Part of my plan for this time I’m home with the kiddos has been to start exploring parks and other locations that would work well for sessions. This would give us an opportunity for fun outdoor outings together, exercise for all of us, great memories, accomplish something for the business without taking away time from the kids and yes, also wear them out some so that they will HOPEFULLY take their naps in the afternoon so I can do the work that can’t be done with them :).
Thanks to an unexpectedly nice day yesterday, we were able to go on our 1st outing!! We picked up my location scouting buddy, Ashley (our former Nanny turned extended family/very very dear friend that we love dearly) and started our mission. We drove through Millbrook Exchange Park & also Cedar Hill Park but neither had what I was looking for. THEN we pulled into Shelley Lake!
THIS is the 1st site that caught my eye & I just knew I had found a ‘keeper’! 😉 Right next to the parking lot was this field sprinkled with buttercups, framed with great big old fabulous trees and glowing with a light that was shining through the trees into it’s center. It was absolutely breathtaking to me & my mind started envisioning all the sessions I could do right here!! YAY 😀
Then we started into the park & were immediately greeted with winding paths draped with lush green trees…
We, of course, came upon the lake itself…
And THEN we got to this GREAT platform-thingy-maboby that was tree-house-like without the house… just a great platform up there. HOW PERFECT can that be?!! With this… I could have families stand up there & I could shoot up to them with the trees & sky above them… or… I could have them on a bench or elsewhere below while I run up and shoot down to them from above. Then there’s the stairs that went two directions to stack families on. One side of the stairs even had a beautiful blossoming tree draping over it – perfect to frame a shot with!
Lizzy took it upon herself to make use of the platform as her personal ballet stage… I think I could’ve stayed on those steps watching her dance & giggle up in the trees like that for hours (& of course, got just a ‘few’ pics of the moment 😉 ) !!! From a session planning standpoint – checkout the design in the wood… pretty cool for doing some shots with both client & myself up here in addition to the up/down options!
No surprise, Trey had to hop outta the stroller & see what ‘Sissy’ was up to… they played a little & then sat down to share his bag of Sun Chips on the steps… again, totally coulda stayed in this moment for hours!!
We next found the bathrooms (YAY!) which happened to be in this little building with a porch around it that overlooked the lake – didn’t want to bother the guys chatting but saw some great potential there! Then right across from that were some FABULOUS old winding stone & wood steps… also perfect for stacking large families on to capture everyone but also have them surrounded by the character & beauty of the place 🙂 And… of course… the winding paths & gorgeous draping trees continued to be found around every corner!
All sorts of fun stuff for all ages to enjoy along the paths… great for keeping kiddos entertained, maybe even some lifestyle family fun shots &/or for families to stay & enjoy some more after their session as well…
To finish out this perfect find… we had a picnic lunch at the playground before departing. As luck would have it – it down poured! One of those sunny, not too cold, outta no where kinda down pours… SO… it didn’t slow us down too much – kept on playing for a little bit in the rain & had a BLAST! (ok, so Lizzy was a bit grossed out but Trey couldn’t have giggled more & later that night L told Daddy how MUCH fun she had 😉 ).
Yes, that’s even a phone pic (by Ashley Kern) of wet old me in the bottom corner there – walkin back to the car with my sweet Trey-man and thoroughly enjoying myself!
All in all… an absolutely perfect find! I can’t believe I live as close as I do to this park & had never been there before this week! Needless to say – I will be frequenting it many more times in my future for both personal & business outings!! Love, love, LOVE Shelley Lake! 🙂
