I’m sworn to secrecy…so I can’t tell you where this AMAZING private southern plantation is located.

I had the most awesome photo shoot there with Ashlynn & Allen, who’s family own the property. But it wasn’t just the location that made this session so fun…Ashlynn & Allen are the most kind, giving, and beautiful couple you could ever hope to meet. Allen is a true southern gentleman. And Ashlynn could have easily starred in the movie “North & South” along side Patrick Swayze!

We shot Ashlynn’s Bridal Portraits first, which turned out INCREDIBLE! I wish I could share them, but of course will have to wait until after their wedding since it’s a surprise. For now, I hope you enjoy these few from their engagement session. Many thanks to all their family who came out to help…I can’t wait to see everyone again at the wedding!!!
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I had another wonderful shoot for Mount Pleasant Magazine last week.

Margaret, the editor, wanted a cover shot for their Spring issue. Since the Bridge Run and the Family Circle Cup are the two biggest events in town each spring, a concept was hatched to photograph the Founder of the 10K run, Julian Smith…with Bob Moran, the Tournament Director of the Family Circle Cup. The thought was to photograph them at the top corner of the FCC stadium with the new Arthur Ravanel Jr. bridge in the background.

However, as you can see by the first image, the bridge is waaaaay off in the distance and hardly noticeable! So to solve the equation, I hiked to the oposite end of the stadium and photographed them with a 600mm focal length! Knowing that one of the optical charactaristics of a telephoto lens is it’s ability to compress the background, we got exactly what we needed! The two gentleman from their respective events were nicely framed on the corner of the stadium with the bridge looming prominantly in the background, combining elements from each sport!

The other factor in bringing this image to life was how to light it?!? The amazing RadioPopper Px System that I used made this very complex task quite simple. I set up 5 remote SB-800 strobes as close to my subjects as possible, just outside of the frame. The late afternoon sun created a rim light from the back right side. So I elected to light them from the left front to achieve balanced look. Once I was in place on the other side of the stadium, I was able to wirelessly control the output of each remote flash using the Nikon CLS system, controlling each of the 5 SB-800 strobes individually with one on-camera SB-900. Normally this would not have been possible because of the vast distance between us. But the amazing RadioPopper Px system converted the signal from my Master flash into radio waves, allowing me to dial my remote units up and down in spite of being so far away.

Everything worked like a charm! And even though it was a seemingly logistical nightmare, a little pre-planning, some experience with long lenses, and the right lighting gear made everything go smoothly and efficiently. Knowing how busy these two gentleman are, I think they were very happy to be in and out in about 15 minutes!!!

(Look for your next issue of Mount Pleasant Magazine this spring.)

UPDATE:  Here’s a link to the final magazine cover:  http://chrisandcami.com/blog/2012/03/05/mount-pleasant-magazine-spring-issue/

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Cami & I are so thankful for the AMAZING year this has been! We thank all our wonderful clients, loving family, and fantastic friends for making it all possible. We couldn’t have done it without you. And we are so excited to see what 2012 has for us to look forward to. May God Bless you and yours this Holiday Season!
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I had a fantastic shoot with The Connor Law Group in Savannah the other day. So while I was in the area I spent some time enjoying the Savannah NWR. Most images shot with Nikon D300 + Nikkor 200-400 f4 VR, some adding the Nikon TC14eII.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!!
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Cami & I have had the pleasure of knowing Toni & Paul for many years! Paul’s career as a musician has really taken off (www.paulparr.com), and we are so proud of all they have accomplished together. We met up with them downtown for their Christmas Portrait session…my how their kids have grown! I loved how Toni had such a great mixture of earth tones and shades of cheerful green. As Kermit says, “It’s not easy being green”. But these guys pulled it off with style!!!
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It’s been such a blessing and such an honor to know Brittany & Mitch over the years. I absolutely loved photographing their engagement session, wedding, maternity portraits, newborn photos, Brittany’s modeling portfolio, and more. So what a treat to meet up with this week and photograph their holiday portraits with adorable little “J-bug”. Even though rain was on the way, we went for it! And we were rewarded with so many memorable moments in the beautiful Boone Hall Plantation surroundings!!! Merry Christmas you guys…you’re THE BEST.
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I’ve had the privilege of working with Heather O’Donovan, of The Sitting Room fame, on several projects now. But the unique creativity of the designs in the latest home I photographed for her truly encapsulate her taste and personality! I absolutely loved this home!!! Many thanks for Kim or allowing us to invade her castle for the day. And many thanks to Brady for all his work behind the scenes. Heather & Brady are moving to DC. I will miss their spirit and passion tremendously! We wish you guys all the best on your new journey…
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