engagement pictures (round two)

This is for all my fellow Atlanta people…. Kyle and I get to do engagement pictures again since we hired a different photographer than who we normally thought we were going to go with.  The engagement session is built into the package so the can get to know kyle and me prior to the big day and so that he can get a feel for what we like and what we do not like so we can get as many awesome wedding pictures as possible.  Kyle is not too excited about this, but I am.  Originally I loved my engagement pictures, but recently I am understanding some of the feedback I got from others.  It has been REALLY hard picking a picture for save the dates and for around the wedding reception/cocktail hour.  We're kissing in 80% of the pictures and the other 20% kyle and i cannot decide on more than 3 pictures that we both like and 1 of them... is our backs. not good.  

So, Atlanta natives/people.  Any suggestions on where we should go?  We don’t want anything too far away and ideally it would be nice if we didn’t have to pay a fee to shoot there.  We did our last engagements at Stone Mountain on the bridge and by the grist mill and on the rail road tracks. I know our current photographer could do an awesome job there but I feel like we should use this opportunity to do something different.

I have thought about Piedmont Park so we could use the Atlanta skyline… but that is so overdone and Piedmont Park gets SO crowded.

I would LOVE a sunflower field but I don’t know sunflower season or where one is… sooo if anyone can help there…. that would be awesome.  Or an apple orchard that is not too far away.  Seriously, why did I become so “farmy” when I got engaged?!

But.... the places I am thinking of:

• Piedmont Park -- love the skyline, the brick walls, the lake, etc.
• Chattahoochee Nature Center
• Lullwater Park

We really should have planned to do these sooner because summer in Atlanta is HOT!  And I would like to have a location in mind before scheduling with the photographer.  Ideas?