Michelle Christine Photography
Visual Story Teller | Middle Tennessee & Indiana
Olivia and Jeremy are going to have a baby!! I’m so excited for these two!
Olivia reached out to me over Facebook messenger to find out when I’d be in Indiana next and if I would be able to take some photos for them. When she told me the reason why they needed photos, I was sooooo excited! Keeping this secret from the rest of the family (Olivia is my cousin!), has definitely not been easy. So if you’re reading this, Mom, I’m sorry I told you Olivia and Jeremy wanted some photos “just because!”
I’m a firm believer in community over competition. I believe that good businesses build other businesses up with encouragement. So it should be no surprise to anyone when I talk about working with my friend and fellow photographer, Jasmine.
Last fall, while visiting family in Indiana, Jasmine arranged a seriously fun, creative, photo-filled morning for us. Hanna, Jasmine’s friend, modeled for us with her natural, raw talent. Our resulting photos were the bomb (literally, we used smoke bombs).
I’m originally from Martinsville, IN, so I had suggested the Morgan-Monroe Forestry as a location. I had spent a lot of evenings at the lake and on trails, so it feels almost like home to me (although not as much like home as the creek near my parents’ house!). Even though we had our general location, we didn’t have the exact locations mapped out.
So we went on an adventure! We drove around until we found places to stop and take photos. In my opinion, this is the best way to do photoshoots – although maybe not the most practical. It’s also a great way to location scout.
The first place we got out to shoot was Jasmine’s find. This. Field. I was admittedly very nervous because I thought maybe we were trespassing, but no one said anything so it’s probably all good. And SO worth it! The sky was perfect, Hanna was perfect, and everything was just perfect. PERFECT. I had Hanna flip her hair around about a gazillion times (sorry, Hanna) to get all that movement that I love to capture in my photos.
Possibly my favorite photo ever.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I asked Lindsay if she would mind me taking a few photos of her and her daughter, Fairah, in front of their new house (I like to call it the Girl House). The tree in front of their picture perfect home seemed to be in peak color, catching my eye every time I passed it by. Get ready, folks, because this is going to be a photo-heavy blog post!
First of all, check out this beautiful house, complete with every girls dream bedroom window! Fairah is one lucky little girl!
In Part 1 of this Autumn Engagement session, Cierra and Remus were photographed in a golden field. In Part 2, our engaged couple found a scenic backdrop on a gravel path. Part 3, which happens to be this post, may be my favorite location I’ve ever found. Finding it at all was a happy accident!
While driving through the Morgan-Monroe forestry, looking for the path, we found ourselves driving around what I think is Lake Lemon. There were lots of little houses across from or backing up to this lake. In front of one house, across the road, we spotted a crooked little dock. There wasn’t much to it, but it was just perfect for what we needed!
I had packed in the trunk of the car a few items, including a step stool (I’m short) and a green, plaid blanket. I bought this blanket for my parents during my time in Peru – it’s made from alpaca wool! The green palette of the blanket was stunning against the blue-green of the lake. I wrapped Cierra and Remus in the blanket together (with no complaints) and started snapping away!
On Thanksgiving morning, while many people were preparing meals or sleeping in, I was busy doing what I love: taking photos! We drove out to the Morgan-Monroe forestry bright and early. (Really it was pretty overcast…so maybe not bright, just kind of early). We began taking photos on some steps by one of the lakes located in the forestry. The steps were covered with the recent foliage, fallen onto the ground. It was fall, ya’ll! Or more eloquently, Autumn.
Here are two of my favorite photos from our first spot, wooden steps covered with leaves:
We didn’t spend much time at this spot because I had another spot in mind and I wasn’t sure how to get to it. It’s always an adventure with me!
I actually want to show you our end photos first (backwards, I know), because my favorite location ended up being the first one we happened upon. I LOVE this set too though! On our way out of the forestry, we found these *perfect* weeds in a *perfect* field and stopped for some last photos.
