The Scott Family at Christ Our King

Last evening was some of the prettiest fall weather we’ve had all year. It was absolutely perfect for the Scott Family’s portrait session at Christ Our King Catholic Church!

I met up with The Scott’s at their church, just as the sun was starting to turn that perfect warm golden color. Taking advantage of the picturesque gardens behind the church, we found tons of great backdrops, and photographed a wonderful variety of fun portraits for them. Their three girls were absolutely ADORABLE!!! And the addition of their grandparents, who were down here visiting from Connecticut, made it even more special.

Many thanks to Beth for all her hard work in coordinating everyone’s busy schedules! 🙂

Julia’s Bridal Portraits

Julia & Woods tied the knot yesterday. That means that I can FINALLY share a few favorites from Julia’s gorgeous bridal session!!! 🙂

Several months ago, Julia, her sister, her mom, and her grandmother all met up with me at Middleton Place, where we had received approval to photograph her bridal shoot. It was a beautiful summer evening. And Julia was absolutely STUNNING!!!  We had so much fun exploring the picturesque grounds, and photographing a variety of portraits for Julia in her elegant wedding gown.  Many thanks to the amazing staff at Middleton Place for allowing us this privilege.

Congratulations Julia & Woods! Rachel…you are next!!!  😉

Girl’s Weekend on Kiawah Island

One of the best parts of my job is meeting new, interesting, and FUN people!!!

This weekend, I had such a great time photographing this wonderful group of life-long friends, who all get together one weekend every year to catch up on each other’s lives, build new memories, and invest in the beautiful relationships they build over the years. For this year’s theme, they each decided to dress up as a different “month” of the year. Then everyone changed and we did a few patriotic themes. Last but not least, everyone just jumped in the pool for something really fun!

I love it when grown-ups choose to remember the value of being a kid at heart again! 🙂

Allman Joy on Kiawah Island

I had so much fun with the Allman/Musser family during their photo shoot on Kiawah Island last night!  (The two sisters coined the “Allman Joy” thing, which I thought was too cute not to use.)

Part of the reason for the trip was because the grandparents were celebrating their Anniversary. CONGRATULATIONS Brian & Kathy!  You have the most adorable grand-kids in the world!!!  Thanks for letting me be a part of this special time in your lives.  🙂

Alex’s New Headshot

Alex used to work in TV. But her life has taken a different path! She is the newest attorney to join the incredible team at the Clawson & Staubes Law Firm. It was a pleasure meeting Alex and photographing her new headshots. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Kane Family at Waterfront Park

I thought it was so sweet when Kelly called to book a photo session as a surprise to her mom and her sisters!!!

Apparently “The Girls” try to take a trip somewhere interesting every year. Since they live in Michigan, they usually pick somewhere warm. This year, they picked Charleston. And I’m SO GLAD they did!  We had so much fun exploring Waterfront Park and the surrounding French Quarter together. Since I spent some of my college years in Michigan, it was great to catch up on familiar names and places. But most importantly, I just loved the “connection” these three sisters had with each other, and with their mother.

What an honor it was for me to preserve these beautiful family memories for them!!!

MacNaught Family on Kiawah Island

It was one of the most beautiful days we’ve had this summer!

Instead of being overcast and gray, as so many afternoons have been lately, the sun was bouncing off beautiful cloud formations in the sky. Yet it was surprisingly cool compared to previous weeks  A gentle breeze was sweeping in off the ocean as the waves lapped the shore.

I met up with the MacNaught Family at their rental house just off the beach. Their three adorable children were excited for our shoot and ready to go! From the first family shots on the boardwalk as we made our way to the beach, to the candids of them playing in the sand as the sun slipped away…the entire session was so much fun!!!

Here are a few favorites from the evening…

New Attorney at Clawson & Staubes

Today found me capturing headshots for this amazing young lady on Daniel Island in the warm glow of mid-day light!!!

Alicia is the newest attorney to join the team of Clawson & Staubes. Alicia, her husband, and their adorable 7-month old daughter moved to Charleston last month. So far they love it here! 🙂

The image was captured on a Nikon D5 with the incredible Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 lens. A Manfrotto 055CXPro4 served as support for the camera. And a Manfrotto 367B light stand held an SB-5000 Speedlight, firing through a 24″ Lastolite EZY Box. This off-camera flash setup served as a directional main light, as well as providing a nice catch light. The open shade of the picturesque location I had chosen for the shoot served as a nice ambient fill light.

Welcome to an awesome team, Alicia!!!

Headshots for SC Community Loan Fund

Today found me photographing these beautiful young ladies in the gorgeous morning light. Chrissy and Majda are the newest members of the amazing team at South Carolina Community Loan Fund! Welcome to the team!!!

Shooting with the Nikon D5 and Nikkor 70-200 f2.8, I was mostly using the soft natural light of “open shade”.  But I also had an SB-5000 Speedlight firing through a 24″ Lastolite EZY Box.  Depending on the situation, I either placed the softbox in front of them off to one side for a nice little “catch light”, or behind them glancing off their hair as a “kicker light”.

See if you can tell which image had which setup?

The Principals at Lee & Associates

This morning I had the pleasure of photographing the principal leaders at Lee & Associates. I’ve been working with this organization for a long time. They are always so much fun to work with!

Arriving a few minutes early, Lizzie met me in the lobby. Lizzie is the Operations Manager and always has a good eye for photos. She and I came up with three configurations in the office that we could use to give them a variety of “looks” in a short amount of time.

I know how busy these gentleman are.  So I set everything up in such a way that we could quickly cycle from one scene to the next. I used the Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 f2.8, and 3 SB-5000 Speedlights. In the images with the blue glass behind them, I placed blue gels on the two background flashes to achieve that effect. Working with such a mobile and light-weight set of tools, we had all three images knocked out in about 15 minutes!

Many thanks to Lee & Associates, and especially to Lizzie for always making sure their photo shoots go so smoothly!

Scharstein Family at DeBordieu Colony

I first got to know the Scharstein Family last year when I photographed their daughter Lauren’s beautiful wedding to Dan at Tanglewood Plantation: https://chrisandcami.com/lauren-dans-wedding-at-tanglewood-plantation/. They are such an AMAZING family and I had so much fun capturing their celebration!!!

After the wedding , Lauren & Dan moved back to Nairobi, Kenya. So when they told me they were coming back to the states this summer, and that the whole family would be together for a family reunion, I jumped at the opportunity to photograph some updated portraits for them at their rental house in DeBordieu Colony!

Because various family members were coming and going on different schedules, there was only one single afternoon that worked for everyone. As the storm clouds moved in that afternoon, I got super worried. But literally 2 minutes after I arrived, the rain stopped just long enough for us to get our photo shoot in. We had so much fun catching up, and capturing all these beautiful memories together! After everyone was worn out from pictures, Dan made sure I had a nice mug of authentic African chai tea before my long drive home. 🙂

Eventually I got back on the road. Not 5 minutes after I left, it started to drizzle again! All I can say is, the Big Man upstairs must have been watching over this wonderful loving family!!! 🙂

Headshots for DHG

I always enjoy working with the fun folks at Dixon Hughes Goodman. The company has such a healthy work environment, and genuinely cares about the happiness of its employees!

Here are a few favorites from my latest session of head-shots at the Charleston office. I used my trusty portable studio setup, featuring the Nikon D5, Nikkor 70-200 f2.8, Nikon Speedlights, Westcott Apollo softboxes, Manfrotto support equipment (light-stands, tripod, and background stands), Savage background paper, Sony XQD cards, and Lenovo laptop.