Ahhh, what can I say about Samantha and Erik? How about “WOW”?!? These two were the most awesome couple to work with. If Erik gets tired of practicing law…he needs to get into modeling. And Samantha…what a sweet, kind, beautiful person inside and out! She sparked excitement and lit up a room with her smile. They married at the historic French Huguenot Church downtown. I managed to sneak my remote camera into the loft above the alter where the pipes for the organ were and got a really cool angle on the nuptials. Then off to The Riviera they all went in horse-drawn carriages. Of course the Marquee over this historic theater was specially written for them. The cocktail hour was held on the Terrace overlooking King St. And the grand ballroom was beautifully decked out for the reception. Everyone had a great time. The next day Samantha and Erik and I met down by The Battery for a very fun and playful “Day-After” shoot. CONGRATULATIONS you two…I wish you all the happiness in the world!

I shoot a fair number of executive headshots during the week. Besides my cameras, I bring a laptop that I wirelessly transmit the images to while I’m shooting so the clients can see the photos immediately after their session. And I bring a plethora of lights. My typical setup includes 4 or 5 SB-800/900 strobes…starting with the classic main light, fill light, hair light, and maybe a background light arrangement. But I’m always open for adjustment. When I arrived at the Ogletree Nash Law Firm and saw where they were going to set me up, I almost did a cartwheel. Usually I end up in the back of some dark, smelly, cramped supply closet.

This lobby outside their office on the second floor of the Saks Fifth Avenue building had the most beautiful light coming in this huge bank of windows. I figure, why mess with perfection? So I set up my favorite David Mahue canvas, put a little kicker/hair light up, and left the rest to natural illumination. Free light…gotta love it! Here’s the resulting head-shot.

Several years ago I photographed Kristin & Jamie Caudle’s wedding. Lauren & Tom were guests at that wedding. And though they knew each other before that fateful day, they re-connected at that time and started dating. So it was with great pleasure that I said “ABSOLUTELY” when they told me this story and asked me to photograph THEIR wedding.

Lauren & Tom attend Bethel United Methodist Church. But since their sanctuary is under renovation right now, Pastor John Hipp performed their ceremony at Trinity United Methodist. After the I-do’s, Lauren & Tom and I stopped at Pierce, Herns, Sloan & McLeod…the law firm they worked at when they met each other…for some cool shots. Then it was on to the beautiful Carolina Yacht Club for a fun reception. As the evening came to a close the dramatic sky was punctuated by a full moon rising over Charleston Bay. So we captured some dramatic images of the two of them with the moon shimmering off the water in the distance before they zipped off into the night.

CONGRATULATIONS Lauren & Tom!!!

Just got back from Tijuana, Mexico safe and sound with no flu-like symptoms.

Deborah’s house is a shelter for battered women and children in Tijuana. It was founded by Ray and Adalia Schellinger-Gutierrez. Visit their website at www.internationalministries.net/missionaries/94. International Ministries is who my parents were with when we were in the Congo. My mission was to photograph images that will help them promote and raise funds for Deborah’s House. I was truly blessed by the experience!

Other than a quick browse through all of them I haven’t had a chance to edit any images yet. But I wanted to post at least one “teaser”. I’ll get more up later.

For the “techies”… I shot this at high noon, re-interpreted the light to be the long shadows of sunset sifting through the twisted iron bars on the kitchen window by use of an SB-800 with a 1/2 CTO gel, controlled by another SB-800 on Nikon D3 in commander mode using -.3 TTL setting, and 50mm f1.4AFS lens.