Planning a photoshoot in Northern Michigan | My go-to locations that incorporate nature

Planning a photoshoot in Northern Michigan.

I hope this article inspires you and helps you while planning a photoshoot in Northern Michigan. I can’t even fully express how incredibly fortunate I am to call Michigan my home. I didn’t recognize that as a child. However, as I’ve grown up and traveled, I’ve learned how to appreciate this region that is wild and scenic. There is no other place in the world quite like Northern Michigan, and I love to showcase it’s unique beauty in my photographs.

I am inspired by Michigan’s bodies of water, moody skies, and fields floriferous with flowers.

It’s a welcomed site after winter to see the beauty of spring color return to the landscapes, especially when thinking about planning a photoshoot in Northern Michigan. I frequently incorporate the shrubs, flowers, and trees that change seasonally throughout Michigan in my photographs. It’s a game to me, finding the seasonal blooms I’ve been waiting for or didn’t even know about. Michigan is always full of surprises. I scout out forests, and fields of “weeds”, for time sensitive blossoms, and unique natural environments. Northern Michigan is a beautifully diverse and ever-changing state.

Planning a photoshoot in Northern Michigan | Incorporating the seasons and nature

Some of my favorite plants in bloom by season:

• Lilac bushes, trilliums, daisies, cherry and apple blossoms in spring.
• Dark green forests, ferns, and moss in the summer.
• Sumac, golden rods, sunflowers, rough blazing star, and any of the trees changing color in autumn.

If you have a place in mind, then please share! I love to discover new places. If you leave it up to me to decide on a location for our photoshoot, I may not know right away where we will be meeting.

I do have some favorite spots to shoot in Northern Michigan:

• Downtown Traverse City for the coffee shops, buildings, urban settings, river, and the beach access. There is also plenty of nature and even season changes like the fall photo pictured above. This is also a great spot for a blue hour shoot with the State Theater, and other downtown lights.
• Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes has many access points with 360 views of the Lake Michigan and the surrounding landscape. The National Lakeshore is where you will find the best sunrise, and sunsets around from various different access points.
• Old Mission Peninsula is a sliver of land, just north of Traverse City. The peninsula divides Grand Traverse Bay with a scenic drive with wineries, orchards, farm stands, then ending at Mission Point Lighthouse down on the water. Old Mission Peninsula is my favorite in the spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming!
• Brown Bridge Quiet Area is not far from Traverse City and a delight for nature seekers. There are various trails, fields, a river, and a bridge. We don’t have to work around many people here either.
• Rugg Pond outside of Kalkaska features a manmade dam, and trails. It’s especially beautiful here in the fall when the trees change color.
• Dead Mans Hill has many trails and overlooks the Jordan River Valley. This is another spot that I’d recommend in fall.
• Lakes of the North, because it’s where I grew up and know all the best lakes, trails, and flower fields to photograph you in.

I’m always scouting for the best locations.

I love going back to my favorite or familiar areas but I am always on the hunt for new locations to photograph as well. It’s exciting when I find a lilac tree, super blooming fields full of wildflowers, walls filled with ivy, sumac’s exotic leaves changing from green to red, etc. Even pulling off to the side of a road is sometimes all it takes to find the perfect place to photograph you.

I’m obsessed with the natural beauty of Northern Michigan and photographing people in it.

I find some pretty amazing spots, and I can’t wait to share them with you too.