Top 10 Picture Perfect Photoshoot Locations in Burlington and Halton Region
Official Website: https://www.burlington.ca/en/services-for-you/city-view-park.asp
10. City view/Kerncliff Park
“This large park provides so many different photo opportunities. It has large fields of long grass perfect for those simple rustic style sessions, a pond with cute bridges, a forest and cliffs. This park has two locations: city view which is at the top of the cliff and Kerncliff which is at the bottom. Both provide excellent backdrops to capture those special moments.”
– Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
One of the newer installments the City of Burlington has to offer, City View Park has so many features to offer. One of my absolute favourite places for photography locations for all its public art, great playground, and nature trails, City View Park is the perfect family setting.
Official Website: https://www.hamilton.ca/attractions/hamilton-civic-museums/dundurn-national-historic-site
9. Dundurn Castle
“Not your typical storybook castle but it’s still a grand structure with many architectural details like the large columns and wood doors. Great spot for those magazine styled sessions.”
– Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
Built in the Italian style of the 1830s, Dundurn castle is not your average location. This mansion is perfect for photoshoots if you’re looking for a more historical feeling. You can take a tour of this historical site and walk through the memories of a former military encampment or you can take some photos and make some memories of your own. In the winter, the estate is surreal with only trees surrounding the proud mansion and, in the summer, the beautiful gardens maintained by great groundskeepers have beautiful and vibrant colours for all your photography needs.
Official Website: https://www.theappleorchard.ca/
8.Burlington Beach and Beachway Park
“Beautiful clean sandy beach, with a large shoreline and sand dunes. Perfect location for fun beachy photos you might even get lucky and get some bird or boat photo bombs. There is also a cute lighthouse you can walk out to along the path.”
– Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
I know I’ve talked about the Burlington Waterfront A LOT already but this is the last one. The Burlington Beach front is a long sandy shore perfect for long walks by the water in the light of the sunrise or sunset with all your loved ones. I love taking photos here because there’s something about running around the sand with your bare feet that is incredibly freeing and that happiness spreads to the corners of your mouth just in time for the camera to capture what pure joy looks like.
Official Website: https://www.theappleorchard.ca/
7. The Apple Orchard
“This beautiful large farm is known for its massive apple tree farm, but it also has a large sunflower field where you can take photos on an old tractor, a pumpkin patch and a corn maze. It’s a great place to take photos and enjoy a tractor ride.”
– Paulina DeMaria- Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
This rural feature of the City of Burlington is great for the family! Take a day trip to The Apple Orchard, try their maple syrup, play in the pumpkin patch, go apple picking, and run through the field of sunflowers. On the way, we can take photos together so you’ll never forget the fun memories made. My favourite part of this place is letting my kids learn more about what it means to be a family working together on a farm. As a photographer, I love all the different vibrant colours.
Red for seasonal apples, sweet as can be. Green stems and trees all around us. Blue skies without a cloud passing by. And great big Yellow sunflowers smiling right back at you as you explore the beauty of The Apple Orchard.
Official Website: https://village-square.ca/
6. Downtown Burlington
and Village Square
“I feel like I get transported to a small european town while walking along the cobblestone walkways in the alleyways of small shops. Take a cute picture inside the bright red telephone booth or enjoy a nice treat on one of the many benches.”
– Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
If you live in Burlington, you must know that the downtown feeling of the Village Square in the heart of the city is a special place. Home to many family owned small businesses like cafes and bakeries, restaurants, and specialty shops, the Village Square is one of my favourite places in the entire city. The cobblestone streets, red brick buildings, old-timey lamp posts, and vintage telephone booths, offer a stylish and down-to-earth feeling to your photos. The old style building designs might take you back to your youth; let the feeling take you to your memories. Go out on a date with your special someone and treasure those moments as they come. Within walking distance of Spencer Smith Park, this would make a great photoshoot location, especially if you want to add variety to your family portraits.
Official Website: https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=15245
5. Gairloch Gardens
and Oakville Galleries
“The gardens full of flowers provide a gorgeous backdrop in the spring, as you sit on the old stone stairs, walk along a cute little wood bridge or walk through the stone archways. This location is also right on the lakefront and provides many photo opportunities in one beautiful location much like paletta mansion”
– Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
Gairloch Garden’s cultural value comes from its age and era defining architecture. The stone steps on the waterfront are both beautiful and historically significant. Built in 1923-1924, Gairloch Garden was named after the small town of ‘Gairloch’ in Scotland. For photography, my favourite features of this location are the rows of beautiful gardens, interesting sculptures, and stone architecture surrounding the estate. Wooden bridges and steps, popular elements of photoshoots, are a fun bonus.
Official Website: https://www.lasallepark.ca/
4. La Salle Park Pavilion
“Great location for a nature hike with older children but not very stroller friendly. Beautiful lakefront views as you walk along the trail nestled among the trees. There is also a very nice rustic wood path.”
– Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
The best parts of LaSalle Park Pavillion other than the amazing banquet centre and elegant ballrooms, are the beautiful green spaces. It’s no wonder that La Salle Park is host to many celebrations, weddings, receptions, and a host of other outdoor events. La Salle Park is also yet another waterfront park, offering 57 acres of open green space for all your guests, for picnics, or for an open photography ground for a family style photo session.
Official Website: https://www.rbg.ca/
3. Royal Botanical gardens
“This beautifully maintained location has every flower you can dream of, with picturesque water fountains and gazebos. There is also a beautiful green wall located inside the main building for a good backup plan if it starts raining.” – Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
World renowned for its protection of biodiversity, expansive range of gardens and arboretum, the Royal Botanical Garden (RBG) is an amazing destination in and of itself. At 2,400 acres the RBG is the largest in Canada and houses hundreds of thousands of plants and protects more than 50 at-risk species. For photographers, it is absolutely amazing in the variety of stunning photos it can produce. There are 5 mainstay gardens, the Mediterrannean Garden greenhouse, Rock Garden, Laking Garden, Hendrie Park, and the Arboretum as well as 27km of nature trails so the entire family can enjoy!
Official Website: https://www.burlington.ca/en/modules/facilities/Detail.aspx?id=ece5e0e3-4eda-40ed-a904-0fb6ef3f7386
2. Spencer Smith Park
“This large park right on the lakefront is complete with a pier, large boardwalk and Japanese cherry blossoms which are a beautiful sight to see when in bloom. Because of this location’s size, it provides large views of the lake and is perfect for larger groups.” – Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
Spencer Smith Park has got it all! Famous for being the host destination for the largest rib fest in Canada, Spencer Smith Park is situated on the lakefront and is home to many famous Burlington tourist destinations.
My favourites for photography are the Japanese Cherry Blossom trees and the boardwalk leading up the Brant Street Pier. Little known fact, the City of Burlington is actually the twin city to the City of Itabashi, Japan.
The Spencer Smith park is a super fun place for kids to play as they have enormous green spaces, a great big playground, the fun Dofasco Waterjet Park, and even the Rotary Centennial Pond which doubles as a skating rink in the winter months.
This park is also full of amazing sculptures and statues like the Naval War Memorial, Terry Fox Monument, and the Lady of the Lake Bronze Sculpture.
Official Website: https://www.palettalakefrontmansion.com/
1. Paletta Mansion
“This location is perfect if you like a variety of different backgrounds all within a walking distance from each other. It has a forest, a fancy mansion with beautiful steps and flowers, bridges and the lakefront. Making this my favourite spot.” – Paulina DeMaria
Key Features and Significance:
The Crown Jewel of the Burlington Waterfront, Paletta Mansion is a site to behold.
The estate boasts 14 acres of gardens and lush forest where a gatehouse, a children’s dollhouse, and a horse stable reside. Walk down those cobblestone steps, take a tour of the historical site, breathe in the natural scents of the estate’s garden, or take a long walk along the beach just to watch the colours change in the sunset or to let the tides wash away your footprints. You can really take yourself back to the 1900s with a special photoshoot at the Paletta Mansion.
Conclusion
‘Place’ is important, not just for photoshoots, but also for your family. I fell in love with the city of Burlington and moved my family here. We take strolls on the beach, take afternoon trips to the apple orchard, and hike though the nature trails and make happy memories throughout each journey. I took some time to explore and I want to share those memories with you.
I hope you enjoyed this little tour of the Halton Region and I look forward to seeing you in a photoshoot in the future!