’re nervous about having pictures taken of you in public, this is a great place to do it. Since people are so busy and caught up in doing their own thing, they won’t notice you and your photographer… probably.

*The old AFI Silver theater in Downtown Silver Spring. Photo by https://www.silverspringdowntown.com/go/afi-silver-theatre-and-cultural-ctr*

But in all seriousness, this is the place to be. Downtown Silver Spring is so varied, you could probably have a whole portfolio shot here. Walk from one end of the area to the other and you’ll see what I mean. You can go from urban to playful to classy in your photoshoots here. The good (and bad) thing about this place is that change is frequent. A new store opens, but one that you loved will be gone just as quickly. For me, the loss of Borders bookstore was a huge tragedy.

Places to Start with in Downtown Silver Spring

The Silver Spring Art Walk. This is a collection of artistic installations throughout Downtown Silver Spring. These include murals, statues, and sculptures. There are around 60 different installations and you can see them here along with their locations.
AFI Silver and the Fillmore. Located across the street from each other, the AFI Silver is a movie theater that shows foreign, independent, and classic movies. The Fillmore is a music venue hosting concerts by various bands. What I like about these two places are the bright lights and neon lights on the outside. Around sunset would be a great time to go for a photoshoot. Having the signs of either establishment glowing behind you is an idea to work with.
Regal Majestic. This place is like the previous two that I mentioned, but just think bigger and brighter. The neon can work wonders especially with how huge it is. On top of that, it’s location is right on the corner of the street, so it can be easier to situate yourself. The AFI and Fillmore are much harder to get a good position from.
Arts Alley. This is a perfect city style photoshoot location. A nice, gray, tight alley decorated with colorful squares. This is a great place to get some dramatic shots. It also doesn’t hurt that Moorenko’s ice cream is located next door too.

Riversdale House Museum

Riversdale House Museum (or Riversdale Mansion) is one of those places that people see and drive past. You might wonder what goes on in there, who owns it, or even why it’s there, but you probably won’t know. Especially if you’ve lived in the neighborhood your entire life. Strange right? There’s a bit of history to this place though.

Built between 1801 and 1807, the mansion is a two-story home separated into 5 sections. There are huge windows on both levels and much of the mansion is still decorated with furniture from the 19th century. In front of the mansion is a huge green lawn while behind it, is a very modest garden. This is a functioning museum and tours are given everyday except for Sunday.

One section of the Riversdale Mansion is available for reservations for special occasions, events, and more. If you want to have a small function, an engagement party, or some kind of celebration, you can book the space. The interior as well as the outdoor areas will offer beautiful environments for a photoshoot. Here’s a link for more information about the mansion and rentals.

In Ending

North, south, east, or west, the state of Maryland has a lot of awesome places. I’ve mentioned 4 great locations for photoshoots here in Maryland, but have I missed any places? If you were going to work with a photographer, where would you want them to do your photoshoot? Or, if you’re ready to do a shoot in one of these locations, let’s work together.