May 1 - May 8
*** Please note: Some of the images provided in this blog are taken from our cell phone (sometimes while driving) since we don't always have the ability to carry around our equipment outside of planned sessions (or pull over a 32 ft trailer).
2 weeks in and this tour is just flying by and we are creating such amazing sessions. We are so excited to share with all those following.
Our last post ended in Memphis, TN and we then hit the road to Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas. For those who are not aware, we are touring with our truck and 32 FT mobile office. Since we have our sights set for some of America's most beautiful landscapes and backdrops to set the scene for the tour, we park and set up camp anywhere between 15 minutes to 1 hour outside of these major cities.
For this stop on our tour we set up at Lake Tawakoni RV Campground in Point, TX. We are a member of Thousand Trails which is a paid membership camping pass that provides us access to their campgrounds throughout the U.S. If you're interested in learning more about the camping pass, send us an email to info@jessicamcknight.com and we can get you in touch with our agent. The Campground had a nice wide layout wrapping their portion of the lake and always gets a thumbs up from us if they have a hot tub for a few minutes of wind down time outside of such a busy photography schedule. This area of Texas unfortunately had a bit of heavy rain for weeks leading into our arrival so the lake's shoreline was a bit elevated and a few areas of the park including a few of the campsites and areas of the park had some flooding.
When planning for this session in Texas, we wanted to showcase that old west feel but with that special Jessica McKnight style. Because location is such a huge portion of the feel of an image, we spend days scouting locations and hours driving and inspecting details.
We scouted out an old ghost town called "The Grove" which is located about 16 miles near Gatesville, TX. The Grove features restored original buildings and is deemed a historical Texas town by the Smithsonian Institution.
We didn't just stop there and settle for The Grove as our only location. We discovered this beautiful property called Peacock River Ranch in Gatesville. The story behind the ranch is actually quite amazing as the owners originally built the buildings on the property to be playhouses and retreats for their children but upon one of their children getting married they left no stone unturned to create an amazing one of a kind wedding venue. The owners of the property continue to manage the property as they operate their business on site Daschofsky Insurance (Also an awesome looking building) and now rent out their other available buildings to housing local vets and service members. The owners of the property truly extended some genuine southern hospitality to allow us access to shoot here as the property features vintage style buildings, trucks, a windmill, Texas Longhorn Cattle, and of course a Peacock.
Aside from the awesome locations we scouted, we also work very closely with our clients on guiding them through their wardrobe selections and planning for the session.
If you are interested in booking with Jessica McKnight while on tour Contact Us to discuss your session
In route from Texas to New Mexico was probably the first real feeling of heading into the true west. Western Texas is very open and quite empty. We passed a large windmill farm and drove for quite some time with not much to see. Not recommended for those who might suffer from agoraphobia. We couldn't help but to laugh and enjoy the moment and crank up the music at Pandora's perfectly timed placement of "Road to nowhere" by Greensky Bluegrass during the middle of the drive.
We finally made it to our next destination: ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO !
We had a little fun being touristy stopping at the welcome to Roswell sign for a photo op and visiting the International UFO Museum and Research Center. But Roswell isn't just for the Alien Believers and UFO Conspiracy theorist (LOL). We were able to set up camp at Bottomless Lakes State Park. This was a beautiful park with its amazingly gorgeous rock formations lining the walls of the multiple "Bottomless Lakes" (Psst. They are sinkholes and do in fact have bottoms). While we explored the park, we were able to scout some pretty neat spots for the upcoming session.
Just after sunset at the park, we enjoyed taking some time along the water's edge to experience the bats zig-zagging across the water as they hunted for their insect meal. This was truly a neat thing to see and unfortunate we couldn't capture it with the camera.
For our session in Roswell, we shot at both a local ranch and the bottomless lakes state park. Our client Skylar was amazing and we can't say enough of how nice she was and a joy to work with. See our full post and more details in our blog: Skylar in Roswell
We loved working with the animals on the ranch as that is such a rare experience for our photography. Jessica even got a to love on a little kitten for a minute during a break.
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See where we are heading next or see if we will be in your area during our tour. jessicamcknight.com/travel-tour-schedule
Traveling from Roswell, NM to Arizona provided for some beautiful sights along the way which help to distract from the vastness of such open land.
After a few hours on the road, we were able to take short break at White Sands National Park. This park is amazing and beautiful as dunes of white gypsum seem to just pop up in the middle of the New Mexico desert. With such a long trek ahead we enjoyed to scenic drive through the park and stopped to climb the dunes to take in the sights but unfortunately weren't able to partake in the sledding down the sand dunes which is the popular thing to experience at the park.
While entering into Arizona we passed through Texas Canyon. This was a sight to see as the boulders looked like something out of the prehistoric age and appeared like a scene from the flintstones.
Make sure to check back next week for the next update from Tucson.
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