IT HAS BEGUN!!!

Every spring, the City of Charleston and Daniel Island serves as a backdrop to one of the richest and most traditional events in women’s professional tennis. The Family Circle Cup, a WTA Premier Event, and the largest women’s tournament in the world, has a roster of past champions that include some of the biggest names in the history of women’s tennis including Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Serena Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki.

Covering the Family Circle Cup is one of my favorite assignments every year. Today was the first round of qualifying for the main draw, which begins on Monday. For me, today’s highlight was watching our very own local Shelby Rogers (who is looking leaner and fitter than I’ve ever seen her) win a tough 3-set battle!  A future highlight I’m looking forward to is having Agnieszka Radwanska return after JUST defeating Maria Sharapova at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami earlier today.  She’ll be one to watch in Charleston as well!

I’ll be posting daily images and anecdotes from out here in the trenches. If you get a chance, come on out and join in the fun!!!

Last summer, Schuyler contacted me about photographing her wedding. Her mom wrote:

“Schuyler attended MUSC and completed her residency there. While there, she visited a church in Mount Pleasant and somehow met you. She was so impressed with your work and said she wanted you to do her wedding. Well, 5 years later, here we are!”

How sweet is that?!? It’s always such an honor being a part of this special time in a couple’s life. But when I hear stories like that, my heart feels so blessed that it does a little jig inside me! 

Schuyler & Mike were set to be married on the Ocean Terrace at Seabrook Island. But with a hurricane watch in effect, and the ensuing torrential downpour…we shifted everything to the Seabrook Island Club. It was a beautiful ceremony, complete with Mike & Schuyler signing an antique Bible that had been in the family for ages…I loved that!

About 15 minutes before sunset, the skies cleared up and let the most GLORIOUS sunset shine through! Schuyler & Mike were real troopers and ran out with me for some AMAZING images. To see more of their day, head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Schuyler & Mike! May God shower you with blessings and enrich your marriage each and every day…

A few years ago I photographed Ashley’s brother’s fantastic wedding. Ashley & her husband, DJ, loved the images we captured and asked us to photograph their son Trey at Folly Beach. He was an adorable 2-year old!

They live in Atlanta now. So when Ashley contacted us and said they were coming for a visit and would I photograph Trey’s 4-Year Portraits, I was so excited that they remembered us!!!

We had a great time and I loved how animated Trey was. He’s becoming a wonderful, self-assured young man, full of questions and wide-eyed wonder!

In 2007, Cami & I were one of the first in the country to receive the ground-breaking Nikon D3. That camera changed the way we shot!!! So last week when Nikon Professional Services emailed me to let us know we would be receiving one of the first batch of Nikon D4 cameras in the country, we were ecstatic!

Since then I’ve been getting to know the new camera and putting it through its paces to make sure I was 100% comfortable with it before shooting an actual assignment. Here then, are my very first images from a real shoot with this AMAZING new Nikon D4!

I couldn’t have hand-picked a better couple for this shoot! Jimmy is a bit of a photo buff, which made it fun. And Brittany is so adventurous and free-spirited. I just shot their AMAZING wedding a few weeks ago. And like many couples these days, they had decided to do an After-Shoot when they got back from their honeymoon. Boone Hall Plantation was their location of choice, which is one of my favorite places ever. Everything turned out perfect!

Many thanks to Jimmy & Brittney for allowing me to “play” with my new D4, and for being such a joy to work with!!!

After-Shoots have become a really popular option on our Wedding Collections. The wedding day is so limited by time and location. So instead of taking away too much time on the wedding day, that could be spending with their guests, brides and grooms meet up with me after their honeymoon to do a fun fashion-style photo shoot in a picturesque spot of their choosing.

You may remember Breeana & Andy’s awesome Awendaw wedding from a couple weeks ago:  http://chrisandcami.com/blog/2012/03/08/breeana-andys-awendaw-wedding/. Well their After-Shoot was even MORE FUN, if that’s even possible! Breeana’s grandfather had given her his old Ford Model-A antique car as a wedding gift. So they brought it with them to beautiful Boone Hall Plantation, where we had a gorgeous day to “play” in. 

I am so grateful to all our wonderful clients that continue to recommend us to all their friends. I owe a HUGE THANK YOU to Dustin & Kate Hamm for sending Michelle & Randy our way. They are the sweetest couple and I had so much fun covering their Big Day!!! In spite of the rain, we had gorgeous light, un-quenched excitement, and such a loving family surrounding them with positive energy.

Michelle & Randy were married at the historic Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue in downtown Charleston. The KKBE is the second oldest synagogue building in the United States…and the oldest in continuous use. The sanctuary is absolutely beautiful! Their reception followed with an intimate and elegant dinner at High Cotton.

We all know the old saying “If it rains on your wedding day, it’s good luck.”  As a bonus on top of the good luck, the rain let up just enough for us to get some dramatic images of Michelle & Randy in the courtyard behind High Cotton before going in. Without the earlier rain, I never would have gotten the image of them reflected in the puddle…one of my absolute favorite shots of the day!  :-)  Check out the rest of their images at www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Michelle & Randy! May God Bless you as you journey down this new path together!!!

Last week I had a really fun shoot for the AMAZING team at Savor Your City! It was truly a collaborative effort. Vanessa & Erin were witty, charming, sexy, and fantastic to work with. Plus Cisco was so well behaved…many thanks to Robert with the bag of treats.

I am REALLY excited to be working Vanessa & Erin. They are going to truly help us escalate our Social Media marketing to the next level. If you own a business, this is the wave of the future. I highly recommend you get on board with these ladies ASAP!!!  Just head over to http://www.savoryourcity.com.

What a special treat to be able to photograph Brittney & Jimmy’s beautiful wedding last weekend!!! Check out their fun Engagement Session at http://chrisandcami.com/blog/2011/09/28/brittney-jimmys-folly-beach-engagement-shoot/

I had photographed his sister’s wedding a couple years ago and got to know the family then. So it was wonderful to be able to see all their family again. Plus Brittney and I share a certain goofy sense of humor.  So we had a BLAST together! 

Their ceremony was held at the historic Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church. The reception followed just down the street at Cottage on the Creek with its beautiful views of Shem Creek and the western sky. To see the rest of their images, head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Jimmy & Brittney! May God Bless each and every day you share together!!!

 

Being raised overseas, my heart goes out to those in need around the world. River Church will be leading a mission trip back to Romania, where I went with another mission team a couple years ago. I encourage each of you to check out this website, watch the video with some of our images, and ask yourself if you could sacrifice one dinner out this month to help these beautiful people and give them hope this summer:  http://www.riverchurch.com/romania/.

Dear Chris Smith,

I wanted you let you know that your Nikon D4 camera is preparing to ship to the dealer you specified on your priority request.

You will receive 1 camera on this order. If this completes your D4 order, your name will be removed from the list. If you still have additional D4′s on order you will be notified as each one ships, until the complete order is shipped.

We are sending a copy of this notice to PhotoCraft (Dealer # 51417) so that they can be on the lookout for the camera. It will arrive with your name on the packing slip.

Please contact your dealer to discuss with them when you plan to pick up the camera.

Regards,

Bill Pekala
General Manager NPS