Engagement Session at The Channels VA

As I said, I was wanting to go explore this area again and I thought, "why not invite a couple along to shoot with while there?"  Sure enough, I found a couple crazy enough to try it out with me.  I had shot Megan and Hunter's wedding the year before and they had just celebrated their one-year anniversary.  Megan quickly reached out to me and we started planning.

Like most of my shoots, it was calling for rain, but that did not stop us from trekking up the mountain in our rain jackets.  By the time we got to the top of Clinch Mountain, it was an exposed bare top and raining too much for us to have any chance of finding a dry place to sit.  For this reason, we headed down into the channels.  To our surprise, the high walls protected the sandy floor from being too wet.  Most of the rain was blowing up above us or was being blocked out by the surrounding rhododendrons.

The one thing that wasn't being blocked out was the most perfect mood light that I could have ever asked for!  All I can say is, CHECK OUT THESE PHOTOS!  What do you think?  If you would like to go explore a place like this with me for your engagement session, then contact me here.

Recently I was in the mood to explore a location that I have not been to in about 3 years and had never shot a couple at before. It was The Great Channels in Southwest Virginia. This amazing rock formation on the top of Clinch Mountain was formed 400 million years ago when permafrost, from the Ice Age, expanded and formed large fissures in the sandstone slab.  These fissures began to erode over the millennia to create the nearly 40 ft high walls of The Channels.

I grew up about 35 minutes South of the Channels, but when I was young, it was located on private property. So I did not even know this place existed until just a few years ago.  Today, the mountain top is owned by the state of Virginia and is open for public use.  Although this is an epic location, and I would gladly go up there with anyone who would like to, it is a 6-mile round trip hike to get there. The hike itself is not too difficult because the trail follows old forest services roads, but it is uphill for the whole three miles from the parking area to The Channels.