Author: Chris Smith

I always find it interesting how frequently the very first, or the very last frame of a photo shoot turns out to be my favorite! Yesterday I had a really fun portrait session on Kiawah Island with the Zeifang family…an wonderful extended gathering of grandparents, children, and grandchildren. Towards the end of each portrait session, once I’ve got all the different combinations and group shots everyone wants, I try to shoot a few candids.

This shot of one of the grandchildren was the final frame and (you guessed it) my favorite image of the day. Don’t you just wish you could bottle some of that energy?!? 🙂  The photo was made with a Nikon D300.  I use that camera instead of one of the D3s when doing beach shoots because the sync speed is 1/320th instead of 1/250th.  So I get an extra 1/3 stop when balancing flash with the existing bright sunlight.  I used my new custom-made “Triple Tree” lighting bracket on a Bogen Manfrotto light stand to hold three SB-800 strobes.  Each was triggered with the RadioPopper Px system so that I didn’t have to worry about the bright light defeating Nikon’s CLS system.  I’ve found that ganging three flashes together allows me to use settings in the 1/8 to 1/4 power range, instead of maxing out a single flash at full power.  The benefit is I get much faster recycling time.  I placed the lights to my right, oposite the angle of the sun.  My lights became the main light, and the sun became the rim light.  To accentuate the height of her jump, I kneeled down as low as I dared in the surf.  ISO 125, 1/320, f11, 24mm on the 24-70 f2.8 lens.

One of my favorite family’s to photograph this year was the Kostreva clan. Dan and I had emailed back and forth so many times planning all the details of their session, that when we finally met, I felt like I KNEW him already.  🙂 We all had a great time together and came away with some really cool images.

Since I’m a huge fan of Black-and-White…probably stemming back to my younger days making magic in a darkroom with Tri-X film and the fumes of Dektol in the air…I love shooting a few B/W images on my photo shoots. So I thought I’d share some of my favorite monochrome images from their session. Enjoy!

I had a BLAST photographing the Jenison family on Kiawah Island. As you can guess by the crazy O-H-I-O shot, they’re from Ohio, which is where Cami and I moved from a zillion years ago. 😉

Every now and then, a really special couple comes along! Hope and Jason were such a pair. I had the honor of photographing their wedding at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island last week. They were just so full of love and joy that it was an absolute pleasure to be around them and photograph all these wonderful images of their day!!! As always, Doug Farmer did a fabulous job with the nuptials.  And the lighting was just perfect that day. 

To see the rest of their photos, head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Hope & Jason! 🙂

As part of our Lightbending411educational experiences, I’ve been leading Private Mentor Sessions for photographers who want to kick their skills up a notch or two.  If you’re interested in joining me on one of these customized Private Mentor Sessions, joining our next Lightbending411 Workshop, or traveling with us on one of our exotic Global Photo Adventures, just head over to the Lightbending website.

Last week I had the pleasure of working with Jennifer Jennison, who is a fabulous portrait photograpeher from Ohio. Check out her amazing website at http://www.jenniferjenisonphotography.com/index2.php.  We had a great time talking about everything from best business practices, to workflow, to creative lighting techniques. I had also arranged for a couple of my favorite young clients to model for us so Jennifer could put her new lighting skills into practice. We had a great time and Jenn is already talking about a repeat next year!  🙂  Here are a few of her fantastic images from the session!!!

Many thanks to Holly & Clint for letting us play with their gorgeous daughter, and to Kris & Tucker for letting their witty young lady entertain us…

I just received my copy of Action News Magazine. An image I shot of Olympic Champion, Elena Dementieva, was used to illustrate an excellent article by Kelly McClain called “Marketing Made Easy”.

I took this photo of the talented Russian while covering the Family Circle Cup. A WTA Tour Premier Event, the Family Circle Cup is the longest running tournament in professional women’s tennis with the same title sponsor. It boasts a roster of past champions that include some of the biggest names in the history of the game, including Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Serena Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki!

I’m pretty meticulous about taking care of my camera gear. And I clean my camera sensors pretty regularly. I realized early on, right after switching to digital near the turn of the century, that sending my cameras off to Nikon for a few weeks just to have some dust removed, wasn’t an option. So I taught myself how to do it.

The other day, my friends Jennings King and Erin Foushe, came over for a “Sensor Cleaning Party”. Neither had ever done it before. But like me, neither could afford to be without their gear for several weeks. I’ve gone through several different cleaning methods before settling on the one I currently use. I’m a big fan of Artie Morris’ avian photography. And I learned my current methods from him.

Here’s a before/after of Erin’s sensor (first two images), as well as a before/after of Jenning’s sensor (second two images). Needless to say, they were very happy campers!  🙂

I had the honor of photographing the Ryland family during their vacation to Isle of Palms this summer. They were all here, reuniting from all over the country, to celebrate Ann’s 70th Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Ann!!! 🙂

With the new moon rising, the tides on Kiawah Island were the highest I’d seen in a long time. I had just finished a really fun family portrait session on the beach (what little was left of it) on Wednesday. On the way home, I saw several egrets and herons out fishing in the marsh where the tides had washed up tons of fish into the shallows. I couldn’t help pulling over and watching the carnage until the light got too dim to shoot. All shots Photographed with a Nikon D300 + Nikkor 200-400 f4 VR + Nikon TC14eII.

I had a BLAST last weekend with Melissa & Kwynn at their wedding. They are from Knoxville, but come to Charleston often for vacations. So it was only fitting that they have their destination wedding in our beautiful city.   Their ceremony was held in the gorgeous courtyard at Planters Inn, with the reception following at Peninsula Grill. Christy Loftin & Rachel Sneed did an awesome job of orchestrating and officiating. Plus Melissa & Kwynn are very creative, had lots of input on the decor, and had wonderful ideas for photos and poses. It was so much fun to work with people who “get it”!  🙂

CONGRATULATIONS Melissa & Kwynn!!!

Many thanks to Christy Loftin for recommending us to Rachel & Justin! They were such a beautiful couple, and absolutely FABULOUS to work with!!! Their wedding was at the historic Planters Inn, with a reception immediately following at Peninsula Grill. Here are a few of my favorites. To see the rest, head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Rachel & Justin!!!

This morning I had the honor of meeting Lillian. We were doing another shoot for Bostick + Cotrell Marketing. The images will be used in an ad they’re designing for East Cooper Medical Center.  Lillian’s portrait was taken with a Nikon D3 and 70-200mm VRII lens, tethered to the computer via Lightroom.  Main light was an AlienBee 800 in a 4×6 foot Photoflex Lite Doom.  Kicker light behind her was another AlienBee 800 in a 2×3 foot Paul Buff light box.  Hair light was an AlienBee 400 in a Westcott Mini Apollo.  All lights were controlled with RadioPopper JrX Studio radio triggers.