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!!!
After arriving early, carefully picking out “the spot”, and settling in to wait for Jeff’s surprise proposal to his beautiful girlfriend, Sarah, a group of a dozen middle-aged men in khaki shorts and Hawaiian shirts came walking down to the beach with beers in hand and a cooler in tow. I got REALLY nervous since Jeff had just texted that they were in the parking lot! Luckily, they were great guys and after hearing about the exciting moment that was about to transpire, they happily moved down the beach so as not to obstruct our beautiful backdrop. 🙂
Jeff, his father, and I have been secretly planning for this surprise proposal for a long time! After careful deliberation, we settled on the picturesque beach and grounds of the historic Ocean Course. It was so much fun working with them to pick out the PERFECT location for this very special moment in Jeff & Sarah’s lives.
Arriving right on cue after the group of kind gentleman had moved off, Jeff launched into a touching speech he had prepared for Sarah. I have no idea what was said, but he took his time and did it right. I could tell by the AMAZING reactions from Sarah afterwards!
Following the proposal, we had a great time photographing some fun engagement photos together around this gorgeous area on the far reaches of Kiawah Island. It was really neat getting to know these two. I loved how they couldn’t keep their eyes off each other…and how Sarah couldn’t stop smiling!
The excitement continued as we all zipped over to The Sanctuary for yet another surprise. There, waiting with applause and champagne, were both their families, exchanging hugs and high-fives to the new “celebrity couple”. Moving over to the Grand Staircase, we photographed a wide variety of family portraits, the first moments of Jeff & Sarah being welcomed into each other’s families!
It was truly an honor and a pleasure to be a part of beautiful afternoon in Jeff & Sarah’s lives! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Hailing from Florida, Kyle and I have been secretly corresponding over the last few months about his PERFECT plan to surprise Brittany by proposing to her on the famous white bridge at Magnolia Plantation! 🙂
Kyle & Brittany have known each other since high-school. But life’s twists and turns found them heading in separate directions. Then a couple years ago, fate brought them back together again! Kyle knew she was THE ONE and decided to ask for her hand in marriage during this special long-weekend get-away to Charleston!
With every detail worked out, Kyle’s carefully laid out plans went into motion this morning. I arrived early at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens and got set up with a beautiful view of the historic white bridge. Right on cue, Kyle and Brittany arrived for him to expertly guide her out into the picturesque overlook, surrounded by cypress trees draped in billowy Spanish moss. They were the FIRST ones on the bridge this morning. So it was quite funny when Brittany ran smack into a spider web. The distraction gave Kyle the perfect opportunity to drop to his knee and surprise her with the ring! It was an absolutely magical moment!!!
For my setup, I used the venerable Nikon D5, and his younger brother the D500. I had the D500 on the Nikkor 200-400 f4 VR, effectively making it a 300-600mm lens. This gave me the tight angle I wanted for capturing their expressions. The D5 was fitted with the 70-200 f2.8 VRII, setting the stage by revealing the entire scene. Each camera had a WR-R10 controller plugged in. The controllers were synchronized so that each time I took a picture with the D500…the D5 instantly fired at the same time. This allowed me to capture two different perspectives at the same exact time.
After Brittany said “YES”, I came out of hiding and met up with them. We had a BLAST photographing tons of beautiful engagement photos for them, while wandering the gorgeous plantation together! Couples who don’t hire a photographer to capture their actual proposal have to “stage” an engagement shoot later on. But Kyle & Brittany were able to have an “authentic” engagement shoot on the actual day of their engagement!!! How cool is that?
CONGRATULATIONS Kyle & Brittany! You guys are so perfect together. We wish you all the best as you begin this new and exciting journey together!!!
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!!!
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…
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!!!
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?
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!
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!!! 🙂
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.
As the summer comes to an end, and schools start back up, I am critically aware that there are only a few “perfect” summer evenings left in the season. One of those was yesterday!
I met up with the Dilella Family on Kiawah Island on an absolutely perfect evening! The sun, which had baked the earth just hours before, had slipped into “Golden Hour”. And a gentle breeze was blowing off the ocean to drop the temps to “just right”.
The Dilella family was an absolute joy to work with! The grandkids were delightful and full of energy. It was such a pleasure capturing these beautiful family memories before their children head back to Cleveland. To top it all off, as I was driving away I noticed these amazing crepuscular rays from the settings sun in the west, extending their fingers all the way to the rising moon in the east. What a sight!!! 🙂
A few days ago, I had the great pleasure of meeting the Parikshak family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island to photograph their family reunion.
We had a beautiful afternoon with gorgeous light. With half the family coming in from North Carolina, and the other half from Indiana, it was great to see all of them together, renewing family bonds, and building new memories together!
The best part was, the night of the photo shoot was also Rita’s birthday. So after the photo shoot all the kids got to go have cake! Happy Birthday, Rita!!! 🙂
