A Summer Family Session at Harvest Lane Farm and Overlook Park

Summer time is one of the best times to have photos taken with one of the many flower fields and flower farms throughout Lancaster County. Some wildflower fields can be found at public parks and others are farms where they grow pick-your-own fields that allow photo sessions in the evenings. The tricky part is knowing how to time your session so that you hit the flower fields at peak bloom.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that golden hour is the best time to shoot in flower fields when the sun is low in the sky otherwise you’ll be dealing with bright overhead light and shadows. Since the sunset happens much later in summertime, this is something to keep in mind for littles who have early bedtimes because starting at 7 p.m. is ideal for golden hour summer sessions. Because this session was done in September, we started at 6:30 p.m. and that was a perfect start time for that golden light.

In general, June is a great month for wildflower fields but there are blooms all the way through September in some places. Sunflowers are almost always in bloom late summer/early fall.

Harvest Lane Farm in Lititz has a lovely produce market and they also grow flowers to sell. They were kind enough to allow us to do this family photo session there. These photos were taken in early September and the sunflowers were about done but there were still colorful rows of flowers to photograph in. Afterwards we made a stop at Overlook Park to take some photos in the pine tree forest and managed to capture a few sunset silhouettes.

Little Caroline was a delight to photograph. She loved playing hide-and-seek with me in the rows of flowers and just wanted to run free in the park. I adore this family and the amount of color in this session.

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!

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Lancaster Family Photography: A Snowy Winter Family Photo Session at Overlook Park

It was my birthday weekend mid-March and we got one last beautiful winter snow. This was probably the only time I have ever seen Overlook Park so empty. There was not a soul in sight. The snow was still untouched and the pine forest was covered in white and was so serene.

In my lifetime thus far I have had 3 birthday blizzards. I’ll always remember the one we had when I was in 5th grade because I was supposed to have a slumber party with all my friends but due to the oncoming snow, no one was allowed to stay overnight. This wasn’t quite a blizzard, but it was very gusty so even with minimal snow there was some drifting.

I could hardly wait to get out and take pictures in the winter wonderland and when Andrea asked if I would do a 6 month session for her son Griffin in the snow I was thrilled! He was so adorable wearing the bright red gnome hat and his big brother Bailey got a kick out of pulling him around in the sled. I am SO very thankful that the timing worked out perfectly for this snowy family winter photo session.

At the end of this session, I was able to grab some silhouette images of the boys and then I photographed some of the snow covered evergreen trees around the park. Later in Photoshop I overlaid the portraits of the boys with some of the tree images to create some unique black and white double exposure silhouettes. I am always happy to get creative with double exposures if time allows (and if the client has interest).

I realize that winter and snowy photo sessions certainly aren’t top priority for most families; however, winter photo sessions CAN be possible, even with little kids. Here are a few tips on how to prepare and make a snowy winter session successful:

1. Bundle Up: Yes, it’s obvious, but make sure everyone wears layers and has coats, hats, boots, scarves and mittens if necessary. Bring blankets! They can be used as fun props too and you can snuggle together. You can always take coats off briefly for shots and then put them back on if you want to get photos in special sweaters or outfits.

2. Make It Short & Quick: Because winter is typically my slower season and because it’s cold out, I will only do mini sessions for winter time. We keep it brief, 30 minutes or less so you don’t freeze your butts off (though you may have cherry red noses by the time you’re done).

3. Make It Playful: We will keep moving; wrap in blankets, pull someone in a sled, hold hands and run through the snow, play ring-around-the-rosie, etc. Snowy photo sessions have got to be fun!

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!

Lancaster Family Photography: A Sun Soaked Winter Family Session at Overlook Park

After many days of gray dreary weather, the sun decided to show its face for this winter family photo session in Overlook Park. This winter has been one of the wettest and warmest that we have had in a long time. I will be honest, I’m not a huge fan of snow but there is something beautiful about the quiet stillness of a winter wonderland versus a blah winter wetland. But I will not complain about a warm winter, especially if it means that spring is not too far away.

Diem contacted me about doing family photos in February when her eldest and youngest both celebrate their birthdays. I don’t do many outdoor sessions during the winter, but it turned out to be a fairly warm day. Overlook Park is one of my go to locations because it has a unique pine forest (which has become increasingly popular for photo shoots over the last few years). But aside from the pine forest, there are some beautiful open fields that change in beauty throughout the seasons.

I love the candid nature of these photos. I met little Lilly in the yellow dress for the first time at this photo session and we became instant friends. She told me all about her favorite things to do and how her favorite color is purple (notice her purple sparkly boots). Getting to know families and playing with kids during photo shoots is one of the things I love most about my job as a photographer. In my experience I have found that playing games like tag and chase, discovering nature, and being active rather than sitting and staring at the camera, are what bring about the best photos and genuine expressions, especially from the little ones.

Melissa Engle Photography offers portrait, family and lifestyle photography in Lancaster, PA. Please contact me if you would like to make some photo magic together!

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Lancaster Maternity Photography: A Winter Maternity Session at Overlook Park

I adore meeting first time parents for maternity photography sessions because I get to ask them all about their plans for their soon-to-arrive little one. “Are you finding out the gender? What does the nursery look like? Where are you giving birth?”, etc. etc. Yes, I admit I’m a little nosy and I probably offer some unsolicited advice but I have such fond memories of being pregnant with my first child and remember the anticipation and excitement about becoming a mom. I am a firm believer in photographing baby bellies so that moms can look back and remember that for those fleeting 9 months they carried and grew a tiny human. There is something pretty darn incredible and beautiful about pregnancy in my opinion!

Sarah and Joe’s winter maternity session at Overlook Park was one of my first photo shoots of 2019. These two braved the frigid temperatures to get some beautiful photos in the fields and the pine forest. I was excited to play around with some double exposures for this session as well. They will be welcoming a little girl into their family before too long!

Melissa Engle Photography offers portrait and lifestyle photography in Lancaster, PA. Please contact me if you would like to make some photo magic together!

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Lancaster Senior Photography: Ava's Fall Senior Session in the Pine Forest at Overlook Park

There are some photo shoots where I feel like I could continue taking photos forever and not run out of ideas and different angles. This fall senior session at Overlook Park in Lancaster was one of those. Ava was a natural for her session. I could definitely imagine her in the pages of some fall clothing magazine. The funny thing is, we rescheduled this shoot at least two times due to rain and our original plan was to do more of a summer look at the Conestoga House and Gardens, but by the time the session actually happened, the chilly fall weather had set in.

Ava showed up with this beautiful striped blanket wrapped around her and I knew I had to incorporate it into the photos. Ask her how many times I made her swirl it around her shoulders so I could capture the movement of the swishing blanket and she will tell you; it was a lot!

This was my first time doing a fall senior session at Overlook Park, and the first time that I really explored the path between the skinny pine trees. At first glance, one might mistake the location for somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. I will definitely be going back to this location! As we were leaving I knew I had to take some photos in the field. I am such a sucker for that untamed look in the tall grasses. The colors and textures of Ava’s clothing brought the perfect fall vibe combined with the golden field and the pine forest in the distance.

I will be the first to say that I still can’t quite figure out why it is that I often see photo sessions of senior girls laughing and twirling or playing with their hair. Do they walk around doing that in everyday life? So I made Ava do it, just for fun (and kind of making fun of the idea) and ironically some of those images ended up being among my favorites because her laugh was so genuine. As a whole, this is probably my favorite fall senior session to date!

Melissa Engle Photography offers portrait and lifestyle photography in Lancaster, PA. Please contact me if you would like to make some photo magic together!