We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erin Morrison a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Erin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When people ask how I got started in photography, I would say that it wasn’t a plan but a pivot. Actually, multiple pivots over the years.

In 2005, I was in graduate school for criminology in Illinois, and I was completely over it. I felt like my time at my undergrad university had run its course. Plus, I was absolutely freezing in the winter weather, and honestly thinking, “Is this really it?” So I did what any impulsive Type 3 would do: I applied to programs across the country and peaced out to Tennessee.

That move changed everything. I got my Master’s Degree, met a man named James, got married, and bought a house. Life was exponentially good. However, I needed a creative outlet after getting married, and I talked my husband’s ear off about it. Until, finally, one Christmas, he surprised me with a camera in a Steam Shark Mop Box. And you could say that was the start of my photography journey. And it was at the most perfect time, because not a year later my husband lost his job. Enter pivot number two.

I had the camera for roughly two years before the first big opportunity dropped in my lap. A woman at work was getting married, and she didn’t have a large photography budget. In an almost knee-jerk reaction, I told her that I would love to photograph her wedding for a paltry fee of $100 per hour. And to my joy (and also anxiety-riddled horror), she said yes.

I finally had my first real taste of photographing a wedding. At the time of her wedding, I was four months pregnant. It was objectively a very hot day, the father of the bride questioned nearly all of our timeline decisions, and one groomsman barely made it out of the wedding party photos alive. No, seriously, he fell over drunk.

But, for some reason, I was hooked. That wedding was IT, and I knew that I wanted to pursue photography professionally. I blogged that wedding, posted it everywhere, created business social media accounts, and Erin Morrison Photography was born.

In the end, I have no idea what made me want to do this kind of chaos every weekend, but something about that sweaty, chaotic wedding just clicked. I left exhausted, slightly horrified, and sure I wanted to do it again. And somehow, that was enough to get started.

So, my path to being a professional photographer wasn’t the plan. It was a pivot, and it worked.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Let’s start with a proper introduction! Hi, my name is Erin Morrison, and I am a wedding and elopement photographer based in Knoxville, Tennessee. I also specialize in photography in one of the best places in the world: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I got into this work not through a perfectly crafted plan, but through a series of real-life pivots. I was in grad school for criminology when I realized I needed a physical change. After moving to Tennessee, meeting my now-husband James, and finishing my degree, I fell in love with photography, specifically after obsessing over my own wedding photographers. In 2011, James got me my first camera, and not long after, I photographed my first wedding while four months pregnant. That first wedding was hot, chaotic, and I loved every second of it.

Now, I offer a full range of wedding photography services, including traditional weddings, weekday elopements, micro-weddings, and mini-sessions for families and couples. What I really offer, though, is presence. I’m not here to recreate Pinterest boards. I’m here to document your day as it actually is, the meaningful, the unexpected. My job is to capture how it felt, not just how it looked.

Based on my own life events, I know how to pivot. I genuinely care about creating a low-stress, judgment-free experience — especially for LGBTQIA+ couples, for whom safety and affirmation should never be a question. I also co-host a wedding podcast, Aisle Be Honest Podcast, which offers couples a behind-the-scenes look at the wedding industry. My friend, second photographer, and co-host, Brittany, and I decided to start this podcast journey because we believe that information is power, especially in an ever-changing world like the wedding planning world.

What am I most proud of? This business is built on trust. I get invited into some of the most intimate moments of people’s lives, and they trust me not just to take photos, but to see them. That’s not something I take lightly.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A big lesson I had to unlearn? That being busy means being successful. For the longest time, I thought that if my calendar wasn’t packed, if I wasn’t constantly editing, emailing, or shooting, then I must be failing.

Hustle culture is a scam. It’ll run you into the ground if you let it. I used to spend the holidays editing like a maniac. Not because a wedding couple was breathing down my neck (my contract is solid and clearly outlines my turnaround time), but because I decided I needed to meet an imaginary deadline I had set in my head.

So, the lesson learned is that saying “no” is the business goal. Boundaries are a win. I do my best work when I’m rested and present, not when I’m burning myself out to prove a point no one asked me to make.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal has always been to bring people back.

It’s not just about the one wedding or the one session. It’s about building enough trust, enough connection, that they come back. That kind of return is the gift that keeps on giving (not just financially, though, yes, that too), but emotionally. It means I did something right.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://erinmorrisonphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinm_photography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErinMorrisonPhotography