One of my favorite locations for photo sessions by the water is the Columbia River Park next to the Susquehanna River. The beautiful historic Wrightsville Bridge is a standout feature at this location and the sunlight hits behind it just perfectly at golden hour. Supposedly this bridge is the longest multiple arch concrete bridge in the world!
This family photo session actually took place at two different locations along the Susquehanna River that are about a 7 minute drive apart. While I like the beautiful river vistas with the bridge in the background, there are not a lot of other varied backdrops so I like to combine this location with another spot just up the road. Musselman Vesta Furnace is the easiest spot to put in a GPS and it is technically in Marietta I believe. It offers both field and forest as well as a different perspective on the Susquehanna River.
As you will see in the photos below, by the time we arrived at the second river location the sun had already begun to set and we entered what is known as blue hour. Blue hour is also a magical time but it doesn’t last long before it starts to get too dark for photo taking.
It was a true honor to photograph this family, as Vanessa is a fellow photographer herself and we both happen to be from the same hometown of Chambersburg, PA! Her son absolutely did not want to wear the shirt she had planned for him so we went with his monster truck t-shirt and it all worked out ok. Vanessa is also a former art teacher and told me that she knew she wanted to have some photos taken with my Lensbaby Sol 45 art lens which creates a dreamy blurred edges effect. See if you can spot some of the images below that were taken with that lens!
Melissa Engle Photography offers portrait, family and lifestyle photography in Lancaster, York and Harrisburg PA. Please contact me if you would like to make some photo magic together!
