Birmingham, Alabama is a great city for photoshoots. Whether you’re taking portraits for graduation or want an exciting place to get some family photos taken, you’ll find no shortage of locales all throughout the city. Even fans of non-portrait photography can find a lot of inspiration throughout the city of Birmingham, Alabama. For photographers really interested in taking their photography to the next level, here are some of the most spectacular locations in the city.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Featuring over 60 acres of botanical gardens, it’s hard not to find a great place to take some photos in the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. In total, you can find over thirty differently themed gardens, each with their own unique focus. Some gardens are classified by collection, such as a garden of ferns or plants from Asia. Another type of thematic garden focuses on specific ecosystems, such as Alabama’s woodlands or a wildflower garden. Finally, the third kind of themed garden is focused on culture, like a formal garden, a Japanese garden, or a southern living garden.

If nature’s your focus as a photographer, or if you’re just interested in finding the right backdrop for a family portrait, you’ll find plenty of inspiration at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. If you work up an appetite while working, you can stop by the Garden Cafe between 11 am and 2 pm Tuesday through Friday. The menu features an array of salads and sandwiches, as well as a kids menu. Best of all, entry to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens is completely free of charge.

Sloss Furnaces

If you’re interested in a more industrial environment to take photographs in, Sloss Furnaces is a dream come true. This national historic landmark was at one time in history the biggest pig iron manufacturer in the world. Its blast furnace still offers a self-guided tour as well as a guided tour if you want to scope out the location before you take anyone to get their photo taken there.

Of course, you may want to just take photos of the forges yourself if you’re a photographer who cares deeply about texture and capturing industrial subjects. Keep in mind that depending on how you’re traveling to Sloss Furnaces, you may wind up getting stuck on the wrong side of a train. If you need to circumnavigate the train crossing because of a blockage, you may need to use 2nd Ave North from the northside of the tracks or 4th Ave South if you’re on the southside of the train.

As you can see, Birmingham is ripe with excellent photo locations to take some truly stunning photos in. Best of all, thanks to portrait modes on the new iPhone and Google Pixel smartphones, you don’t even need an expensive camera to take great pictures if you have a good subject and location. That being said, if something happens to your phone while you’re out on a shoot, you might be out of luck if you can’t find a good place to get your smartphone fixed.

Rather than mess around with warranties and the Apple store, consider going to one of many iPhone repair services in Birmingham. uBreakiFix is one of several repair shops that can get your phone fixed by a qualified technician quickly and inexpensively. You can visit uBreakiFix at Trussville 1423 Gadsden Hwy #117 Birmingham, AL 35235 to get their opinion on your phone’s problem, or call them at (205) 661-0299 and talk about the issue over the phone.

Once you’re phone’s fixed, just head back out to one of the above locations and you’ll be back on your way to getting some great shots.