Gantry Plaza State Park is a fantastic venue for any type of photo shoot. I’ve photographed engaged couples, families, brides and grooms, and recently I had my first maternity shoot here. In today’s blog post, I’ll share with you all the details (and of course photos) from Vani and Kris’s Long Island City maternity portrait session and let you know what’s new down at Gantry Plaza State Park.
Meet Vani and Kris
Let me start by introducing you to Vani and Kris. These two have been together for four years. This is their first little one, and their baby is expected to arrive in June. While it is certainly a surreal time to be having a child, Vani has had smooth sailing her entire pregnancy and they have lots of family in Queens to help with babysitting.
A Long Island City Maternity Portrait Session: The Details
We met on a bright Saturday afternoon in Gantry Plaza State Park. While the park was quite crowded when we started our session at 5:00 p.m., we had the entire park to ourselves by the end of the photo shoot.
With epic waterfront views of the NYC skyline, plus the super cool Pepsi Cola neon sign, you have lots of photo opportunities throughout the Gantry Plaza State Park. That said, this time of year is a bit tricky. Spring is not in full swing, and as such, there are no leaves on the trees to give any shade. Indeed, it was incredibly bright and tough to find any good portrait locations until the near end of the session when the sun had begun to set. The impending arrival of Vani and Kris’s baby meant that they couldn’t wait too much longer for a comfortable maternity session, but if you do have any leniency with the timing of your own photo session at Gantry Plaza, know that there isn’t much shade to be had until mid-spring.
Since most of the natural flora and fauna was not in season yet, I made use of the reflective windows at the Queens Public Library at Hunters Point. If you can’t actively go into the library at the moment, you might as well put the architecture to good use.
For the couple’s Long Island City maternity portrait session, Vani planned one outfit change. She went from a flowy, white gown to a more fitted floral dress and looked great in both looks. In case you are curious, the closest public restroom for outfit changes is conveniently located next to the Queens West Sports Field.
Finally, note that Gantry Plaza State Park is getting a bit of a sprucing up at the moment. There is construction occurs from the Long Island sign down towards the recreational dock. Hopefully this end of the park will be improved in time for summer.
Enjoy all of Vani and Kris’s maternity photos, and I’ll have more adventures for you next week!
If you would like a few more tips and tricks for planning your own Gantry Plaza State Park portrait session, then check out my recent photo shoots here and here.
Are you interested in scheduling your own Long Island City maternity portrait session in the future? Drop me a line and let’s chat about your photography needs.
If you would like to see more photos from my family portrait portfolio, then please visit my website KellyWilliamsPhotographer.com
