Seasonal guide
Fall family photos in Philadelphia: where to go and when
When Philadelphia foliage actually peaks, the best fall family photo locations in the city and suburbs, and how to book before the good October weekends are gone.
Where to shoot in Philadelphia
Location guides, session planning and straight answers, written between shoots by a Philadelphia family and engagement photographer. Everything here is somewhere I’ve actually worked — the light, the parking, the crowds, the hour to be there.
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34 guides
Seasonal guide
When to book your holiday card session (earlier than you think)
Work backwards from the mailbox and the deadline lands in September. The real timeline for holiday card photos, and what to do if you miss it.
Location guide
Penn Treaty Park and Fishtown: bridge views and brick
Penn Treaty Park faces east over the Delaware, which makes it a sunrise location most people shoot at sunset. Plus the Fishtown streets that do the real work.
Location guide
The 20 best places for family photos in Philadelphia
A Philadelphia family photographer’s working list of the best places to take family photos in the city — park by park, with light, parking, crowds and the best hour to be there.
Location guide
Awbury Arboretum: the quiet free alternative in Germantown
Awbury has the open meadow, big specimen trees and stone house that people go to ticketed gardens for, in Germantown, with free parking and almost nobody there.
Location guide
18 engagement photo locations in Philadelphia
Where to take engagement photos in Philadelphia — cobblestone streets, rooftop skyline views, riverfront piers and neighborhood corners, from a Philadelphia engagement photographer.
Location guide
Morris Arboretum photo sessions: what it costs and where to stand
Morris Arboretum is ticketed with its own photography rules. What that means in practice, the corners worth your two hours, and the light on each.
Location guide
Fairmount Park family photos: which part of 2,000 acres?
Fairmount Park is a dozen locations, not one. A Philadelphia photographer’s guide to the Horticulture Center, Shofuso, Belmont Plateau, Lemon Hill, Boathouse Row and where to actually park.
Location guide
Bartram's Garden: the skyline view nobody uses
Bartram's Garden sits southwest of Center City, so the skyline is lit at sunset instead of silhouetted. Free, quiet, and the best evening view here.
Location guide
Old City photo spots: cobblestone, brick and the bridge
A block-by-block guide to portrait photography in Old City Philadelphia — Elfreth’s Alley, Race Street Pier, Head House Square and the quiet streets tourists miss.
Location guide
Cira Green and University City: the elevated skyline
Cira Green is a park on a garage roof, twelve stories up, with an open skyline view. What to check before planning a session there.
Location guide
Main Line & Chester County portrait locations
Where to take family and engagement photos on the Main Line and in Chester County — Valley Forge, Ridley Creek, Tyler Arboretum, Haverford and the towns in between.
Session planning
Bringing your dog to your photo session
Bring a second person whose only job is the dog. Plus leads, heat, exposing for black dogs, and which Philadelphia venues allow them.
Location guide
Bucks County portrait locations
Family and engagement photo locations in Bucks County — the Delaware Canal towpath, Tyler State Park, Peace Valley, New Hope, Doylestown and Washington Crossing.
Session planning
What to wear for family photos
What to wear for family photos — colors that work, patterns that don’t, how to coordinate without matching, and season-by-season advice from a Philadelphia family photographer.
Location guide
Wissahickon family photos: the honest guide
What the light actually does in the Wissahickon gorge, which stretch of Forbidden Drive to pick, where to park on a busy Saturday, and who the valley suits.
Style
Posed vs. candid family photos: get both
The difference between posed and candid family photography, what each one is actually good for, and why a Philadelphia family session should be an even split of the two.
Seasonal guide
Summer sessions in Philadelphia heat: how to not melt
In July the best light in Philadelphia arrives after most toddlers' bedtimes. Sunrise sessions, shade strategy, storms and summer heat planning.
Location guide
Franklin Square with small kids: carousel, fountain, bathrooms
Franklin Square is the most practical location in Center City for a session with toddlers — bathrooms, food, a carousel and a playground within one block.
Session planning
Family photo sessions with toddlers: how I actually run them
A two-hour session with a two-year-old gets you about forty-five minutes of that two-year-old. How the time is structured so those minutes count.
Location guide
Rittenhouse Square portraits: making the busiest square work
Rittenhouse Square is small, crowded and ringed by tall buildings. Why it still works for portraits, and the hours that beat the crowds.
Location guide
Valley Forge family photos: fields, cabins and open sky
Valley Forge is federal land with its own photography rules and almost no shade. Where to meet, which fields work, how the wind behaves and who the park suits.
Session planning
What happens if it rains: backup plans that work
Overcast is not rain, and a summer storm is not an all-day front. How the call gets made, and when to move the hour instead of the day.
Session planning
What to wear for engagement photos
Two people, one hour, and a decision about whether to change outfits at all. Matching formality, shoes for cobblestone, and what actually photographs well.
Seasonal guide
Spring bloom windows in Philadelphia: cherry, magnolia, azalea
Cherry blossom lasts days, not weeks, and no one can promise you a date six weeks out. How Philadelphia's spring actually unfolds and how to plan around it.
Seasonal guide
Golden hour in Philadelphia, month by month
Sunset in Philadelphia moves nearly four hours between December and June. What that means for booking a session, month by month.
Engagement
City or nature? Choosing your engagement setting in Philly
Not an aesthetic question. City locations work year-round, after dark and in rain; nature gives you privacy and no date stamp. Which matters more to you?
Engagement
Engagement photos for save-the-dates: the working timeline
A beautiful wide landscape frame becomes two unrecognizable dots on a fridge magnet. What a save-the-date photo actually needs, and when to have it shot.
Engagement
How long does an engagement session take?
An hour, and here is where every minute of it goes — including the first ten that are always stiff and the last fifteen that are always the best.
Engagement
When to take engagement photos before your wedding
Save-the-dates drive the deadline, and they push the session earlier than most couples expect. The timeline, plus the season trap nobody warns you about.
Location guide
Longwood Gardens photos: what is actually allowed
Longwood restricts professional photography more than most gardens. What that means for a portrait session, and where to go instead.
Engagement
Proposal spots in Philadelphia (and how to plan one)
A good proposal spot and a good photo spot are not the same thing. Privacy, ground, light and escape routes — plus the Philadelphia places that manage both.
Seasonal guide
Winter photo sessions in Philadelphia: why cold works
The winter sun never gets high here, so light stays soft all afternoon. What winter sessions give you, and how long small children actually last.
Session planning
Planning an extended family session: ten people, one photograph
The photograph is the easy part. Getting fourteen people to one spot at one time with a shot list that fits the light is the actual work.
Ready to book?
Reading about locations is the fun part. Standing in one with your people is better. Family sessions run two hours with thirty edited images; engagement sessions run an hour with fifteen. Both split about evenly between posed portraits and candid frames.