Morgan Monroe Forestry Archives - Michelle Christine Photography

Elaine + Will: Morgan-Monroe Forestry Engagement | Franklin, TN Engagement Photographer

June 30, 2017 | 1 Comment

Originally, Elaine and Will had planned on traveling down to Nashville, Tennessee for their engagement photos. Of course I was perfectly okay with this because it’s local to me! However, when Elaine found out I was traveling up to Indiana for a week, we ended up moving her session up! She’s my favorite kind of client – too excited to wait for her photos!!

We met on a Saturday morning in the Morgan-Monroe Forestry at Bryant Creek Lake. The forestry is one of my favorite locations in my hometown. It seems no matter how many sessions I have here, I always find new areas within the forestry perfect for photos!

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Photoshoots are for Adventure

March 1, 2017 | Leave a Comment

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.

Girl-Field-Gold-Hair-Sky-Red-Cape-Movement

Possibly my favorite photo ever.

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Cierra & Remus: Forestry Engagement Part 3

January 26, 2017

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!

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Cierra & Remus: Forestry Engagement Part 2

January 20, 2017

In Part 1 of this Autumn Engagement session, Cierra and Remus were photographed in a golden field. I love the warm colors the change in season brings. At least in my eyes, the world just looks more magical! Don’t get me wrong, I also have a place in my heart for the natural greens we see for about half of the year here in our temperate forests! Perhaps it’s that the fall season is with us so briefly; or maybe it’s just that change makes us feel excited.

I had one spot in mind already for these engagement photos: a path a friend and I had stopped at briefly. At the time I was feeling too nervous to so brazenly step out into someone’s driveway for a photo-op. This day was different – I was on a mission! The only issue was that I had no idea where it was! We just drove aimlessly until we hopefully would happen upon it.

My sister, who was assisting/driving for us, probably had a heart attack when I shouted “THERE IT IS!” She’d already passed it so we quickly pulled over for a wardrobe change, then backtracked to the path. This magical path.

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