Family Photography Hershey Pa

Harrisburg Family Photo Locations: Some of My Favorites

When I’m working with a family to plan their family portraits, one of the first details we decide on is the location. The location for your Harrisburg family photo session sets the tone for the entire aesthetic, whether you’re looking for a backdrop that is natural and earthy, historic and charming, or anything in between.

Trying to find a location for your next photo session? Here are some of my top spots (note: the images pictured are not necessarily taken at the locations listed).

Shipoke, PA for a Harrisburg Family Photo Session

Shipoke is one of Harrisburg’s most picturesque neighborhoods. It’s lined with gorgeous rowhouses that would remind you of old-world San Francisco or Charleston’s Rainbow Row. It’s perfect for families who love that style of charm and want a richly colorful background for their portraits.

Fort Hunter Mansion and Park

The Fort Hunter Mansion and Park overlooks the gorgeous Susquehanna River. The mansion’s exterior has a bold historical look and the grounds of its surrounding park have amazing natural beauty. It’s fantastic for family portraits surrounded by bright and lively greenery.

Lower Allen Community Park

Located in Mechanicsburg, Lower Allen Community Park is one of my favorite spots for Harrisburg family photos. It features a variety of different landscapes, like woodsy areas as well as open green spaces, so I can capture a few different looks in the same place.

Downtown Harrisburg and the Harrisburg PA State Capitol

For families who want a stylish and urban aesthetic in their family portraits, downtown Harrisburg is a go-to choice. There are so many spots in downtown Harrisburg that make it easy to create the specific look your family wants.

Milton Hershey School Founder’s Hall in Hershey, PA

For families who live in the Hershey area or who are up for a short drive, I love taking portraits at the Milton Hershey School’s Founders Hall in Hershey. The building and its surrounding area has a lovely, unique look that can create a fantastic family portrait backdrop.

Choosing Your Perfect Location for Harrisburg Family Photos

If you’re due for some new Harrisburg family photos, hiring an experienced photographer will make the rest of the process simple and smooth. As a full-service photographer, I’m happy to help families choose a location, plan their wardrobe, and even design your custom portrait prints and other products. Get started today by contacting Karissa Zimmer Photography. I can’t wait to help you create new memories for this chapter of your family’s life!

Should You Include Siblings in a Hershey Maternity Photo Shoot?

Maternity portraits celebrate one of the most unique and treasured times in your life. I’m honored to help families throughout the Hershey, PA area to preserve lifelong memories of this meaningful time. If you’re planning a Hershey maternity portrait session, you may have the same question that countless other families ask: should you include your children in your maternity photos?

The Beauty of Family Maternity Portraits

When you’re preparing to welcome a new baby into your family, the entire family is involved. Your older child may be excited to meet their baby sibling and eager to become a big brother or big sister. In many families, there’s already a unique bond before the new baby has even arrived.

This is why including your kids in your Hershey maternity portraits can be so meaningful. You’re paying homage to the fact that the entire family is ready to embrace the new baby with love and warmth. If your older child is somewhat distant from their soon-to-be sibling, this photo session can also be a fantastic way to help them feel more involved in the pregnancy. You can even use the photo shoot as an opportunity to take some solo portraits of your child or children before the new baby arrives.

Celebrating Your Special Time

While some moms-to-be enjoy bringing the entire family for their maternity portraits, it’s also important to remember that this photo session is in honor of you! Amid the discomforts, physical changes, and stresses of pregnancy, maternity portraits can help you remember that you are an absolute bombshell who deserves to feel strong and confident. For some moms-to-be, maternity portraits are incredibly personal in this way, and you may not want to incorporate the entire family.

Your Hershey Maternity Portraits, Your Call!

Ultimately, the question of whether you should include your kids in your maternity portraits comes down to you. This is your photo session, and I’m happy to work with whatever makes you feel comfortable and will help you enjoy your session most. There’s no wrong answer!

To start planning your maternity photos, contact my Hershey area portrait studio today.

Hershey PA Family Photographer | The Stirpe Family

I love being a Hershey PA Family Photographer! I hold this family so close to my heart! The Stirpe Family has continued to trust me to capture their family portraits for the last 4 years! I’ve even been lucky enough to document and watch their littlest, Ava, grow up since birth! That is truly the greatest compliment and honor any Hershey PA Family Photographer can possibly receive! Not only are my clients trusting me to capture and create the best images for them, but they are trusting me with a piece of their family’s lives and I do not take that lightly!

Choosing a location for your Hershey PA Family Photos

I must say, this family is a true creature of habit! They have one location they have loved over and over for the past few years! But this time, we all agreed it was time for a nice change-up! We decided on Founder’s Hall at The Milton Hershey School for the Stirpe’s family photos. The grounds here are absolutely beautiful during any time of year. It truly makes for the perfect setting for a Hershey family photo session!

Summer Family Photography sessions

Now, when I say the Stirpes’ are creatures of habit I am not kidding! Just like they’ve got their favorite location, they also had a serious tendency to LOVE fall family photography. I’m pretty certain I’ve spent approximately 3 of the 4 years we worked together trying to convert them to summer family photography session clients! This past year WE DID IT! We did a Hershey PA summer family photo shoot and it was pure magic. Hands down, my favorite session we ever captured together! I think we could agree that the summer “magic hour” is truly the most magical!

Build a relationship with your Family photographer!

I truly adore these 4 people. My clients that I get to see each year become my people! Almost like an extension of my family and friend circle! I love that we can laugh together, have our yearly “inside jokes” and most of all watch their babies grow up together. I believe family photography is such a personal service. It’s not a service where you should pick “just anyone” to perform. I believe you should always have the opportunity to meet your photographer for an in-person consultation prior to working together. Kind of like a preliminary “meet and greet” to see if they’re a good fit for your family. You should feel that your personalities mesh well and that you trust them to work with your children and capture them authentically. When choosing the right Hershey PA Family Photographer, you should know it’s someone you’ll enjoy working with and trust to capture your family for years to come, not just one and done!

Choose me to capture your Hershey PA Family Photography Session!

I’d love to learn more about you and your family and how we can capture some amazing images together! Images that you will want to display on the walls of your home for years and years to come! I am a custom, full-service portrait photographer serving Hershey PA and all of the surrounding Central PA towns including Harrisburg, Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, York, and Carlisle PA. I will walk you through my portrait photography process from start to finish! Shoot me a quick message today to start planning your family’s photo session!

Newborn-Maternity-Family and High School Senior Photographer in Mechanicsburg PA

Newborn-Maternity-Family and High School Senior Photographer in Mechanicsburg PA | 2019 year in review!

As a Newborn-Maternity-Family and High School Senior Photographer in Mechanicsburg PA 2019 was awesome! I’ve captured some of my most favorite images this year. I’ve snuggled, loved and photographed some of the most adorable babies in all of Central PA! I am totally sure of it! I’ve giggled with kiddos, ran around like a nut with toddlers, channeled my youthful soul while capturing high school senior pictures and watched my repeat client families grow up a little more this year. I mean, it will be hard for me to write this post without a few tears. Guys – this is not just my job. This is a genuine labor of love here. Some will say “you shouldn’t be emotionally connected to your job,” but I disagree. I do this with my whole heart. I look back on a year and feel so blessed to have crossed paths with each and every one of my clients. Some it was for the very first time and others who feel like they’ve become old friends. You guys are all gold to me. Every one of you holds a special place in this photographer’s heart of memories.

Now, for a moment of transparency…because, let’s be real-2019 wasn’t all sunshine, unicorns and glitter. It included some unexpected hurdles to jump at times- I guess you could say. This 2019 year required some serious faith to get through the things that are out of my control and the drive to conquer all that is within it. With those two things, the most amazing family, a few very close friends and a whole handful of the greatest clients any photographer could have – Here I am! Happy, healthy, and ready to take on 2020 and all it’s new adventures!

All of these moments that we turned into tangible, keepsake memories mean everything.

Not only to you, but to me. I have a genuine value for family and the people we love most. I know how much it will mean to you forever to have these memories of the babies,children, spouses and EVEN PUPPIES you love. Time will change us all. We’ll grow older as will our children. These moments you allowed me to capture for you are frozen forever. That is priceless. Thank you for trusting me to capture these memories for you this year. Thank you for allowing me to guide you through this process and allow me to help you choose tangible, heirloom artwork for your home so that your children’s children will have these special family memories. They’ll be just as important to you decades from now as they are today!

Let’s talk about 2020!

As we say goodbye to 2019 it’s important to plan for the future! Silly resolution time, I know! But, I’m excited! I’ve got big plans for the new year and I’m looking forward to connecting with all of you who will be a part of it! I will, however, be scheduling limited sessions each month. This keeps me on my A game so that I can give each of you a personal and custom portrait experience. Most important, I’m a mom myself, so being present for my daughter is my biggest priority. I’m all about “being the best version of ourselves” and a good start for me is by not overfilling my plate. I want to give everyone I care about the best version of me! So, with that being said…plan, plan, plan ahead! Yep, I know…lots of us a procrastinators, but it’s best to book your session several months in advance! If you’re expecting a baby this year – it is best to schedule your newborn session before your 3rd trimester. That way, all is set when baby arrives! Newborn session openings fill FAST! If you’re thinking ahead to spring and summer – now is a great time to get the planning started! It is MY MOST FAVORITE time of the year for family photography! Absolutely, positively the most beautiful time of the year! And Fall…welll….i’m still recovering from the past few months. We’ll revisit the idea of fall again soon! Hahaha!

Let’s chat about your family!

I’d love to chat about what makes your family special and how we can capture that for you. I’ll sit down with you and carefully plan all the details to how we will photograph your special people. I’ll walk you through my entire portrait process. Send me a quick message HERE to get in touch with me!

Do you follow me on INSTAGRAM? Catch all the sneak peeks and fun updates there!

Family Photographer in Harrisburg Pa

Family Photographer in Harrisburg Pa - The Norman Family

Family Photographer in Harrisburg Pa - The Norman Family. I love when families get together as a large group to be photographed together. It shows just how much they value one another and having visual memories together. Families are ever evolving and changing. To have a memory of your family just as it is now, at the ages you are and at the stage of life your children are in is always something so special to remember. No matter what season in life you are in. These are your people. This is your tribe. There is nothing more important than the ones we love.

The Norman's Fall family session was purchased as a very special Mother's Day gift in the spring. HOW SWEET IS THAT? How many gifts can you give your mom that she is LITERALLY GOING TO HAVE FOREVER!? Gifts you are going to have forever, your children are going to have forever and they're going going to be able to pass to their children. There are not many that I can think of! This may have been a Mother's Day present, but I think Dad is getting just as much joy out of seeing his family's portraits on the walls of his home everyday too!

Families that have fun together are the best! If you know me, you know I am not at all a "super serious" girl. I thrive on laughter and humor and totally encourage all of this silliness! These memories are just as important as the sweet ones!

It's time to book NOW for Fall family portraits!

It's that time of year...FALL portrait season! It may still seem early, but it's absolutely NOT too early to book your fall family portrait session. Openings almost always fill before the actual fall season begins. Send me a message HERE today to start planning your own custom portrait session!

Would you like to see more fun session peeks? Follow me on Instagram!