Earl Klugh’s Kiawah Weekend of Jazz

It was an absolute pleasure to be invited back to photograph Earl Klugh’s Weekend of Jazz at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island again this year. I always enjoy photographing this amazing event with my good friend Michael Cyra.

Besides the great Earl Klugh, other amazing artists on the stage included: Chris Botti, Peabo Bryson, Deniece Williams, Patti Austin, Najee, The Rippingtons, Adam Hawley, Al Turner, David Lee on the Rocks, Joe Alterman, and many more! As always, Richard Todd did a great job as Master of Ceremonies.

I’m already excited and looking forward to next year!!!

Alex’ Bachelorette Weekend

A few weeks ago I had the BEST TIME photographing Alex’ Bachelorette Weekend!!!

When her sister, Blaine, contacted me about covering it for them, I loved all the fun, creative ideas she had! The weekend started out with a welcome dinner and a party-dress-up at Edmond’s Oast. From there we hit up several bars on King Street for live music and fun partying. The next morning found the girls on Pedicab tours that ended with Lingerie Luncheon at The Watch Rooftop Kitchen. Then after a little siesta time back at The Mills House, we hit up Candlefish for their scented-candle-making party.

The whole weekend was just perfect! All the ladies were a BLAST to work with! And Alex was absolutely the sweetest young lady on the planet!!!

Fisher & Whitehead Families at Colonial Lake

I always love photographing the Fisher Family! We go way back. Which means I’ve had so much fun watching their family grow over the years!!! 🙂  Over the weekend, I met up with Holly, Clint, and Kate at the newly renovated Colonial Lake in downtown Charleston for another family portrait session with them.  They even brought their four-legged family members!

As an added bonus, they also brought their good friends and former neighbors, the Whitehead family. It was so neat to meet another wonderful family that’s just as fun, friendly, and full of life as the Fishers!

We all had a BLAST and came away with some beautiful images, just in time for a dramatic sunset over the Ashley River!

Amanda & Alicia’s Lifestyle Shoot

With all the mayhem leading up to their BEAUTIFUL wedding (which was featured in Borrowed & Blue by the way), Amanda, Alicia, and I didn’t get a chance to photograph their engagement session. So instead, Amanda had this really creative idea to do a post-wedding “lifestyle” shoot in their home! We had SO MUCH FUN hanging out and creating these awesome images of life, love, family, and togetherness!!!

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.