Cami’s FAVORITE speakers at Imaging USA was Kay Eskridge. Her list of awards and accomplishments is a mile long, including Arizona Photographer of the Year! Since Cami & I had planned to hang out in Phoenix for a few days after the conference, we stopped in to visit with Kay and see her GORGEOUS studio. Not only is Kay an incredibly talented photographer, but she’s a very kind and super generous soul. It’s always so nice to meet fellow photographers of a similar spirit! Thanks Kay!!!

The final day of Imaging USA has come and gone. We’re sad it’s over but excited about getting back and implementing all the great new ideas and creative techniques we’ve picked up! We bumped into some of our favorite colleagues throughout the day. I enjoyed meeting Jerry Ghionis who’s work I’ve admired for quite some time. He’s the only Australian Photographer to be named one of the Top Ten Wedding Photographers in the World by American Photo Magazine! Cami & I had a lot of fun chatting with legendary portrait artist Hanson Fong (left) and iconic pet photographer Michael Joseph (right). Later I ran into the extraordinary wedding photographer and Photoshop guru Kevin Kubota…which was kind of funny since I was wearing one of his Kubota Tools t-shirts! Running into fellow photographers who’s work and artistry we admire is just as much a part of coming to this conference as attending the many lectures and keynote speakers. We’re already looking forward to running into more of our colleagues next year when Imaging USA moves to Nashville!

I didn’t think it was possible, but day two of the conference was EVEN BETTER! Cami got to meet none other than Anne Geddes!!! (If you don’t know who she is, you can’t tell me you haven’t seen one of her famous baby-in-a-flower-pot calendars!) Cami first learned about this amazing children’s photographer when she was an exchange student in Australia, which is where Anne is originally from. Anne was kind enough to autograph a book of hers for us. And later that evening we joined with THOUSANDS of photographers to hear her story and be inspired by her message of purity, integrity, and excellence in our craft. It was THE highest attended keynote presentation in the HISTORY of the Professional Photographers of America!

Imaging USA 2009 started off with a BANG today! My friend Robbin Knight (left) and I (right) bumped into none other than Joe Buisink…TWICE! If you don’t know who JB is, he is THE photographer to the stars…shooting all the huge high-end celebrity weddings in Hollywood that you only hear about but never get a guest invitation to! We’re talking folks like Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey, Brendan Fraser, Kelsey Grammer, Hillary Swank & Chad Lowe, Christina Applegate, Jenny Garth & Peter Facinelli, and Christina Aguilera. I’ve heard JB speak many times and love his passion, his art, and his down-to-earth personality.

Here’s one of my favorite shots from Stephanie & Mike’s Day-After Shoot!

Cami & I are on the first flight out of Charleston tomorrow on our way to Phoenix. As we do every year, we’re attending THE national photography convention hosted by Professional Photographers of America. It’s called Imaging USA. We always get pumped up, filled with new ideas, energized, and full of excitement at this convention. All the greatest photographers in the world are there sharing their thoughts. Plus of course EVERY manufacturer of ANYTHING relating to photography is there showing off their new toys. For me, walking around the HUGE Trade Show floor is like a kid wondering around the biggest candy store in the WORLD!!!

As always we’ll do our best to stay in touch even while out of the office all week.

My first wedding of 2009 was AWESOME! Mike amp; Stephanie are the neatest couple. Their wedding at Charleston Place was very classy and a lot of fun. They even had a separate Play Time set aside for all the “little kids” while us “big kids” had dinner in the Palmetto Cafe. The next day I met up with Stephanie amp; Mike again for a really cool Day-After Shoot in the historic part of downtown Charleston. The image from that session came out really cool. CONGRATULATIONS Stephanie amp; Mike!!!br /diviframe title=”Showit Web Slideshow” style=”BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000″ src=”http://www.chrisandcami.com/slideshows/StephanieAndMike/iframe.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”510″ scrolling=”no” height=”690″/iframe/div

My first wedding of 2009 was AWESOME! Mike & Stephanie are the neatest couple. Their wedding at Charleston Place was very classy and a lot of fun. They even had a separate Play Time set aside for all the “little kids” while us “big kids” had dinner in the Palmetto Cafe. The next day I met up with Stephanie & Mike again for a really cool Day-After Shoot in the historic part of downtown Charleston. The image from that session came out really cool. CONGRATULATIONS Stephanie & Mike!!!

We’re SO EXCITED! After being featured inside the 2008 Town Planner the last few years…THIS year we got the COVER!!! This beautiful sunset was captured on my way home from shooting a family portrait session on Sullivan’s Island. In addition, our images appear on February and April. The Town Planner is distributed to over 43,000 homes and businesses in the Charleston are. We are honored to have our images in your homes, on your desks, over your computers, above your dogie bowls, or wherever you keep your calendar. HAPPY 2009 to everyone!!!

My heart was too sad to even weep as I spent the first hour of my day reading the journal entries from photographer Sherrlyn Borkgren on her Blog about her last few weeks in the Congo (DRC) documenting and bringing light to the plight of young girls being raped by soldiers over there. As you all know, this is where Mom & Dad served as missionaries, where I was born, and where my brothers and I called home throughout our formative years before settling back in the US to attend college. Please read her stories and see her images at http://lovesimplyhappens.blogspot.com/. Pray for her safety and that the story she is telling helps get the world’s attention.

Here’s an old slide of me with all my soccer friends. (I’ll bet you can figure out which one I am!) Soccer is the national sport of course…you don’t need shoulder pads, baseball bats, or tennis rackets to play. Just one ball, a grassy field, and a couple sticks in the ground at each end. In fact you can’t see it in this photo, but we played in our bare feet because no one could afford cleats. I wonder what happened to all these guys when the war broke out?

Traveling between assignments, I was driving along East Bay St. and noticed this beautiful lighting hitting the famous Rainbow Row. A popular photography spot in the Spring when the flowers and bushes are in bloom, I thought this winter version would give you a different view than the normal tourist sees.