Fall Engagement Photos in Upstate New York | Hannah and Milad
From the minute Hannah got in touch, she shared a vision for fall engagement photos in Upstate New York, and as a lover of New York’s Finger Lakes region, I absolutely adored this idea.
Upstate New York has an abundance of gorgeous engagement shoot spots, and when timed up with the changing seasons, the gorges, waterfalls, and caverns seem to flame to life with color and beauty.
This was the case with Hannah and Milad’s fall engagement photos. We selected Watkins Glen State Park as the location for their session and opted for an early morning sunrise shoot, scoring a relatively empty park!! 🙌🏼 We took our time ambling through the park, pausing at any gorgeous scenery that caught our attention, and I am still swooning over the ebbing greens, the sparkling waterfalls, and the dancing shadows that made the most stunning environment for engagement photos.
Watkins Glen State Park is a 778-acre park, a natural wonder in Watkins Glen, NY, that features a 400-foot-deep gorge with 19 waterfalls, natural caverns, unique rock formations, glistening pools, and literally hundreds of stone steps throughout less than two miles. It is considered a "flagship" park by the State of New York, and understandably so. We walked, and marveled– then marveled, and walked. It is a surreal, magical location that feels especially intoxicating during the fall season with foliage, which is why it doubles as a premier location for destination weddings! (See wedding planner, Desiree, of Verve Event Co’s list of top places to get married in the Finger Lakes here!)
The scenery of the park truly woke up my senses up with its riveting, multi-faceted beauty— the noises of rustling wind through leaves, water trickling through cascading rocks, and birds chirping a morning song; the feel of thundering waterfall mist clinging to my eyelashes, and moss stretching beneath my hand as we mounted the stairs; and the sight of lush greenery, dense woodlands enveloping us, and layers upon layers of limestone, shale, and rock embedded into the hillside.
The park also has easy parking access, which is especially convenient for engagement photos (wearing heels, changing outfits, hauling accessories, etc.)— not to mention public restrooms, which are great for outfit changes! Because we got there early, both of these areas were relatively empty, making it simple and seamless for our engagement shoot. But all practicalities aside, Hannah and Milad’s love of nature and fall foliage was the driving force in selecting Watkins Glen State Park for their fall engagement photos, and the park delivered in every conceivable way.
For the purposes of our shoot, we chose to do their photos on the gorge trail vs. the rim trail, where we could focus on the up-close, palpable beauty of the glen.
(See Maggie and Hade’s adventurous engagement shoot at Watkins Glen State Park here!) for inspiration on both the gorge trail and the rim trail!) Specifically, Hannah, Milad, and I fell in love with several key locations in the gorge trail where we ended up doing the majority of their photos: Couch’s Staircase, Cavern Cascade, Point Lookout, and Lover’s Lane.
Couch’s Staircase is a 100+ stone staircase that features mesmerizing views of greens, ferns, and foliage, and we stopped here for some traditional engagement photos– walking, smiling, and snuggling. But at Point Lookout, we leaned into more artsy, wide-angle shots to capture the expansive enormity of the gorge, the graceful, sculpted curvature of its rock formations, and the intricacy of the limestone layers. We leveraged the final two locations, Cavern Cascade and Lover’s Lane, for more romantic images; Cavern Cascade features a plunging waterfall that you can actually walk behind (a prominent highlight of the gorge trail) and Lover’s Lane is a narrow, garden-style pathway with a waist-high, dry stone wall that flanks the side. Both spots were dreamy backgrounds for close-up, intimate poses.
Hannah and Milad came all the way from PENNSYLVANIA for their fall engagement shoot, and have the actual cutest meet-cue story (or lack there of 👀😂🙈)
Imagine this: Hannah, who had moved to the area a year and a half prior to start her new career as a Physician Assistant, got roped into creating a Tinder account by her coworkers “to put herself out there”— only to match with a nurse, who coincidentally worked on the hospital floor above her own. They started dating shortly afterward and quickly fell in love with who they were becoming together. Hannah shared how supportive Milad was of her dreams and aspirations, and how they have evolved into this beautiful duo. They are now planning a destination wedding in Ireland! 😭🙌🏼 (If you’re also planning a destination wedding, check out Brides’ 30 Tips in Planning a Destination Wedding, or specifically an Ireland destination wedding, try Wed Vibes’ Guide on Planning a Destination Wedding in Ireland!)
It was a priority for Hannah and Milad that their engagement shoot be fun and comfortable, showcasing their sweet connection– and they are not alone in this feeling! (See Green Wedding Shoe’s Guide on How to Make Your Engagement Photos Personal here!) Queue all the squeals and delight for me because if you know anything about the photography experience I aspire to give my couples, it is one of fun and comfortability! My bread and butter is making you feel yourself and relaxed, the type of comfortability that is cultivated through a rich friendship. This is key for achieving genuine, authentic images, and it is my priority that couples feel laid back for their photoshoot. That is exactly what we achieved with Hannah and Milad.
Hannah and Milad are both on the introverted side, so this meant more hands-on prompts, proactive coaching and directing (think, a movie director on-set), and helpful feedback and encouragement along the way!
By using non-stiff poses and interactive prompts (walking, cuddling, dancing, etc.) we were able to get out all the jitters and achieve a truly fun, comfortable photoshoot. (Read more about my approach to artful, laid-back, high-impact storytelling here!)
They also leaned into this approach by choosing wearable, yet stylish clothes that allowed them to be playful and agile, rather than stiff and rigid. Opting for a timeless, cozy fall look, Hannah chose a beige, chunky-knit sweater, layered with a plaid, oversized blazer, and paired it with dark-wash jeans and booties (truly, never out of style!! 🙌🏼) Milad complemented her with a natural-toned dress shirt and sweater vest. Their outfits were a great balance of stylish, yet comfortable, and the muted, earth-tones married so nicely with the fern greens, fierce yellows, and rich, textured browns of the gorge.
For anyone interested in doing fall engagement photos in Upstate New York, here are a five key takeaways from Hannah and Milad’s session:
Time of year: Start here (!!) as this is most pivotal in making fall engagement photos feel truly “fall!” You can refer to I LOVE NY’s Fall Foliage Report, which is an interactive map that highlights the progress of changing leaves across the Empire State based on observations from volunteer leaf spotters.
Time of day: Peak fall colors in Upstate New York draw huuuuge crowds out, so the time of day you plan your shoot could make or break your experience. I highly recommend an early morning sunrise shoot, as you will experience fewer crowds and savor more of the Upstate New York beauty.
Creativity: Be sure to allot enough time to your photographer so they can get creative and create unique, out-of-the-box imagery– specifically at a location with waterfalls and other natural wonders! Hannah, Milad, and I were in no rush, so we were able to play around with slow shutter speeds (giving the waterfall at a slow, silky, ethereal effect), wide angle shots (photographing the massive grandeur of the glen), and fun, artistic shots of Hannah’s engagement ring! (Laura and Mark’s Summery, Boho Microwedding at The Inn at Taughannock Falls is another great example of making space to create art when taking engagement or wedding portraits at a waterfall!)
Outfits: When choosing your outfits, consider clothes that are comfortable and flexible so that you are not physically restricted during the photoshoot. Any Upstate New York location may have a hilly geographic area, so consider comfortable footwear– and its weather can often be unpredictable, so consider layers of clothes or a back-up umbrella!
Colors: In the same vein as outfit selection, consider choosing colors that complement rather than detract from the scenery around you. Hannah and Milad leaned into soothing, earthy colors, which blended so well with the built-in color palette of the gorge, and this was key in creating such lovely, palatable photos for them.
All in all, Hannah and Milad’s fall engagement photos in Upstate New York were a 10/10, and I couldn’t recommend engagement photos in the fall any more emphatically!
If you are on the fence about where to do your engagement shoot, or how to bring your vision to life, please reach out and let’s connect! We can hop on a phone call, chat through your ideas, and collaborate on making some magic together! Alternatively, feel free to check out my guide to the Top Engagement Shoot Locations in Upstate NY here, or check out more fall engagement photos at Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, NY here! That’s all for now, friends– cheers to Hannah and Milad! 🫶🏼