.

I used to live in Pensacola. We had a group that would gather round to take photos. My most memorable place was a garden in Panama City, I can’t remember the name. We got lost trying to find it but the place was absolutely gorgeous. We had photos around the mansion and the pond was very nice as well. Never really hunted for shady spots, I always liked bright places for photos. I enjoyed by the beach as well but that required a lot of prep work and being super careful.

Since I don’t live there anymore I think anyplace would be great for future photos. I love your idea for Tiffany glass so share when you do! I usually use nature as a background but I would love to go to more building to do photos. I have quite a few tinies that I might take out with me next time to snap photos.

 

Cool thread idea! I'm a Florida native, mostly central but I've travelled south a bit, too.

Favourite places for photos are State Park nature hikes (if you're up for lugging around your dolls) and other natural park environments. I love trees and lakes, so that's why I tend towards places with them.

Disney World (and surrounding area) is also fun if you are not afraid of people being curious. I had a few people nicely ask questions about my doll while at Epcot and it was a pleasant experience. I did get looks from others that seemed confused, but I don't care about them so much.

We used to have meetups around Lake Eola way back in the day. Many different areas for nature and Orlando city backgrounds.

I also love taking dolls to the beach (Sarasota area was my favourite, but I also like New Smyrna in the off season). As @LikablePlatypus said, though, beach photos take a bit of prep and caution to keep dolls safe.

Winter Park (near the Morse Museum) is a really cool place to search around for photos. Park Ave has some neat alcoves and fountains/statues that make for nice backdrops. I haven't done photos with the Tiffany glass but it sure is beautiful! If you want some old brick type backdrops, Rollins College down the street from there would be good to roam around. Lots of interesting architecture.

This is making me want to get out and do more photos!

 

I lived in Florida (Miami, very south) my whole life before moving to Japan.
Usually the heat and crowds were too much for me but some places with nice photo spots were Aventura Mall (haven't been there in years but I was able to get some nice shots with the holiday decorations and even Santa Claus), Perez Art Museum, Wynwood and some hotel/apartment lobbies. Some shops and cafes with fun decor were also good and some of the smaller anime cons usually had some nice spots.
I do not recommend trying to get any beach pictures in Miami parks with large shaded areas are ok but the outside is always on fire so being out anywhere for a long time gets a big no from me, indoor spots with large windows all the way.

 

@Gintsumi
Miami is honestly never not busy but I'd say before Thanksgiving and the time between New Years and Spring Break have the least amount of tourist crowds.
Reaction-wise, no one ever said much about my doll (and she's an SD), I had some shop staff ask questions from time to time but usually people would just go about their business and not say much.

 

@Gintsumi My tips for the beach are to make sure to bring shade, something that can cover the doll when you are not taking photos. In the extreme summer, I also bring a box or bag with a few wrapped up ice packs in case I need to cool the doll down (or myself lol).

Before I leave, I use cling wrap to wrap around my doll's leg and ankle joints so sand doesn't get in there. (Cue Anakin quote: Sand is coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere.) I find the cling wrap doesn't show up much and the doll can still move around and be posed. I usually use a little bit of clear tape to tack it in place. Also helps if you want to do some in-water shots by keeping a lot of the ocean out of the joints.

I usually also bring a stand for the doll since the wind can be unpredictable. I have a few that are thin enough that editing photos after isn't too difficult.

Hopefully these tips help! I'm sure there's more others can add.

 

Waves! Hello. Long time BJD collector and Florida native. Born and raised in Florida. Lived in Fort Lauderdale for 13 years and the rest on the southwest coast of Florida. I do a fair bit of traveling and have taken dolls from here to Oregon. Lol

anyways. The beaches on this coast are a lot quieter and nicer (in my opinion) vs Miami Beach. We did sustain damage from Ian so I’m not certain which have anything besides sand and water at this time.

I live in Naples and have done meet ups at the beaches and our local parks. Usually meeting up at a picnic table and then walking about to take photos at any spot that looks interesting near by.

lakes park in fort Myers Florida is a nice large park that I’ve had meet ups at before.

down town fort Myers would be a cool place for more urban photos.

The Ringling art musuem in Sarasota would be a cool place for BJD photos/meet up. It’s a pricier option and photos are not allowed inside some of the buildings but, it’s a huge place with lots of gardens and statues.

there’s probably lots of cool places in tampa but I’ve honestly not explored them for a BJD perspective. Nothing off the top of my head rings a bell but I’m sure there’s stuff there.

Hollis garden is gorgeous in Lakeland Florida. Free entry and parking. Would be great for BJD photos. Lakeland also just recently opened up some big park that’s free and supposedly very nice. So I need to go check that out sometime.

Bok Towers would be another gorgeous place for outdoor doll photography. Lots of cool places, reasonable entry price.

downtown/springs Disney can be a fun place to take photos as long as you respect the rules. Don’t climb on the statues or Cinderella's castle and you should be fine. Lol (ask me how I know. >_> ) obviously this is a high traffic area. So not for the shy.

Morikami gardens in Del Ray is also a cool place we have had meets up at. I think some of their photography rules have changed so I’m not entirely sure how welcoming they’d be, but they were very welcoming in the past since Japan has a deep culture with dolls.

umm I think those are all the places I can think of off the top of my head. Hopefully that helps!

 

I went with a small group (3 of us) we took pics with a lot of the statues which was fine. But in one of the stores there’s a mini replica cinderellas castle. It was on a shelf and we were like I bet that’s like mnf sized. But it was just out of reach. So the person half scaled the wall to put the doll up there, we snapped a pic and then ran because mouse security was already radio-ing people. It was funny and scary. Hahaha

 

Yeah said person was not very obedient when we the rest of us said no. But it was funny none the less. Lol

 

no idea. I haven’t been back in years. It was in a shop in down town disney but for the life of me I can’t remember which.

 

Oh Morikami is a good one!
Slipped my mind since it was too far for me to go regularly but I do remember hearing about regular meets there back in the day.

I've never gone with a doll but the last time I was at Universal the inside of the SpongeBob shop had some fun displays that would make for cool doll pictures (not sure if it's still like that though.

 

the sun was brutal. This heat! I mean I’ve taken my dolls to the beach before and it was fine. They won’t instantly yellow… but that heat was brutal.