Introduction: Harkness Engagement Sessions
With 230 acres and a sweeping view of Long Island Sound, Harkness Memorial State Park is a sprawling piece of public land that’s great for photography. In this post, I’ll give you some tips to make the most of your own Harkness engagement session. This will include three suggestions for areas of the park where you should take photos.
A Quick Word on Engagement Session Locations
Harkness is a great option for engagement sessions, but there are plenty of other great options in CT as well, including some for proposing. Don’t forget that you can also get married here. Actually, I consider Harkness to be one of the top 10 wedding venues in CT.
Harkness Area 1: The Paved Path and Grassy Area
The first Harkness area that should be on your radar is the paved path next to (east of) the parking lot (PDF warning). This is a long stretch of asphalt that’s perfect activities on wheels. But, it also adds a nice contrast element to this outdoor location.
Just to the right (east) of the paved asphalt path is a large, open, grassy area with trees along its edges. Because of its size, the background is far away and makes for a nice backdrop.
Harkness Area 2: Around Eolia Mansion
This next area will also catch your eye: the space behind Eolia Mansion. If you have followed my work at all, you know that I love to use light. Behind and around the mansion, there are many little alcoves providing nice filtered light.
And I can’t forget to mention the gardens. Especially in the summertime when the majority of the flowers bloom, the garden at Harkness is a really popular spot.
It’s also good to keep in mind that Eolia Mansion is an excellent CT wedding venue!
Harkness Area 3: Along the Water
And here’s the best for last. If you find yourself partaking in your own Harkness engagement session, be sure to get down to the water. There are also park benches, adding some variety to the beautiful horizon in the distance.
Interestingly, next door to Harkness is Waterford Beach Park. This is another engagement session location to consider if getting right next to the water is a goal of yours.
Kristi and Will’s Fall Engagement Session at Harkness
In the fall of 2022, I had the pleasure of helping Kristi and Will with their autumn engagement session at Harkness Memorial State Park.
Surprisingly, this engagement session ended up getting featured on the Daily Dog Tag blog due to their awesome dog, Youtiao!
More Harkness Engagement Session Photos
As a wedding photographer who lives in Greater Mystic, I’m fortunate to be able to photograph at Harkness Memorial State Park pretty often. Here are even more
Yes, Harkness Is Pretty Awesome
As I’ve addressed elsewhere, Harkness Memorial State Park is one of the most popular engagement session locations in Connecticut. It’s big, has tons of variety, and is very accessible. I highly recommend it as an engagement session spot!
Citations
I used the following references at different points in this post:
