Toni & Billy’s Wedding Celebration

Cami & I have been friends with Toni…well…forever! 🙂 So it was with great joy that we got to photograph her and Billy’s beautiful wedding celebration last weekend at the West Ashley Outboard Motor Club!!!

It was such a fun, intimate affair, with close family and friends gathered around to support Toni & Billy’s love for each other. Their joy and happiness was truly self-evident throughout the evening. And I must add, Toni was absolutely stunning in her coral wedding gown.

CONGRATULATIONS Toni & Billy! We wish you all the happiness in the world as you begin this new journey together…

Taylor’s Modeling Portfolio

Last night our friend Robin brought her beautiful daughter, Taylor, to model for me and a few of my crazy fun photographer friends!

All images were shot with a Nikon D4 and Nikkor 70-200 f2.8. I used a Nikon SB-5000 as a Master flash to trigger 3 SB-800 Remote flashes. Two SB-800 flashes were ganged together as Group A in a 24″ EZY Box as the main light. One bare-bulb SB-800 in Group A was used as a kicker/rim light. All flashes were triggered with the RadioPopper Px system. After sunset, I placed full CTO gels on each flash and switched the cameras White-Balance to tungsten, giving the sky that electric blue tone.

Many thanks to David for the use of his classic Porsche, and to Michelle for hosting the event and finding this incredible location. But most importantly, a huge thank you to Taylor for braving the mosquitoes and looking absolutely FABULOUS!!! 🙂

High-key Head-shots

Today was another fantastic day for head-shots. 🙂

This time, we were back at the South Carolina Federal Credit Union. We’ve been working with this awesome organization for years! We’ve styled a high-key look for their staff and executive photos that is bright, clean, and modern.

If you’re looking for head-shots for your office, or if you know someone with a company who could use our services, please let us know. We love creating dynamic and engaging images for businesses and organizations all over Charleston!!!

Oh Canada!

My personal work always takes a back seat to our client’s work.

This is indeed the way it should be, since we truly have the best clients in the world! Our clients love our fast and efficient deliver of their images. And we wouldn’t have it any other way!

In between assignments, when I have an afternoon off here and there, I work on my travel, nature, wildlife, and fine-art images that are sitting in the archive, waiting for me to bring them to life. Last weekend, Cami and I visited family out of town. During quiet moments in between long walks, late night card games, and delicious meals, I wrapped up editing on the thousands of images I photographed last summer in Canada.

I had traveled to Montreal, on assignment for the incredible folks at the US Grains Council. We absolutely love working for this incredible organization, and encourage you to support them any way you can!

It had been over 25 years since I’d visited Montreal in college. I also had a brief visit there for a TASOK reunion about 15 years ago. But this would be the first time there since the photography world had gone digital. So I decided to spend a few extra days looking for an adventure!

Montreal itself is an incredible city. It’s probably one of my favorites in North America. Like Charleston, the old historic downtown area is quite walk-able. I spent many hours wandering the streets, enjoying the tasty French-Canadian cuisine, and marveling at the incredible architecture…particularly of those ornate cathedrals!

Leaving Montreal, I traveled west in search of wildlife near the Papineau-Labelle Wildlife Reserve. I was not disappointed! Next, I headed north towards Parc National du Mont-Tremblent. The town itself is a quaint little tourist stop. But the majestic scenery of the park was surreal. My infra-red camera was perfect for those vistas!

Finally, it was back to Montreal for lunch with my old friend and classmate, Abbas Fazal, then a couple final hours exploring on my way to the airport. Since I hadn’t turned in my rental car yet, I hit up some of the cathedrals along the city outskirts that I couldn’t previously reach on foot…one of which is the oldest in town, built entirely out of wood!

I hope you enjoy these images from my Canadian adventure as much as I enjoyed making them. I hope the wait was worth it!

Studio Portrait for SCFCU

When we’re not shooting weddings and events on weekends, we photograph lots of head shots and executive portraits throughout the week.  South Carolina Federal Credit Union has been sending their employees over to us for a couple years now.  Jessica just joined their team and needed photos for a press release.  This image was shot with a giant 6-foot LiteDome softbox to her left as the main light, a medium softbox behind and on her right as a kicker light, a small softbox on a boom above her for a hair light, and an SB-800 right behind her as a background light.  I like using small wireless strobes as my background light since it’s wireless and I don’t have to worry about cables showing in the photo if I do a full-length shot.  The rest of the light sources were Alien Bees, which are triggered with the RadioPopper Jr (Studio Version) radio triggers.  The image was shot with a Nikon D2x (which I use exclusively in the studio), and the 70-200 f2.8. 

Anchor Commercial

My “Double Your Pleasure” post about the team photos I did for ESPN got such a big response!  So I thought I’d share this group photo I did last weak using the same technique.  Anchor Commercial has been a client of ours for many years.  One of the things they have me photograph for them each November is a group shot they put in a Christmas Card to send all their clients.  Rather than setting up on the South East side of their building where they’d be squinting in to the morning sun, we decided to set up on the North West side.  This provided a nice rim/back light.  However, their faces were in extreme shadow.  So I set up my double-flash technique with two SB-800s on each of two light stand, firing them through my favorite Westcott 43” Collapsible Umbrellas, and triggering them with my trusty RadioPoppers.  Here’s the scene before everyone arrived, and the final image they selected for their card. 

Family Portrait on Sullivan’s Island

Last week I shot this fun family portrait session for our good friends, the McKelveys.  They used to live on Sullivan’s Island near Fort Moultrie.  Their kids used to play down there all the time.  Since they had such fond memories from that area, we decided to do their family’s photo shoot there. 

A Kiss of Light

I am, and always will be, a student of light!  Most days I can find absolutely gorgeous natural light to work with.  But sometimes a shot needs a little extra “something”.  During this fun shoot with James & Ashleigh and their beautiful daughter, I started photographing this story-telling scene with all natural light.  But the exposure value on Larkin was the same as James & Ashleigh’s.  Even though the shallow depth of field made it clear that Larkin was my main subject, James & Ashleigh were competing for my attention.  So to make them recede even more into the background and make Larkin really pop, I used a single SB-800 on my light stand off to my left to give her that extra lift.  I didn’t pump it up too high…just enough to give her a little extra kiss of light and make her the true centerpiece of the shot.  As always, the remote flash was triggered with a RadioPopper Px remote.  Next time you’re out shooting, try adding a kiss of light to add extra depth to your shot!

Five Year Follow-Up

It’s been about five years since I photographed James & Ashleigh’s wedding.  What a joy it was to bump into them as guests at Ashley & Sherrod’s wedding just a few weeks ago.  And even MORE exciting was the honor of meeting their beautiful daughter and getting to photograph yet another chapter in their lives.  J

Hilton Family at Folly Beach

Before Cami & I left for Maine last week, I had a really fun shoot with the Hilton Family on Folly Beach.  Dr. Hilton is our dentist and we LOVE the great care they give our smiles!  J  (Check out www.hiltondental.net.)   

Owl’s Head Lighthouse

Here’s a couple shots from around Owl’s Head Lighthouse near Rockland, ME.  It’s supposed to be the most haunted lighthouse in America!  Many thanks to Mike & Becky of Rock Coast Sports for pointing us in the right direction and treating us to lunch.  J

Bass Harbor Lighthouse

Cami & I just walked in the door from a fantastic and relaxing week-long trek through scenic Maine.  The LIGHTBENDING 411 WORKSHOP at the end of the week went great!  But before I do a full write-up on that, I thought I’d post a few shots from our travels.  We spent several days in Bar Harbor, taking in the hikes and views of Acadia National Park. 

The first morning we were there I woke pre-dawn and drove to Bass Harbor Lighthouse to get a sun-rise shot.  It was cold and windy.  So I set my white-balance to a 4500K to draw out the cool tones and help evoke the mood of the morning.  I have a wonderful Cokin graduated tobacco filter I like using for landscapes.  But unfortunately I didn’t have it with me.  So when I brought the image in to Adobe Lightroom, I created a Virtual Copy of the image, and processed the second one at a much warmer 7000K white balance.  Combining the images in Adobe Photoshop allowed me to duplicate the effect of that graduated filter and brought back the natural color of the rocks while retaining the cool blue tone of the sky that I liked.  I shot this in two vertical frames that were stitched together for the final image.