Becca & Kat’s Philadelphia Fairmount Park same-sex engagement session was amazing. My meeting of Becca and Kat was truly serendipitous. Becca was a bridesmaid of a wedding I photographed this past August and we had a great time shooting together with the bridal party. She asked for my card since she was planning her wedding and about 10 minutes later she came up to me and said that her finance Kat is a firefighter in Philly and works with the groom that was on the back of the business card. Small world!
Their session started at the Firehouse in Philadelphia which has quite a bit of importance to Kat. She comes from a long lineage of firefighters and wears her dad’s number 55. There is also a photo of him in her locker which is absolutely beautiful. I loved shooting all the details in the firehouse along with Becca & Kat.
Fairmount Park spans more than 2,000 acres across Philadelphia, making it one of the largest urban park systems in the country. The stretch near the Japanese House and Garden offers a layered backdrop: old-growth trees, stone bridges, and the Wissahickon Creek, all within a few miles of Center City. Belmont Mansion Drive, at the western edge of the park, sits on a ridge overlooking the entire Philadelphia skyline, giving a session a skyline finale that most Center City shoots can’t deliver. The combination of woodland trails, historic buildings, and city views in a single afternoon is what makes Fairmount one of the top spots for engagement photographs in Philadelphia.
Fairmount Park Same Sex engagement photos by the Japanese Garden
We then drove over to Fairmount Park by the Japanese Garden and met up with their little dog Chuck. Chuck was loving the outdoors but there might have been too many wild squirrels around to keep him focused. After trekking through Fairmount Park we went up on the Belmont Mansion Drive to get an overview of the city. There is an absolutely incredible view from the top overlooking the city. However, there is always some interesting individuals that are up there. One guy was zooming a remote controlled quad copter around our heads and another guy was swinging these two balls that were meant to be dipped in lighter fluid and set on fire as he spun them. The session ended with the release of a handful of helium balloons over the city. Overall I had an awesome session with them and can’t wait for their wedding next year! Planning a Philadelphia wedding? Explore our guide to the best Philadelphia wedding venues.
