Lancaster Family Photography: A Winter Session in the Evergreens at Roland Park with the Smith Family

It’s crazy to realize that I’ve been living in Lancaster for fifteen years now and started my photography business ten years ago! Over the years I have become accustomed to my favorite locations for taking photos and I dare say a little too comfortable with my go-to spots. The forest of pine trees at Roland Park in Akron never really came across my radar as a potential location until now. It has a similar look to the pine forest at Overlook Park but is much more dense and way less popular for photographers (fingers crossed it stays that way!)

I’m so glad I ventured out to this beautiful evergreen forest earlier this summer for a maternity session because it really is a lovely spot. In the summer time you have to watch out for poison ivy, but in the winter there is a nice ground cover of English ivy that brings a lush fairytale vibe to this location. I actually worked in Akron for four years and had been to this park numerous times but never really explored the pine forest.

I have been photographing Bill and Rhianna since they got engaged a handful of years ago and now they have 3 beautiful, active children that are always a delight to photograph. I can not get over how adorable their little girl is, and how much her older brothers adore and care for her. The light was just perfect on this November morning as we walked through the forest.

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: The Edwards Fall Family Session at Long's Park

One of the things I hear so many parents say when considering a photo session is “my kids never sit still, how will we get good photos?”. Well I am here to tell you that you do not have to sit still for a photo session with me! I firmly believe that the best, most genuine expressions of joy and wonder come from allowing kids to just be themselves. Sometimes it’s the art of distraction (Elmo always comes along with me), sometimes it’s about creating a game that kids will enjoy like ring-around-the-rosie or holding hands and having a race. One of my favorites, especially for fall, is using a blanket to create a hammock swing or a parachute for the kids to run under.

Yes, I know that every family wants at least one good photo with everyone smiling and looking at the camera and I always do my best to capture that image; however, when you book a session with me you will see that the majority are candid, interactive photos. My favorite photographs tend to be the ones that capture moments and allow kids’ personalities to shine. I have two children of my own and so far it rings true that “they grow up fast” and as a stay-at-home-mom I am constantly documenting our days. My favorite photos are almost always the ones where they are interacting with me or one another.

For this session with the Edwards family, their two very active boys loved popping bubbles, swinging in the blanket and racing through the grass. Mom and Dad may or may not have bribed them with gummy worms a few times too…On the day of this session at the end of September, the fall leaves were just starting to show their color. Enjoy the fun family photos below.

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 Portrait Photography: Spring Peeps Backyard Tea Party

Spring of 2020 is one that will go down in the history books because of the coronavirus/covid19. For most of the world, the virus has changed life as we know it and turned everything upside down. I will think of it as The Great Pause and looking back on this time, I will hopefully forget the hard days and remember the memories I made with my family. As I write this, we are slowly starting to emerge from a three month quarantine (March to May).

I had planned my first ever indoor studio spring mini sessions for the end of March; however, those plans all got cancelled due to the virus. I had borrowed this beautiful macrame backdrop for my mini sessions from my good friends who got married right at the start of the pandemic and wanted to use it in a photo shoot somehow before returning it. I figured why not just use it in our little city backyard somehow? Hence the idea for a peep tea party was born.

There have been a lot of new habits and trends that have emerged during this pandemic and one of them apparently is buying baby chicks (for laying eggs I presume). When a friend had the opportunity to hatch a couple dozen peeps, I asked if we could borrow a couple to babysit for a week or so. My kids named them Cheesy and Dandelion and these peeps provided so much delight and entertainment for us. They came at a time when I was feeling quarantine depression and was on crutches due to a sprained foot. Peep therapy was just what I needed at the time!

I photographed two different looks for the tea party. My dear friend let me borrow her tea sets and I used an old lace curtain for the table cloth in the first setting and the colorful vintage teal and green flower fabric for the table cloth in the second setting. The kids enjoyed sipping their tea while the peeps hopped around (don’t worry, they only pooped once!). We also tried putting them in the tea pot a couple of times.

I hope these images inspire more backyard tea parties!

P.S. if you like the macrame and want to support a local artisan, you should check out my neighbor’s Esty shop Fringe By J. She does beautiful work and last year I got to photograph her in action making some of her pieces, which you can view here.

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!

---

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!

---

Lancaster Family Photography: A Vibrant Fall Family Session at Landis Woods Park

I love it when I leave a family photo session where I can’t wait to get home and go through the photos. This was one of those sessions. The light was perfect and though the fall colors were starting to fade, we still captured some vibrant golden beauty. More importantly, the kids were happy and we even did a little dancing as well as leaf play towards the end.

They say that the third time is the charm and in this case it was! We had to reschedule this photo session twice due to rain and had talked about a different location, but I’m so glad we settled on Landis Woods Park. I have not done many photo sessions at Landis Woods, though I remember going for a hike there when my husband and I were dating. Along with a really interesting environmental center building, there are some lovely paths in the forest that are great for a short hike. It was the perfect secluded forest location for a fall family photo shoot and not overrun with other photo shoots happening at the same time (like many of the local parks are during the fall).

I have been photographing the Miller family since Candice and Shawn got engaged. Candice and I even went to college together at Messiah College (though our paths did not cross until we both moved to Lancaster post college and were attending the same church). Our kids are the same ages and so I can relate to the stage of life they are in right now. Candice is a family doctor and though she is not my doctor, she has always been there when I have needed medical advice. Shawn is a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway in Lancaster and I’ve photographed a few of his listings over the years (yes I dabble in real estate photography too!). So if you need a doctor or a realtor, you should look these two up!

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!

---

Lancaster Family Photography: Creek Stomping One Year Session at Lancaster County Park

I have so many favorites from this summer family mini session at Lancaster County Central Park with MJ and his parents. I don’t always get to go creek stomping for photo shoots so this was a real treat! Little MJ was such an expressive, happy little boy to photograph and I’m so glad I got to capture his personality at his one year session. It was a delight to watch him interact with his parents and he was all smiles throughout this entire photo session. Since he turned one in the summer time, we thought it would be fun to end the photo shoot with some creek stomping, which was perfect for him. Enjoy some more images of this smiley little guy below.

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

---

Media Newborn Photography: An In Home Newborn Lifestyle Session With Baby Henry

Say hello to baby Henry! This was my first newborn lifestyle session of 2019 and it could not have been more perfect. It took big brother Oliver a little while to warm up to the strange lady with the camera, but once he did he was excited to show me his toys and how much he loves chocolate chip cookies (me too!). I love that the family dog was even able to pose for a few photos and give baby Henry some puppy kisses. I have to say, baby Henry made my job as a photographer pretty darn easy. He was alert and happy pretty much the entire time and even dozed off for a little while towards the end before pushing out a big poop, newborn style. And look at his little forehead wrinkles!

I am looking forward to photographing many more newborn lifestyle sessions in the near future. I know for myself as a mom those first few weeks can feel like such a blur and then you blink and your baby is not so tiny anymore. I am so very thankful for the images I have from our newborn lifestyle session when my son was a few weeks old (he turns one this month!). Even though I was exhausted the morning the photographer came and still feeling overwhelmed as a new mom of two, I look back at those photos fondly and I’m so glad we have them to treasure.

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 Family Photography: The Smith Family at Wolf's Hollow County Park

I've been photographing the Smith family for a couple years now, from the time Bill and Rhianna got engaged, and every time it just gets better. Their boys are adorable and have grown so much since I've last seen them. It happened to be the youngest's 2nd birthday the day we had this photo shoot (we had to reschedule a couple times due to weather). Definitely a lot of love and laughter captured in this session! It was my first time at Wolf's Hollow Park and I would like to discover more there sometime. 

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 Family Photography: Natalie One Year Session at Stauffer's Greenhouse

Little miss Natalie is turning one at the end of March and we wanted to find a place to do her one year session that felt colorful and fun but was also warm. We decided to go to the greenhouse at Stauffer's of Kissel Hill. Since spring is on it's way, there were plenty of flowers galore, and we sat her right among them for photos. I think she probably tasted a few too. Big brother Josiah had a great time dipping in all of the fountains while Mom and Dad took turns getting photos with Natalie.

Lancaster Newborn Lifestyle Photography: The Millers Welcome Baby Ben

My friends Shawn and Candice recently welcomed their newborn son Ben into the world and I had the pleasure of doing an in home newborn lifestyle session for them. These types of sessions are quickly becoming some of my favorites because of the candid, raw moments I am able to capture. Big sister Eva wasn't a huge fan of being in photos at first but she was happy to show off her awesome cowgirl hat and when baby brother started crying she was quick to comfort him. I have enjoyed documenting the Miller family over the years, starting with Candice and Shawn's engagement, then the arrival of their daughter and now as they have become a family of four!

Soon we will be welcoming our own baby boy into our family and I am curious to see how the transition will go with my own daughter, who is very close in age to Eva.

Melissa Engle Photography provides portrait, family and lifestyle photography in Lancaster, PA. Get in touch to schedule your session!