Grayson Highlands Adventure

The clouds where heavy and everywhere all day! 

It's Monday morning and the beginning of July.  I have been up for over an hour, had a shower, and have my coffee made so far, so good. I'm writing this as I wait for Wes to drive up. Today is the first official shoot of Throat Punch Productions and I am excited. We are shooting a product that you will know more about soon if you follow us. If not well, your loss. As I sit here considering what and how to shoot today, I also finished pictures from a hike my family and I have been trying to do for months, Grayson Highlands, VA. I have always heard how beautiful it is, and how unique it is seeing as how its inhabited by wild ponies.  After many failed attempts to make it, last Saturday was our day. We loaded up the kids after breakfast at home, and planned our route to have lunch prior to hiking. We found a great gas station/ dinner just a few miles from the entrance to the park. We filled up on double bacon cheeseburgers, chicken salad, corn dogs and fries. FUEL. Then we were ready.  I will plan better on our next trip as we didn't get to see many ponies, other than the ones walking by the side of the road on our way out and the lighting was not ideal for the photographer inside me. Nevertheless, it was a pretty amazing day with those I adore. Jaryn almost died, because as much as I love that child, he's hella clumsy. I watched in slow motion as he bounded from one rock to the next, where he lost his footing and disappeared off the edge into the forest below. My heart sank, and I immediately yelled to him. He was quick to assure me he was fine and laughed it off. He was extremely lucky that he landed between to large rocks below his fall from about 6 feet above.  Luckily this was the worse part of the day as we collected our selves for the multiple overlooks and beautiful park that it is. We did get turned around once which led me to walk an addition 1.2 miles to collect "Valak" ( our Sequoia ) but it was a  walk I would gladly make again for my crew. We explored for over 4 hours and our Chacos where starting to leave their mark. We decided to try and drive down to the campground looking for ponies as the older boys and I opted for the additional mileage here again. I can't wait to explore there again with my motley crew, but next weekend we are off to Hot Springs, NC!  Stay tuned for those pictures next week, but below you will find the images from our last adventure! I'll post some from the Pentax 645n to my IG soon as well.

Different Approach

I just finished up prom season here in East Tennesee and moved right into wedding season. I'm writing this as a part confession, part growth.  I will start with the confessing. I hate prom season.  I did in the past is a better way to word that. I found myself feeling that prom season was something I was expected to do but often found myself feeling constrained by it.  Young adults dressing up in clothing they would usually not wear,  wearing flowers that make their movement cumbersome, and some of them are together but others are not. The latter also present's it's own issues in posing and making them comfortable. I don't feel that I charge enough for the service I offer but I also know these prom photos may turn into senior portrait session's and I can't get enough of those! So this year I made a point to myself. I made it a goal to find a better way to shoot prom. I promised myself, that I would provide something different for my clients, and I'm glad to say I crushed that goal like a boss. What did I do differently you may ask?
 
Ok so if you have ever read any of my blogs, or any of my Instagram post's ( come on are you still not following me? Really? Go on then. www.instagram.com/jeremy.gouge )  you may know that I love portraiture. I love all lighting and finding the light in every situation.  So I took some time to myself and decided that prom pictures are simply high fashion portraits. Then it clicked! Approach these sessions like I would a fashion session. I didn't concentrate on the clothing the same way but I wanted to shoot every couple as I would a model. I took this approach to every prom session I booked, and hope every gallery expressed my new method. I hope this new technique was evident in the final products. I hope that we made Prom memorable and unique. I had the extreme pleasure of working with new people, returning clients, and made future clients as well. One client was eager to book again, the moment she saw the first sneak peak. This is what makes what I do worth every second.  I'm not flooding this post with images, flip back to my Prom Season is bringing heat blog or my IG ( because you actually went and followed me right? ) to get a glimpse at those. I'm simply writing this to remind anyone else that reads it, there is always another way, a different approach, but always stay true to who you are. I hope everyone has an amazing Holiday Weekend.
J

She said YES!

Its not often than I get the privilege to capture a proposal, but I am beyond grateful that I was able to capture a new one this past weekend! Funny story actually--as Brittany's mother had a different photographer hired to capture this special day, but due to the flu she was left looking for someone to procure the milestone. I was referred to her by a past client/friend and was happy to be available so the planning ensued. We discussed the location, and the plan, but even feeling prepared, I found myself nervous. I rarely get nervous but I always feel out of place, almost stalking my clients as they do not know me  ( yet ) and I don't know them either.Their families came together to create a wall to hide Jacob as he was prepared with his own special way to ask for her hand.  I prefer to let the images tell the rest of the story for me as its the best way I know how. So congratulations to Jacob and Brittany, and here is how the story goes!

She said YES!! I told you earlier lol

The emotion is so genuine here.

"Let The Adventure Begin",,,,,,,

Surrounded by Family is the perfect end to a beautiful day in downtown Kingsport, Tennessee,