Meijer Gardens Is My Creative Reset Button (And I Think Every Photographer Needs One)

There are places you go to work, and then there are places you go to remember why you picked up a camera in the first place. Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids is firmly in that second category for me.

I've been shooting there long enough that it feels less like a location and more like a spirit jounrey. No client brief. No shot list. No deliverables. Just me, the light, and whatever weird or wonderful thing catches my eye first. I think of it as my photo oasis. A place to decompress creatively and let my brain play.

Why Meijer Gardens Works So Well for Photographers

You have environments with tropical light, open meadows that shift dramatically depending on the season, and architectural elements that are soft or bold, and dramatic. There's always something new happening with the light, which means you can visit a dozen times and never make the same image twice.

For Grand Rapids photographers — hobbyists and professionals alike — it's honestly one of the most underused creative resources we have. You don't need to travel for interesting subject matter. It's right here.

No Plan, Just Play

My favorite way to approach Meijer Gardens is the way a jazz musician approaches a session. You show up with your instrument, you know the fundamentals, and then you just go. You follow what sounds good. You riff. You let one thing lead to another without forcing it.

I'm not trying to execute a predetermined vision. I'm reacting to the light, to a composition, to a texture. It's photography in its most instinctive and reactive form. It keeps me sharp in ways that client work sometimes can't.

Tagging Along with the Ada Photography Club

On my most recent visit, I joined my friend Jason and the Ada Photography Club.

There's something refreshing about shooting alongside a group of people who are all just genuinely excited to make images.  Just a sharing our enthusiasm for the craft. I felt free to get as artistic and weird as I wanted I tried angles I might not use and let myself experiment without any internal editor or that sabotaging inner voice. 

Flex Your Creative Muscles Here

If you're a photographer in the Grand Rapids area and you haven't built Meijer Gardens into your regular rotation, I'd genuinely encourage you to start. Bring whatever camera you have. Leave the shot list at home. Give yourself an hour with no agenda and see what happens.

And if you ever get the chance to go with a photography group, do it. There's an accountability that comes from shooting with other people that pushes you to keep moving, keep looking, and keep trying things.

Some of my favorite images I've ever made have come from days exactly like this one. No plan, just go where the light and composition takes you.

Community and Photo Adventures

For photography services in Grand Rapids, MI, Erik of Holladay Photography brings a professional eye to cinematic, bold, and moment driven images, helping clients preserve the details that matter most.