During the summer before senior year, many students take their senior photos. These are usually professional portraits by photographers, but sometimes students choose to stage their own photos with a friend or family member.

Here are the top five spots for D.I.Y senior photos:

Keeneland

A National Historic Landmark, Keeneland, features beautifully landscaped grounds that are open to the public every day and is a place that has timeless beauty. This makes for a great place to take pictures because of how well the groundskeepers tend to the landscaping and how it is open to the public. This creates a free, beautiful place to take pictures for your last year of high school.

A Farm

A farm is a great place to take pictures if you want a more rustic feel to your pictures. The only issue with this option is making sure you can get access to one because most farms are privately owned in Kentucky. If you are lucky to know someone with a farm you should definitely look into taking your pictures there.

The Lexington Cemetery

This might sound like an odd place to take senior pictures because who would want to take pictures at a cemetery, right? Well, The Lexington Cemetery keeps a watchful eye on maintaining its artistic and natural beauty around the entire cemetery. There are beautiful flowers in the spring and summer, and they also have beautiful architecture.

The Arboretum

The Arboretum is scenic and home to a lot of beautiful flowers, trees, and walkways. The flowers are tended to year round by horticultural clubs and groups, University of Kentucky professionals, and plant breeders who, in addition, provide the newest selections of annual and perennial roses, trees, and shrubs to the gardens. This helps create a scenic environment to take pictures at.

Downtown

Downtown Lexington is probably one of the best places to take senior pictures if you want a lot of options. There are several areas downtown where you could take pictures if you want a variety of different, aesthetic pictures. Some of those areas include The Square, Triangle Park, and the Distillery District. The Distillery District is the best one on this list, in my opinion, because of how rustic and historic it can appear. It has several restaurants and bars with some really cool areas to take pictures.