Lakeland, Florida.

Lakeland is built around water and architecture in a way that rewards a photographer who pays attention. There are more than a dozen named lakes inside the city, several of them ringed by the best housing in Polk County, and the historic districts around Lake Morton and Lake Hollingsworth hold some of the finest early twentieth century stock in central Florida.

The historic homes are the demanding work. Dixieland, Lake Morton and Beacon Hill have substantial 1910s through 1930s houses with deep porches, tall ceilings, leaded glass, original wood and the modest window openings of their era. Those interiors are much darker than the exterior, and the details that carry the value disappear into shadow without added light. They need bracketing and flash, and a lens choice that respects the proportions of rooms that were designed before open plans existed.

Lakefront is the other premium and it is an aerial subject. From a back garden, a lake reads as a strip of water past a hedge; from the air, the frontage, the shoreline and the size of the lake are all immediately clear, and it becomes obvious whether a buyer is getting genuine frontage or a view across a neighbor's lot.

The canopy over the historic streets is heavy, so exteriors have a narrow early window before dappled shadow crosses the facade. Newer construction toward the north and south of the city is a more conventional suburban job, and downtown around Munn Park has a growing loft and condo market where walkability is the pitch.