How I Create Playful Family Photo Sessions Through Movement and Prompts

If you want to get an idea of what a family photo session might look like when you hire me, check out the photos and list of prompts below. These are some of my favorite ways to create movement during family photo sessions with young children. Most of these are prompts or games you can play. When I’m photographing families, I try to document the movement from various angles as well as up close and far away. I will often have them repeat the actions a couple of times. In my experience, this makes photo sessions playful and fun for everyone (and a good workout for parents too! 😄)

Below you will see various examples from this Lancaster family photo session at Overlook Park that show movement and play. My goal is to make everyone feel at ease by using simple guided actions, which allows both children and parents to feel comfortable and be themselves. For the most part, I allow kids to run the show. If they don’t like my suggestions or don’t want to go along with the prompts, no problem! I try to let the children be the guide and will often ask them for ideas so they can contribute and feel like they have a say in our activities. I may even offer to let them snap a photo or two!

FAVORITE PHOTO SESSION PROMPTS FOR FAMILIES WITH KIDS:

1. ring-around-the-rosie

2. superman with mom or dad flying them through the air on their belly

3. swinging variations with parents holding hands and having the child jump and swing or spinning them in a circle

4. london bridge: parents form a bridge with their arms and kids run underneath

5. kid tornado: have kids run around the parents while parents hug in the middle

6. follow the leader: have someone pull everyone in a line

7. airplane pose: have parent lift child in the air above their head or they can lie down on a blanket and lift them

8. blanket hammock or blanket parachute play. Parents hold both sides of the blanket and swish it up in the air while kids run under or use the blanket as a hammock.

9. twirling/dancing together

10. sitting on shoulders

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RING-AROUND-THE-ROSIE:

This one is a classic. Have everyone hold hands and move around in a circle. Works best for groups of 4 or more.

SUPERMAN

Parent lifts child in the air on their belly so it feels like they are flying. If there is more than one child, parents can each lift a kid and have them fly towards one another. This move can also be done lying down and lifting the child on your knees or with your arms, depending on how heavy they are.

SWINGING:

There are many variations to the swinging prompt but the basic one is where the child stands between both parents and holds their hands and then jumps or swings in the air.

LONDON BRIDGE:

Parents form a bridge with their arms and kids take turns running underneath. For added fun, parents can try to capture the kids as they pass through.

KID TORNADO:

Have parents stand in the center and hug while kids chase one another around the parents in a circle, hence the kid tornado.

FOLLOW THE LEADER:

Have someone pull everyone along in a line holding hands. I love to use this prompt for silhouettes because you can see everyone’s shape perfectly against a big open sky.

AIRPLANE POSE:

Have a parent lift their child in the air and make them fly. Very similar to superman pose, just a different name. Or you can have everyone pretend to be airplanes and ‘fly’ around with their arms out.

BLANKET HAMMOCK OR BLANKET PARACHUTE PLAY:

Parents hold both sides of the blanket and swish it up in the air while kids run under (parachute) or use the blanket as a hammock and have kids sit in the middle while parents gently swing it back and forth.

TWIRLING OR DANCING:

Twirling or do-si-do is always a fun option, especially when you’re wearing a fun twirly dress!

SITTING ON SHOULDERS:

An easy go-to prompt with young children is to put them on your shoulders. It almost always brings a big smile, especially if parents dip up and down as they walk or tilt to the side. I also like to have parents kiss while their little one(s) is on their shoulders or have kids try to kiss their parent.

Want to know how this family felt about their photo session? In her own words, this was what mom had to say upon receiving their photo gallery:

“Melissa, wow wow wow — I have about 75 favorites. I am amazed by what you were able to capture amidst the chaos. The girls’ personalities are shining loud in so many of these photos.” 

It means the world to me to hear when my clients love their photos and I always appreciate every bit of feedback! If you are looking for a fun family photo session experience, I hope you’ll reach out!

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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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!