Visit the US Virgin Islands!

After being on assignment for several long days, Cami & I spent some time enjoying ourselves.  I mean if you’re going to fly all the way there, why not, right?  🙂  We’ve done quite a bit of international traveling.  But I have to say, visiting the US Virgin Islands is one of the least-stressful places to go if you’re not akin to international travel.  As our taxi driver so kindly reminded us, the US Virgin Islands ARE part of the US afterall!  So things like language bariers and exchange rates are a non-issue.  I would have included driving on that list, except even though the islanders sit on the left to drive their vehicles, they do drive on the left side of the road like the British!  In spite of its few quirks, we highly recommend the lively St. Thomas, the remote St. John, and the largest island of St. Croix for your Destination Wedding or Caribbean vacation! 

Many thanks to Erik & Julia Loesch for introducing us to these islands when they hired us to photograph their gorgeous wedding at Bolongo Bay Resort last year…

100102-0965-P100102-0944100102-0930100102-0913100102-0908

High-Flying Camera

While we were shooting for Bolongo Bay Resort in St. Thomas last month, one of our tasks was to get some updated images of the “Heavenly Days”. This sleek catamaran sets sail for evening sunset cruises and other chartered trips by resort guests. Well, I got the usual shots from shore…then rode along side the sleek vessel in a speedboat to photograph it skipping across the turquoise Caribbean water. But that wasn’t enough! For a truly unique image, I had a crew member hoist up the mast and clamp my beloved Nikon D3 plus 14-24mm f2.8 super wide angle lens to a cross beam with my Bogen Super Clamp. I used a pair of PocketWizards to wirelessly trigger the camera. Not only did it make for a cool shot, but I actually got to be IN the final image. Can you tell which one is me?!? 🙂 100102-0304100102-0307100102-0312100102-0325

A NEW DECADE ARRIVES!

Welcome to 2010!!! The last twelve months of the first decade of the new millennium were a wild ride for Cami & I. We are SO BLESSED to be able to do what we truly love for a living, expressing our passion for life, laughter, and photography in so many creative ways. We owe a HUGE THANK YOU to all our wonderful clients, colleagues, friends, and family. We are honored to be counted among your acquaintances. And we look forward to continuing this Beautiful Journey throughout the New Year!!!

Back to Bolongo Bay

Cami & I are heading back to Bolongo Bay Resort in St. Thomas, USVI. After photographing Julia & Erik’s FABULOUS Destination Wedding there, we were hired by the resort to fly back and photograph images for their new website and marketing material. How cold we say no?!? We’ll have access to email and cell phone. But we’ll be working hard…and PLAYING hard when not working. So please forgive us if it takes a little longer than usual to get back to you this week.

chris@chrisandcami.com

cell: 843-324-8900

Julia & Erik’s St. Thomas Destination Wedding

WOW!!! What can I say about Julia & Erik’s BEAUTIFUL Destination Wedding?!? Cami & I are so honored that they brought us with them to capture their amazing time in the US Virgin Island of St. Thomas. Many thanks to Lori at Bolongo Bay Resort for making everything run so smoothly. Erik & Julia, you guys simply ROCKED!!!

Check out some of my favorite shots from their trip in this slideshow. Then Click Here to see the rest of their Online Gallery…there’s only a FEW to look through. 🙂

Julia & Erik’s Destination Wedding in St. Thomas

Here are a few of our shots from Erik & Julia’s beautiful destination wedding in St. Thomas, USVI. I haven’t had time to do any editing yet. So these are completely un-touched, strait out of the camera.

The last two were taken during their Trash-the-Dress shoot the morning after the wedding. Erik & Julia were AWESOME to work with, incredibly attractive, so much fun, and completely willing to do all the CRAZY things I asked them to do. 🙂

Many thanks to Lorie and the rest of the AMAZING staff at Bolongo Bay Resort. We’ll get the rest of the images edited and put a preview slideshow online as soon as possible. In the meantime, CONGRATULATIONS to Erik & Julia…enjoy your honeymoon!!!

Destination Weddings

Cami & I LOVE to travel. So being invited to fun places to photograph fun weddings is like that old Wrigley’s commercial…double-mint fun!!!

We just returned from photographing Julie & Erik’s AMAZING destination wedding on St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Several of you have asked me what gear I pack for these out-of-town shoots. With new TSA regulations and airline carry-on restrictions, it has definitely become more difficult to get all your priceless equipment there in one piece.

I NEVER check my camera gear! I use one of Tamrac’s airline approved rolling backpacks. And I narrow down my kit to the most essential gear so that it fits. This is my carry-on. If flying domestic, I’m also allowed one personal item…so I bring our smaller 14″ laptop. Cami usually carries a backpack with our toothbrushes, reading material, and what we’ll wear on assignment. So if our bags get lost, we have everything we need to do the job! If it’s a really big job, she’ll carry a second smaller camera bag with D300 and additional lenses, chargers, etc. as her personal item.

From my gearbox, here’s what I selected to carry on the plane: a pair of D3 bodies and what I consider to be the “Holy Trinity of Lenses”, the Nikkor 14-24 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, & 70-200 f2.8. I also included 5 – SB800 strobes, a Canon 500D Close-Up Diopter (more compact than my favorite macro lens), 10.5 mm fisheye, radio poppers, batteries, and cleaning supplies.

My light-kit, consisting of 3 – Bogen 3333 light stands & 2 – 43″ Westcott umbrellas, packed in my long thin Bogen case, was my checked bag. Our suitcase was Cami’s checked bag. That’s it!