Let’s face it. Some­times you get into a rut and you’re bored. There’s noth­ing to do because you’ve already done it all. That’s a great time to go on a photo walk. Get a bunch of your friends together and tell them all to bring a cam­era. Spend some time walk­ing around tak­ing pic­tures, and then wind up for a meal at a good restau­rant. It’s easy, social and gives you a new way to look at the envi­ron­ment around you.

Now the ques­tion that remains: Where to go on a photo walk? Here are five good places, each with some­thing a lit­tle dif­fer­ent to offer.

Down­town Orlando

You have plenty of room and tons of great scenery and details. Church street & Wall Street are both full of vibrant tex­tures, inter­est­ing peo­ple and plenty of restau­rants to choose when it’s time to wrap it up. Walk over to 630 W. Cen­tral to find some great graf­fiti from the Pin­tura Project. If you’re feel­ing up for a longer walk, make your way over to Lake Eola for some nice views of the Orlando skyline.

Thorn­ton Park

Start on the other side of Down­town from Lake Eola in Thorn­ton Park for a dif­fer­ent take on the city. The neigh­bor­hood has some great archi­tec­ture sur­rounded by plenty of trees and green­ery. Graf­fiti Junk­tion is a cool place to hang out for a burger and a drink to com­pare shots.

Park Avenue

This stretch in Win­ter Park has inter­est­ing shops, a large park, and it runs right into Rollins Col­lege. Not only does Rollins have a peace­ful envi­ron­ment with some great archi­tec­ture, but it’s also an open cam­pus that’s been a favorite loca­tion of pho­tog­ra­phers for years. You could wind up at The Bistro on Park Avenue for a nice meal in an inter­est­ing place.

Christ­mas, FL

You could put an entirely dif­fer­ent spin on things and head out to Christ­mas to shoot around the Orlando Wet­lands Park. You’re away from all the dis­trac­tions of the city and get to see the wild side of Florida, not to men­tion some great sun­sets. Visit the Old School Cof­fee Stop for a nice hangout.

Cel­e­bra­tion, FL

It’s a com­mu­nity planned by Dis­ney. For a pho­tog­ra­pher, this is like shoot­ing on a baited field! Cel­e­bra­tion is the epit­ome of a pic­turesque com­mu­nity with great color, archi­tec­ture and land­scap­ing. There are plenty of restau­rants, but I tend to like the Colum­bia for great atmos­phere and some nice twists on Cuban/​Spanish cuisine.

Photo Walks are Social

Remem­ber, the idea of going on a photo walk is about being social. You may get some nice pics or you may just get some snap­shots. The point is to have some fun with other peo­ple and do some­thing a lit­tle different.