Roma & Eric’s The Rail Park Philadelphia Engagement session was perfect! They chose this location as it is super close to their home in Philly. Also, they often spend time on the swings and walking through the Rail Park.
The Rail Park is a current city project that is supposed to be 3 miles long when it is finished, but the first 1/4 mile is pretty awesome so far. It starts on 13th and Noble Streets and ends on Callowhill Street. Which means it takes up about one and a half city blocks. There are so many little gems if you want to do a city shoot but not a traditional location and still have that Philly feel to your photos. https://www.therailpark.org/
The Rail Park is built on the viaduct of the old Reading Railroad, an elevated line that dates to the 1890s. The first section, which runs from 13th and Noble Streets to Callowhill, opened in 2018 as part of a larger plan to eventually stretch 3 miles through the Callowhill neighborhood. The rusted metal relief map sculpture near the entrance is one of the most striking pieces of public art in the city, and the raised walkway between the buildings funnels light and wind in ways that are genuinely unpredictable, which makes it one of the best and most dynamic places to photograph in Philadelphia.
I would break the entire current Rail Park engagement photographs into three sections
Section one:
The beginning of the park starts at an industrial building and leads up to this incredible sculpture. The sculpture is made up of a map of the city with all the local businesses on it. It is a relief with cutout sections of the rusted metal. It’s a gorgeous color of brown/orange rust.
Section Two:
The next part is the longest section that is a white stone covered walkway lined with trees and benches. Just a heads up, if there’s any wind in the city, it will amplify it here as it whips through the buildings up this raised pathway. The wind though is fun for flowy dresses and hair when capturing a Rail Park Engagement session.
Section Three:
The end of the Rail Park has two giant industrial swings and steps that lead down to the street. The swings are fantastic looking; however, they are quite high, so not very masculine for men to have their feet dangling like little kids. Eric mentioned it right away to me when he saw a few of them on the swings, haha!
The end of the walkway has another cool rusted metal wall with circular cutouts. I’m pretty sure it is a design but might also be so the wind can flow through. Roma & Eric were trying to do yoga poses here.
The stairs going down to Callowhill Street are very cool. The location looks like something out of the new Joker movie where Joaquin Phoenix is dancing down the stairs in the city.
The Rail Park Engagement Philadelphia goodies
Roma & Eric received a fantastic black and white wall art canvas, a custom album, and save the date cards we all created for them in the studio. I can’t wait to see Roma & Eric again this upcoming spring for their wedding at Woodcrest Country Club! If you are exploring Philadelphia engagement session locations or wedding venues, take a look at my guide to the best Philadelphia wedding venues.