A Riverside Park Family Portrait Session
I have some lovely photos from a recent Riverside Park family portrait session to share with you in this week’s blog post. Riverside Park runs along the Hudson River, and in my humble opinion, this is the most underrated park in New York City. Everyone runs to Central Park, but Riverside has the waterfront, tons of beautiful plants, and a host of unique public art displays. So if you would like to see more of what this park has to offer, then read on…
A Riverside Park Family Portrait Session –
Meet Ely and Aamir
First, let’s meet Ely and Aamir, whose daughter is about to turn two years old. To celebrate this big milestone, they brought in the big guns: a cake covered in precious circus-themed animals and a fun balloon. Their daughter loved both surprises and even sampled a bit of the icing.
Riverside Park at 61st Street
We began Ely and Aamir’s Riverside Park family portrait session at 61st Street. We met in front of the historical locomotive train parked by the river. This section of the park is close to their home, and my strategy for the shoot was to start at the park and work our way back towards their apartment.
For those of you who are not fans of being on display during your photo shoot, this section of the park has two pathways, of which the back pathway is less traveled. I focused our initial shots in this area to give us a bit more privacy. We started off with the family walking down the path to get everyone warmed up in front of the camera. I then transitioned to some family photos in front of the colorful bushes. At the time of this photo shoot in mid-October, the trees had not changed color quite yet, but I did find a few trees covered in yellow leaves that provided a touch of the fall season.
Next up I found a grassy knoll to take solo photos of Ely and Aamir’s little girl. Riverside Park is always popular, and on a Saturday you certainly won’t have the park all to yourself. That said, the waterfront is a great blank background and allowed me to isolate my subject somewhat. I brought bubbles, Ely brought out the cake, and shenanigans in front of the camera ensued.
By the way, a quick shout out to Ely who found all of the ‘props’ for the family portrait session on Etsy. The cake and cute little flower crown for her daughter made the shoot special.
Waterline Square Park
The last photos from Ely and Aamir’s family portrait session were taken at Waterline Square Park. In case you are not aware – and this was my first time visiting the park – this is a lovely little stretch of green space within the Waterline Square Park apartment complex. I couldn’t find any information online saying that this is a private space, so it seems to be fair game, photographically-speaking.
The park has a maze of walkways crossing over water features and through native plant beds. Though small in area, the park didn’t feel too crowded and we were able to take photos without too many people in the background. Waterline Square Park has a playground and also features water fountains at the front of the park, though at the time of our portrait session the fountains were not working. If you are going to be in the Riverside Park area, I definitely recommend walking over to the park and adding this area to your shot list.
Enjoy the photos, and I will have more photo shoots to share with you next week!
Riverside Park is a lovely spot for a family portrait session; check out my other family portraits in the park here and here.
Interested in scheduling your own Riverside Park family portrait session? Drop me a line and let’s chat.
If you would like to see more images from my family portrait portfolio, then please visit my website – KellyWilliamsPhotographer.com
