Summer is in full swing over here in Northeast Tennessee and I am absolutely loving it! It has me reminiscing back on this beautiful styled shoot that I was able to organize with some of the best wedding vendors here in Johnson City, Tennessee!

Full transparency— last year, I felt myself feeling quite burnt out. It comes and goes in waves and usually when creatives are stressed out or doing things repetitively. To help fight the burnout and increase creativity, photographers will often try to get out of their normal rhythm and will shoot something for themselves or start personal projects. For me, I had never set up my own styled shoot— I had only attended ones organized and created by others. This was definitely a bit out of my comfort zone, but was such a fun experience!

Two years ago, I was invited on my first backpacking trip with my friend Elizabeth and her group of friends who visit Panthertown Valley annually. We had an amazing weekend full of campfires, "faint foothpath" finding, waterfall chasing, and of course, running from yellowjackets (you can read about that trip on the blog here). When a date had been set for the annual Panthertown trip for 2016, I cleared my schedule and began preparing for another exciting weekend in the backcountry!