Hey heyyyyyyy y’all.

It’s time to start getting prepped for the Shelby Forest Christmas Mini session with a vintage airstream!

This session, we are shooting at Shelby Forest in Millington, TN! This is a hair farther out, so please plan accordingly to arrive there.

First off, let me just say – I CANNOT WAIT!! I drove out there today to check on everything. The trees…oh my gosh!! Y’all picked a great session for Christmas photos!! Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

So, directions.

Where are you going and how do you get there??

I NEED everyone to put on your reading glasses and for real READ these directions I am about to tell you.

The cell reception in this area is really shady (Get it?! Because we’re in a forest?! Haha. Anyways…) and there’s a really solid chance that you cannot get a hold of me if you get lost.

So, I NEED you to follow these directions to a T.

I’m going to give you these directions by words and then again by a combo of maps, photos, and words….so it’s a couple of different ways to tell you how to get to the same place.

Here is the address…I couldn’t find a number: 

Directions coming from I-40.

1. Take Hwy 51 (Danny Thomas) towards Millington 

2. Take a LEFT onto Watkins towards Millington (IF you take north Watkins exit from the interstate, just take this road all the way up)

3. Stay on Watkins for about 9 miles until it dead-ends. (Your GPS will tell you to turn earlier than I do. DO NOT do this. It will take you through a bunch of backroads, and I don’t want you to get all confused. Just stay on Watkins.) It turns into a little highway (highway 388). At the dead-end, there will be a Citgo Gas station on your right.

4. Take a LEFT at the dead-end. The street is called Locke Cuba Road. Go down this street for a minute.

5. Take a RIGHT on Bluff Road (there’s a stop sign) at the Shelby Forest General Store.

6. Take a LEFT at the State Park Entrance. There’s currently a banner sign that says Fall Festival. When I went today, the actual State Park sign is being repaired or something, so that’s not there, but you’ll see the visitor center right ahead.

7. Take a RIGHT onto Riddick Road. This is directly after you pass the visitor center. It’s a little road that kinda sneaks up on you. You’ll see 2 signs ahead here. That’s when you take the right. Follow signs for the CAMPGROUND.

8. Follow this street down UNTIL you reach the sign that says ONE WAY.

9. Very IMPORTANT. Turn LEFT BEFORE you enter the ONE WAY PART. There’s a sign that says Dogwood Ridge Campground. IF you go down the ONE WAY, you have to go all the way around, and it takes FOREVER. So….do not, repeat, DO NOT go down this way. Take a left at the Dogwood Ridge Campground sign!

10. Follow this road, and you will see the Airstream camper. I have spots 1 and 2 booked, so I’ll put the camper in one of those two spots depending on lighting and other factors. You’ll see us. If you follow around the road, there’s parking right next to the bathrooms.

11. You’ve made it! Great job!! 🙂

 

Phew! I know I’m using a lot of shouty capitals, bolded text, and red font. I just want to make sure that everyone is able to find us and not get lost. Please screen shot the directions and/or photos in case you don’t have internet service to access this post.

 

Ok, so now, I’m going to give you the same directions, but I’m adding in photos.

1. Take Hwy 51 (Danny Thomas) towards Millington

2. Take a LEFT onto Watkins towards Millington (IF you take north Watkins exit from the interstate, just take this road all the way up)

3. Stay on Watkins for about 9 miles until it dead-ends. (Your GPS will tell you to turn earlier than I do. DO NOT do this. It will take you through a bunch of backroads, and I don’t want you to get all confused. Just stay on Watkins.) It turns into a little highway (highway 388). At the dead-ends, there will be a Citgo Gas station on your right.

4. Take a LEFT at the dead-end. The street is called Locke Cuba Road. Go down this street for a minute.

5. Take a RIGHT on Bluff Road at the Shelby Forest General Store.

6. Take a LEFT at the State Park Entrance. There’s currently a banner sign that says Fall Festival. When I went today, the actual State Park sign is being repaired or something, so that’s not there, but you’ll see the visitor center right ahead. 

 

7. Take a RIGHT onto Riddick Road. This is directly after you pass the visitor center. It’s a little road that kinda sneaks up on you. You’ll see 2 signs ahead here. That’s when you take the right. Follow signs for the CAMPGROUND.

 

 

8. Follow this street down UNTIL you reach the sign that says ONE WAY.

 

 

9. Very IMPORTANT. Turn LEFT BEFORE you enter the ONE WAY PART. There’s a sign on your left that says Dogwood Ridge Campground. IF you go down the ONE WAY, you have to go all the way around, and it takes FOREVER.

So….do not, repeat, DO NOT go down this way. Turn left at the Dogwood Ridge Campground sign.

 

 

Follow this road, and you will see the Airstream camper ahead. We are in spots 1 and 2.

 

 

I have spots 1 and 2 booked, so I’ll put the camper in one of those two spots depending on lighting and other factors. You’ll see us. If you follow the road, there’s parking right next to the bathrooms.

 

Referring to the map above, there is parking where the phone and the bathrooms are. Then you can just walk over to us. I will also have an amazing Santa helper there who will direct you.

 

Ok, I hope this helps! I obviously shot these photos at 2 separate times, but hopefully, y’all can get the gist.

Here are just a few more photos of the GORGEOUS trees we will get to shoot at this Saturday. Aren’t y’all excited?!?!

 

      

 

Ok, if you’re on the fence whether to sign up for the mini session, there are just a few spots left, so act fast! Here’s the link to signup times! Offering times 10-5!

 

For your mini session, you’ll want to get there about 10/15 or so minutes early to find it, park, and get settled. If you get lost, please refer to map and directions. You are welcome to call me, but I may not have cell service. 901-412-4482

 

If you are late, it will cut into your session time, so please keep that in mind when you are prepping.

WHAT TO BRING:

Bring any props that you will want to have in the photos. Whether that’s signs, certain blankets, ornaments, Christmas décor…I’m leaving this up to you! I’ll also have a cute fall blanket that you can use that’s red and black plaid. There will also be a little Christmas tree chillin’ out front of the Airstream.

 

Bring your pets! 🙂 If you want your pets in your family portrait session, then I certainly want to photograph your pets for your family portrait session!

 

Bring your leash and doggy bags to clean up after your pups. Are you dressing up your pups? (hats, bowties, Christmas sweaters….)

 

Bring backup clothes for the kiddos…just in case something happens or gets dirty.

 

Bring treats for furbabies and snacks for real babies. Sessions are only 15 minutes, so I’m a huge fan of bribing for good behavior. 😀

 

Bring your parents. I’ve had this question a few times, so I’ll go ahead and address it. If you want to include your parents for photos, like if you want to have full group shots as well as grandparents/grandbaby photos, then feel free to bring the whole gang. Bring whomever you want in your photos. I will photograph AS MUCH AS I CAN in the 15 or 30 minutes we have booked. I know grandparents love having pics with their grandbabies. I’m totally fine with you bringing as many family members as you want. I will shoot whatever I can in the time slot allotted. You just need to tell me priority. If main priority is your children, I will focus more on just them and just get a few of the rest. If priority is just your little family unit and your parents are there for the end part, that’s totally fine. Just let me know.  I’m here for YOU! 😀

 

WHAT TO WEAR:

So, I’m assuming this is for your Christmas card more so than your mantle, and you can take your clothing direction a few different ways. We will be with a Airstream. So you can go hipster, vintage, or silly. Christmas colors would include maroons, reds, greens, golds, creams. You can always bring Santa hats, scarves with those colors, and vests…which make for easy take on/take off pieces to change up the photo. Then of course, there’s always ugly sweaters, fancy sweaters, plaid, and vintage clothes (I feel like a Rockabilly style would be cool here).  The Airstream will be pretty Christmas-y, so be prepared for that.

But if you’re looking for more “fall photos” for the fireplace mantle, we will be in an AWESOME spot for that, too.

For fall clothes, I recommend wearing fall colors: browns, maroons, oranges, navy blues, and purples. Maybe not toooooo much brown since we will be in forest.

When choosing clothes, you just want to make sure you all look cohesive. So, it helps if you choose a color palette. If you are unsure of some good color palettes, just go to Pinterest and type in “fall color palettes.” Pick one or two main colors and then add in neutral colors to fill any gaps.  Or you can pick one color and do different tones of the same color. If you only choose one color, I recommend adding in a pop of color to break it up a bit! Scarves and sweaters make for great pops of color, and you can always take those off if you want to change it up. Don’t forget your pup! Bowties, scarves, and leashes can also bring in some color!

Ok, so it would look something like this:

Palette of main colors: Navy and pink maroon. Neutrals: Grey

Palette: Navy blue, light blue, midnight navy blue Pop of color: Maroon

Palette: Brown, cream Neutrals: White, jeans Pop of color: Red (in scarf and bowtie)

GENERAL TIPS:

Go to the bathroom before you leave! We will be in a forest, and I make no promises on the campground bathrooms…..

Be open. Be goofy. Be ready to have fun! 🙂 My goal is to photograph your family the way y’all are. Of course there will be happy photos where everyone’s smiling and looking at the camera. But I also love taking photos of y’all laughing together and being yourselves.

Be on time/early. I know I keep harping on this! And I am the QUEEN of being late, so I feel your pain. But you only have a short bit of time for photos, so I’d hate for it to be eaten up by traffic or a clothes dilemma.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

So, we only have 15-30 minutes for these sessions! If you have any shots in particular that you want to try to make happen, just have it on your phone and we can do that!

As far as posing, do NOT worry! I got your back! We’ll walk around; I’ll set you up. You’ll look at me. You’ll look at each other. Y’all will be goofy. Y’all will snuggle. And the photos will be cute.

After the session is finished, I will go home and edit these as fast as my eyeballs can take. One week to be exact!

I hope this post helped you prep for the mini session! I can’t wait!!!!!

Christmas minis 2017, I’m READY FOR YA!

As always, I’m here for questions, and I’ll see y’all on Saturday!

Till next time, y’all!

maddie