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Every moment tells a story

My photography has always revolved around people and their stories. I have a desire to capture the true essence of who you are and the relationships with those who matter most in your life. Whatever stage of life you are in; newly engaged, becoming a parent for the first time, an entrepreneur starting your own business, I want to document the magic, beauty and chaos of your everyday life and important milestones.

 

kind words

ReviewsBlog

Melissa has a way of putting her clients at ease and capturing them in lovely moments. She has been taking my photos for over 10 years. I love how she explores the beauty in the world around her with color and movement. I would recommend Melissa to anyone looking for amazing photography!

-Megan

Melissa has been our photographer for engagement, maternity, newborn and 1 year photos. She is super fun and engages us in a light-hearted manner (we tend to take ourselves a little seriously and feel awkward in front of a camera.) She does a great job capturing our family relationships and gets some great shots, even with a grumpy kid. Melissa is also very timely with getting photos back to us. I highly recommend her to others!

- Lorene

We have used Melissa for 4 photo sessions including maternity, newborn and and family portraits with our twins. She is super laid back and friendly. She's very accommodating and I have gotten a ton of great compliments on our pictures. She's timely, reasonably priced, and truly loves her work! We love working with her and highly recommend her!

-Kristi

meet melissa

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I’m Melissa, a portrait, family and lifestyle photographer based in Lancaster, PA. Folks who know me well would describe me as a child at heart who is known for her killer party planning skills and obsession with unicorns and mermaids. I’m a lover of vibrant colors, impromptu dance parties and anything that involves bacon and avocado. Read more >

let's hang out on instagram

In just a few hours these two will be wed! I am honored to have a front row seat to their wedding as they take their vows. Bethany is such a dear friend to me, a fellow creative soul and also a lover of unicorns and rainbows. She walked with me through some of my hardest times, and we've been on several international adventures together, including Nicaragua, Morocco and Turkey. These two all stars planned their wedding in less than 3 months and I am without a doubt that this day is going to be AMAZING! Glad we could sneak in some last minute engagement photos a week ago today! #engaged #lancasterpaphotographer #theknotpa #livecolorfully #liveauthentic
We enjoyed our snow day; lots of hide and seek, pie baking and ending with a soup night potluck at a neighbor friend’s home. Being able to walk everywhere is one of the things that gets me through winter time in the city. #colorswithcora #snowday #lancastercity
Doesn’t feel like too long ago I was in her shoes but now I’ve got a 7.5 month old! Now on the blog, these two and their fun fall maternity session at @rockfordplantation. Love how that rainbow is right over her belly ❤️ Link in profile. #maternitysession #lancasterpaphotographer #lancastermaternityphotographer #melissaenglephotography #rockfordplantation #mymotherhood #beyondthewanderlust #motherhoodunplugged
I admit, on Saturday morning at the start of mini sessions I was regretting that I agreed to 3 hours in the cold wind but the day went surprisingly fast. Everyone did great and we raised over $500 for the Lancaster Neighbor Fund. Little Sadie was our youngest participant. You can see more from the day in my stories. #lancasterpaphotographer #melissaenglephotography #livecolorfully #boldemotionalcolorful #theeverydayportrait #momtog
I’m starting to think about the upcoming holidays and what I want them to look like for me and my family this year. I have a tendency to want to do it all; the holiday parties, the cookie baking, the caroling, the gift exchanges, the decorating, the local artisan holiday craft fairs, etc etc. All are good, joy filled things in and of themselves however I know I need to make more space for stillness in my life and I feel the pressure of the holiday blitz coming. Maybe I won’t be practicing stillness in the literal sense (not with a 3 year old and this little guy who is now crawling) but in the sense that I need to have more unscheduled days to just be. I have such a hard time of saying no (especially to fun photo gigs) but I’m going to try my best to not do it all this year. And that might just mean saying no more often than I’d like. P.S. fall has been so glorious this past week, I will miss all the leaves when they go. Thanks to @henryandetta for my favorite fall pixie hat, Nolan gets compliments all the time😘 #magicofchildhood #pixiehat #fallbaby #melissaenglephotography #clickmagazine #dearphotographer #livecolorfully #rollinwithnolanavery
Getting ready for mini sessions for a cause tomorrow at Overlook Park. Excited to see how much we raise for the Lancaster Neighbor Fund which helps immigrant families in the community. If you know me well, you know that refugee and immigrant issues are something I care deeply about and I am proud to support this cause. While working for 2.5 years in the immigration program at @cwslancaster I learned a lot about the needs and challenges that immigrants face in our country and I am glad to be able to give back in this small way. #photographythatgives #giveback #lancasterpaphotographer #alwayslancaster #lancasterwelcomes #boldemotionalcolorful #candidchildhood #liveauthentic #dearphotographer