Upstate New York Engagement Session | Jenna & Daniel
Jenna and Daniel met when they were nine years old. Total opposites. The kind of story that sounds made up until you’re standing in Jenna’s childhood backyard in Holmes, New York, watching them move around each other like they’ve been doing it their whole lives — because they have.
The session took place at Jenna’s family property in Upstate New York, which meant the location came with history already built in. Horses, open land, the particular ease of a place that’s been home for a long time. For an Upstate New York engagement session, that kind of setting does something a rented location can’t. It already knows who these people are.
Jenna’s childhood home
We started on the property — the backyard, the open fields, the horses nearby. Because Jenna grew up here, she moved through the space without thinking about it. That ease transferred immediately to the photographs. Daniel followed her lead, and within a few frames, the session had the quality that takes some couples an hour to find.
The late afternoon light in that part of New York sits low and warm, coming through the trees at an angle that makes everything feel quieter than it is. We worked through the property slowly. There was no reason to rush. The location kept giving us more.
The horses
The horses were part of the session from the beginning — not as props, but as presences. Jenna grew up with them. So when she moved toward them, it was natural. The photographs from that section of the session are some of the most specific of the day. You can’t manufacture that kind of comfort.
Daniel was right there with her. That’s the thing about couples who have known each other since childhood — the adjustment period that other couples need doesn’t exist. They were already at ease before the session started, and the horses just made it more visible.
The open fields
From the property, we moved into the open fields, working the last of the afternoon light. Upstate New York in that season has a quality that’s hard to find elsewhere — green, layered, the sky doing something specific above the tree line. We used all of it.
Jenna and Daniel walked, stopped, turned back toward each other. The photographs from the fields have a spaciousness that the backyard and barn didn’t — wide frames, the land behind them, the kind of environmental portrait that only works when the couple is comfortable enough to disappear into the setting. These two were.
Planning an Upstate New York engagement session?
Maria A. Garth Photography documents engagements across Upstate New York, the Hudson Valley, Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, and beyond — guided, not posed, and present for the ones that surface on their own. Based in Pennsylvania, serving PA, NJ, NY, and the DMV with destination availability.
Inquiries for 2026–2027 are open. Reach out here to start the conversation.
The wedding day came next. Read about Jenna and Daniel’s wedding here.
