A Creative Celestial Branding & Lifestyle Photo Shoot with She Was Blue Jewelry in Lancaster, PA

This past winter I had the opportunity to participate in a couple creative photo shoots with some local vendors and artists. This celestial themed shoot for She Was Blue Jewelry was by far one of my favorites. Allison, a local Lancaster creative, took her vision and brought it to life. She dyed the blue backdrop, created the moon, brought the wardrobe (and jewelry of course) along with the gold stars and moons streamers.

When Allison of She Was Blue Jewelry told me about her vision for the shoot, I immediately thought of fairy lights to add some extra dazzle and depth to the images. The combination of golds and blues along with a very talented artist and model Taylor Holmes made for some stunning images! And all the credit for hair and makeup goes to the ladies of Anthology Salon & Style Bar in Lancaster City. Feast your eyes on the stellar images below!

Location/Hair & Makeup: Anthology Salon & Style Bar

Jewelry: She Was Blue Jewelry

Creative Direction: Allison Rohland Art

Photography: Melissa Engle Photography

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 Portrait Photography: Spring Butterflies and Blooms Creative Portraits

This spring I got together with some creative photographer friends to do something magical and colorful. A little while back I came across these magnetic butterflies on Amazon and bought them thinking I could use them some day for a creative project. And thus we decided on a butterflies and blooms spring themed photoshoot. I created a hanging mobile of butterflies and shot down through it for a neat effect (although the wind made them tangle quite a bit).

Emily of Emily Grace Photography and Sirena of Monsters and Lace brought all the color and creative modeling expertise. It turned out to be a rainy day but we didn’t let that stop us. We each took turns being in front of and behind the lens (though let’s be honest, Sirena’s pink hair stole the show).

When I shared the image of Sirena lying in the yellow flowers with the butterflies on Instagram, someone said it reminded them of Taylor Swift’s new album about butterflies. I am totally out of the loop when it comes to pop culture so I had no idea, but hey, I guess I’m on trend for once?

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

Lancaster Portrait Photography: A Vintage Peacock Flapper Inspired Glamour Session in Lancaster City

This winter I was itching to do something creative just for myself and so I started tossing around some ideas. After much contemplating I ended up with this vintage peacock flapper inspired glamour session with my new friend and fellow creative Rachel as model. Rachel has this vintage vibe about her (she also collects vintage clothing) and I thought she would be perfect for this. I love jewel tones, especially peacock colors, and so naturally I was drawn to this room with a teal wall above Realm and Reason Shop in Lancaster City.

The idea for this vintage flapper inspired glamour session began when I decided I wanted to dress up fancy for a friend’s New Year’s Eve party. I had ordered this awesome flapper dress on Amazon only to end up with my first ever emergency room visit on NYE due to what I thought was a bone stuck in my throat (thankfully turned out to be nothing) which meant no NYE party for me. I also happened to have a ton of peacock feathers on hand from my wedding back in 2012. We made our own bouquets and used some of the feathers in them. They complemented the flapper look perfectly and I had fun holding them in front of the lens to create some additional depth and color.

We had a limited time window for this shoot since it happened during the 2 hours my daughter was in preschool. I managed to not only shoot digital but also shot a roll of 800 speed Kodak film that was more than 10 years old on my Canon AE-1, my very first camera which functions completely manually. If you scroll down to the bottom of this post you’ll probably be able to tell which images were shot on film.

I have so many favorites from this session that I found it hard to narrow these down. These are the colors of my soul! The light was gorgeous that morning, pouring in through the windows. Rachel was getting over a bad head cold but you can hardly even tell in these photos. She was a real trouper and even smoked a cigarette and sat on an old toilet for some of the shots. The room with the peeling floral wall paper was also a perfect setting for capturing Rachel’s vintage flapper essence and I enjoyed messing around with some freelensing there too.

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