Sanford
This town has great picture appeal. The downtown area is full of great texture and fantastic old buildings made to be photographed. During the early morning on a weekend you can get very nice unpopulated shots. Sunday afternoon is best if you don’t want to be waiting too long for people to get out of the way. The traffic is very light Sunday afternoons. Plenty of restaurants to make the wait bearable. I especially liked the German restaurant close to the clock you see in the picture on the left. I never liked German food before but this place got me to come back. There is also a little park to the right of the picture with a fountain in it. A little light on the "WOW" factor but with some work you can make it work. I took a shot there and made it into an HDR image that got a couple of awards.
The marina is within walking distance from downtown and offers a great variety of subjects for the picture freak. The lake will deliver the occasional gator and early in the morning you can get very impressive sunrise shots over the water. The reflections are amazing on a calm day. There is also a little lake in front of the museum that has tons of ducks, mallards and herons. There is a tree right next to the little lake that houses a few very curious squirrels that can make for a fun shot or two. The marina itself has great prospects also with the right light. I have been there at night but although it felt safe for me, I was told otherwise by a very overprotective cop. I suspect he thought I had a bomb inside my camera bag or was trying to sell drugs.
The golden light hits this area hard in the mornings. I took a friend and her kids there for a few pictures and they came out very nicely lit. Lots of places to take pictures with kids. The swinging benches can be spectacular when lit from the front. The whole area is very well kept and there are lots of people running, walking their dogs and fishing. Went to Wolfie's Restaurant off the marina and had a very nice chicken cheese steak style sandwich. They just changed owners and the food is supposed to be better. Will have to go back to find out.
A new children's play area has been built right smack in the middle of Melon Park. The architecture lents itself for very nice angles and lines and the light hits is very well.