Author: Chris Smith

Photographing nature and wildlife is my relief-valve…my Feng Shui…my therapy.  I find it so peaceful and rewarding to get out into the world, and enjoy the beauty and majesty of the wild kingdom. 

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining Eric Horan, a Master Naturalist and well-known Nature Photographer, on one of his Seabird Sanctuary Tours.  Loading our gear bright and early at the Shem Creek boat landing, we headed out into the harbor at first light.  Eric skillfully navigated his boat into the mouth of a creek where a pair of skimmers were working the glassy surface of the water, foraging for breakfast.  After photographing these graceful flyers for a while, we headed over to Castle Pinckney were several species, including pelicans, ibis, egrets, and herons roost.  The light was gorgeous as the rising sun warmed our backs.  Next stop we made was at the home of an osprey, complete with mother and chick watching our every move.  Then for a grand finale, Eric took us over to Crab Island where skimmers, oyster catchers, and all kinds of terns were returning from the morning forage with shrimp and minows for their young. 

Throughout the experience, Eric’s professional guidance on camera settings and shooting tips, as well as observations and insights on our subjects, was very helpful.  I had a fantastic time and encourage anyone interested in photographing the natural world around us to join Eric on one of his excurstions.  You’ll love it!!!  

Here are a few images from the first half of the trip.  More to come…

One of my favorite corporate clients to shoot for is Savage & Savage Law Firm. Part of that is because they give me full “creative license” on a lot of projects! For example, this morning I was at their office by 9:00 for Heather to give me a briefing of what images they needed for the new website. At around 9:05 she said: “OK Chris, take it from there and run with it!” 🙂

So I just took her ideas and created images to reflect their needs. This was one of my favorite shots! The two gentleman are the firm’s Private Investigators. Bill (in front of the computer) has quite a reputation in the industry for his ability to gather evidence off computers, hard-drives, cell phones, and any of today’s smart electronics. To create a “techy” shot that reflected his expertise, I placed an SB-800 with a full CTO gel and a dome diffuser on his keyboard to light the PIs faces. Then I placed two more SB-800s on either side firing into the wall with blue gels. I switched the lamp on in the background for depth and dimension. And I framed the image from just above the glass surface of the conference room table to pick up the ominous reflection. The image was shot with a Nikon D3 and 24-70 f2.8. The remote flashes were controlled by an SB-900 on the camera in Commander Mode, and triggered via the RadioPopper Px system. Enjoy!

Renting a beach house at Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island, or Folly beach is a popular thing to do over the 4th of July weekend! We get tons of requests for beach sessions around this popular summer holiday. This year I had the honor of helping Karen & Chuck celebrate their 50th Anniversary together, photographing family portraits of them with all their children and grand children during their vacation together on IOP.  Here are a few of my favorites! 

The other day I had the privilege of photographing Luke’s first portrait session. He joins his loving older brother, Jackson, and two very proud parents. 🙂 Welcome to the world, young man!!!

Happy Independence Day!!!

Oceana has been in Afghanistan serving her country!  A few days ago she was able to be home in Charleston visiting her family. We’d been in communication over the past months as she shared her dream of getting into modeling. So while she was here, we got together and had some fun, creating some dramatic images for her portfolio. What a beautiful young lady, inside and out!  We wish Oceana all the best in following her heart and reaching her dreams!!!

We’ve known Carolyn & Jeff for quite some time. I had the honor of photographing their wedding. Their whole family is so much fun! So it’s always a pleasure to photograph this lively bunch. 🙂 The other day Carolyn’s three sisters, and respective others, all met with me at Folly Beach for an evening photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites.

I’ve really been enjoying teaching my Private Mentor Sessions this summer. I had a killer time with Travis and Adelle of TAG Photography the other day. They are an AWESOME and very creative husband and wife team from Greenville. Check them out if you’re getting married in the up-state! We truly had a great time hanging out and photographing our AMAZING model, Brittany McDougal. Brittany is such a versatile professional and a joy to be around. I highly recommend her to any photographers looking for a great model!

Alhambra Hall is easily one of my favorite venues in Mt. Pleasant. So when Judi & Jason told me about the beautiful, simple, and elegant ceremony they were having there, I was very excited!

Rev. Clarke performed a wonderful ceremony for them on the grand lawn underneath the giant oak tree with a nice breeze and the soft warm glow of the evening sun.  The Carolina String Duet filled the air with romance.  Judi was absolutely stunning in her beautiful gown!!!  All their friends and family were a joy to work with.  And the Joe Clarke Band jazzed up the reception hall.  Here are a few of my favorites from the day. Visit www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com to see the rest.

CONGRATULATIONS Judi & Jason!!!

Photographing Gloria & Matt’s Engagement Session was extra special for me. I’ve known them since they were just “youth” at Ashley River Baptist, and worshiped together with them as young adults at C3. What a blessing to see them grow into their own, grow together as a couple, and grow in their walk with the Lord!

Since Gloria recently graduated from the College of Charleston, she wanted to do some of their photos at The Cistern. And of course since Matt is a Citadel Man, we had to do a few there. So we planned for an extended session that gave us the best of both worlds. We had so much fun hanging out together and creating these beautiful images that give a small glimpse of how AMAZING they are together!

I always find it interesting how frequently the very first, or the very last frame of a photo shoot turns out to be my favorite! Yesterday I had a really fun portrait session on Kiawah Island with the Zeifang family…an wonderful extended gathering of grandparents, children, and grandchildren. Towards the end of each portrait session, once I’ve got all the different combinations and group shots everyone wants, I try to shoot a few candids.

This shot of one of the grandchildren was the final frame and (you guessed it) my favorite image of the day. Don’t you just wish you could bottle some of that energy?!? 🙂  The photo was made with a Nikon D300.  I use that camera instead of one of the D3s when doing beach shoots because the sync speed is 1/320th instead of 1/250th.  So I get an extra 1/3 stop when balancing flash with the existing bright sunlight.  I used my new custom-made “Triple Tree” lighting bracket on a Bogen Manfrotto light stand to hold three SB-800 strobes.  Each was triggered with the RadioPopper Px system so that I didn’t have to worry about the bright light defeating Nikon’s CLS system.  I’ve found that ganging three flashes together allows me to use settings in the 1/8 to 1/4 power range, instead of maxing out a single flash at full power.  The benefit is I get much faster recycling time.  I placed the lights to my right, oposite the angle of the sun.  My lights became the main light, and the sun became the rim light.  To accentuate the height of her jump, I kneeled down as low as I dared in the surf.  ISO 125, 1/320, f11, 24mm on the 24-70 f2.8 lens.