Maternity Photos at Lake Jocassee | Alexis and Skylar

Skylar and Alexis were my very first engagement session in 2017. 5 years later, they’re about to become parents, and I got to do their photos again!

Even though we knew each other in college, Dan and I have gotten closer with Alexis and Skylar in the time since their engagement session. Dan and Skylar play Dungeons and Dragons with two of their other friends every week. We’ve been on some hikes, and our dogs love playing together!

Alexis and Skylar trusted me when I told them a spot that was at the top of my bucket list for photos: Devils Fork State Park. This park is the only public access point to Lake Jocassee, which is the best combination of water and mountains you can find in South Carolina. This park gave us beach vibes, fall woodsy vibes, and mountains, all close together. The photo of Alexis and Skylar walking on the bridge to the dock is one of my new favorites!

Alexis is due in mid-November. As much as I wanted to have fall foliage in these photos, we had the session done on the first day of October. We didn’t want to do the session too close to Alexis’s due date for a few reasons. One is that sometimes babies arrive earlier than their due date and we didn’t want to miss the window. The other is that sometimes the last stretch of the pregnancy can be super uncomfortable, making it hard to move around, so we had the session around the 34 week mark.

We almost rescheduled the session because Hurricane Ian was coming through. A few days earlier, it said there was a 90% chance of rain that day. Luckily, the rain was done early that morning, and the sun came through just enough. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather that day, and I think the forecast scared a lot of people away from the park that day, so we almost had it to ourselves!

Usually at any point during the fall, I can find SOMETHING that has some fall color in it, and I’ll milk it for a photo session. One of the bushes I found happened to be next to a beauty berry bush, which has some interesting colors in the fall—lime green leaves with electric purple berries!

I hope that one day, Alexis and Skylar’s daughter will enjoy looking at photos of the weeks before she was born. In the meantime, check out some of my favorite photos from Alexis and Skylar’s maternity photos at Devils Fork State Park!

If you’re looking for a photographer, check out some of my other work at Devils Fork State Park, then read about my elopement and engagement services!

Photo by Shehzad Ziaee

My name is Christine (Scott) Gow and I’m an elopement photographer based out of Greenville, South Carolina. I’m a wife and a beagle mom. The three of us have visited beautiful places in every corner of South Carolina, to include all 48 of our state parks. Sometimes we wear hiking boots, sometimes we wear dress shoes, and sometimes we’re barefoot in the surf.

One thing I love about South Carolina is that it’s not just the beaches and colorful houses that you imagine when you picture it. Whether you’re looking for mountains, beaches, or anything in between; I can help you find the perfect place for the two of you and make it as smooth of a day as possible. No matter how you two choose to spend your day, I’m happy you’re doing it the way that you want.

I can’t wait to meet you!

Planning Resources

Asheville Maternity Photos | Lara and Stephen

One of my oldest friends is now a mom!

Lara and I met in the summer before third grade when she moved to a house across the street from mine. Through the next 20 (!) years, we’ve been in lots of classes together, we’ve been on two cheerleading teams together, and she was drum major for the marching band for the two years I was color guard captain. When we were sophomores in college, we introduced each other to the men we would eventually marry, and we were bridesmaids in each other’s weddings. Now, we live about an hour and a half apart and can see each other more often!

Lara and Stephen were planning a trip overseas for a babymoon, where they would have maternity photos taken, but decided it was safer to stay close to home instead. They chose to check out Asheville for the first time and asked me if I would do their maternity photos. After I finished an elopement that was just over the South Carolina border, I headed up to Asheville! Apparently everyone else in the world had the idea to go to Asheville on a Saturday in October, but we could understand why—the foliage was amazing and the weather was just right.

We started off at the North Carolina Arboretum and we barely left the parking lot because there were so many pretty orange trees. Sometimes, I have a hard time with having two locations in one session because I love the first and don’t want to leave, but I know the second will be epic. This was one of those times. Lara had found an overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway that was about 10 minutes from the arboretum. That 10-minute drive at golden hour was stunning and we passed a few other overlooks that looked like a good place for photos, but we held out for the one we had planned. When we got there, it was easy to see why this parking lot had more cars than the others. We made use of a few feet where nobody was standing, and it looked like they were all alone on a mountaintop. I wished the golden hour at that overlook could last forever!

Check out some of my favorites from Lara and Stephen’s maternity photos in Asheville!

Ready for updated photos with your partner? Click here to contact me, or check out some other posts below for inspiration!

You May Also Like…