Rape Victims in DRC

My heart was too sad to even weep as I spent the first hour of my day reading the journal entries from photographer Sherrlyn Borkgren on her Blog about her last few weeks in the Congo (DRC) documenting and bringing light to the plight of young girls being raped by soldiers over there. As you all know, this is where Mom & Dad served as missionaries, where I was born, and where my brothers and I called home throughout our formative years before settling back in the US to attend college. Please read her stories and see her images at http://lovesimplyhappens.blogspot.com/. Pray for her safety and that the story she is telling helps get the world’s attention.

Here’s an old slide of me with all my soccer friends. (I’ll bet you can figure out which one I am!) Soccer is the national sport of course…you don’t need shoulder pads, baseball bats, or tennis rackets to play. Just one ball, a grassy field, and a couple sticks in the ground at each end. In fact you can’t see it in this photo, but we played in our bare feet because no one could afford cleats. I wonder what happened to all these guys when the war broke out?

Rainbow Row

Traveling between assignments, I was driving along East Bay St. and noticed this beautiful lighting hitting the famous Rainbow Row. A popular photography spot in the Spring when the flowers and bushes are in bloom, I thought this winter version would give you a different view than the normal tourist sees. šŸ™‚

Ryan Young

You couldn’t meet a nicer young man on the planet! I had the privilege of photographing rising tennis star Ryan Young the other day. His speed and accuracy amazed me. But his easy going personality and grounded faith are what really impressed me. It was just a year ago this week that Ryan was heading off to China to kick off his pro career. He was a stand-out player at Clemson and joined with Nathan Thompson to form the best doubles team in the ACC. He also played in an exhibition match at the Family Circle Cup as a warm up to stars Andy Roddick and the #1 doubles team in the world, Bob & Mike Bryan. I was glad to be able to catch up with Ryan while he was home visiting his family for the holidays.

Ryan’s Mom, Toni, is the head pro at the Maybank Tennis Center where I played on the Men’s USTA 4.5 team before getting sidelined with an injury last year. Prior to that I played on Jeff’s 4.0 Team…Jeff is Ryan’s Dad. Ryan’s sister, Kristen (not pictured) is also an avid club player. So tennis vibes are obviously in the family’s blood…as are honor, commitment, integrity, patience, excellence, and many other personality traits that make it easy for me to see why this young man is going places!

BON ANEE!

Bon Anee! I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL New Year’s Eve. I had the joy of spending the evening with my new friends Chris & LaVerne who had hired me to photograph their 50th Anniversary Celebration. They were so much fun to work with! The event took place at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island with 24 of their closest friends and relatives flown in from all over. If you’ve never been out there during the holidays, make sure you visit next year…it’s GORGEOUS!

Charleston Wedding Officiant

While photographing Mary & Gary’s intimate service at St. Luke’s Chapel, I had the pleasure of working with Doug Farmer of Charleston Wedding Officiant. He did such an AMAZING job that I asked him for his contact information to put on our Recommended Vendor List. If you’re getting married this year and need someone to perform the service, I HIGHLY recommend calling Doug! He’s an eloquent speaker, very professional, and takes a personal interest in making your ceremony about YOU. Who knows, you might even have a little fun!!! šŸ™‚

Tara & Matt Are Married

Tara & Matt’s wedding was my last one for 2008. And what a WONDERFUL CELEBRATION to end the year on! Tara & Matt came to us as referrals from Robbie & Kelli Irvine…two of our favorite clients EVER! And Robbie and Matt are cousins. So I knew we were going to have a lot of fun together. Plus Tara was STUNNING in her bridal portraits that I photographed earlier this year. So I knew what a beautiful bride she was going to be on her wedding day. All of my preconceptions came true last weekend. It was an AWESOME day!

Tara & Matt held their ceremony at Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivan’s Island. Their reception was at Alhambra Hall. It was just a fantastic experience, capturing all the joy and excitement of their day…and being in the presence of the love and commitment these two share with each other. What an HONOR! Congratulations Tara & Matt…

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours…we wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and PEACE in your hearts and lives throughout the New Year!!!

Seth & Katelyn Are In Love

Seth & Katelyn have known each other for quite a while. In fact their families are neighbors. So Seth is literally “the boy next door”! They’ve been dating for about six years now and have a BEAUTIFUL relationship together. I CAN’T WAIT to photograph their wedding this summer! While they’re back in town for the Holidays, we met up downtown and had a really neat time creating some gorgeous images that reflect their feelings for each other.

Photographer’s Christmas Party

It seems we’ve gone to more Christmas Parties this year than ever before! I LOVE IT!!! šŸ˜‰ Cami and I have a wonderful group of fellow photographers in town that all get together about once a month for lunch at a local restaurant. We all chat about the latest technology, share inspiration and ideas, and just support and encourage each other in our art. We always have a great time! For our December meeting, Kate McKinley was kind enough to open her beautiful home and have us all over there. She really went all out…it was an AWESOME party. Here are a few snapshots. I hope you’re all having a wonderful Christmas Season as well…br /br /a href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiV5rkqrI/AAAAAAAACs0/KSY3HWUNGNM/s1600-h/081216-0001.jpg”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281634222654925490″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiV5rkqrI/AAAAAAAACs0/KSY3HWUNGNM/s400/081216-0001.jpg” border=”0″ //a div align=”center”emCami taking a break from helping Kate set out all the food./em/divdiv /divdiv align=”center”a href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiQLJm7qI/AAAAAAAACss/jXgriKuXy38/s1600-h/081216-0004.jpg”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281634124265090722″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiQLJm7qI/AAAAAAAACss/jXgriKuXy38/s400/081216-0004.jpg” border=”0″ //a emRod amp; Tara’s beautiful daughter giving us span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_0″ukulele/span lessons. ;-)/em div /divdiva href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiP2KUIwI/AAAAAAAACsk/5eJ4PdnbDFI/s1600-h/081216-0007.jpg”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281634118630908674″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiP2KUIwI/AAAAAAAACsk/5eJ4PdnbDFI/s400/081216-0007.jpg” border=”0″ //a div align=”center”Rod snuck this one of me while playing with my D3…sneaky!/divdiv /divdiva href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiP_J_7KI/AAAAAAAACsc/YxoTOeZ6_bg/s1600-h/081216-0008.jpg”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281634121045503138″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiP_J_7KI/AAAAAAAACsc/YxoTOeZ6_bg/s400/081216-0008.jpg” border=”0″ //a div align=”center”emAndy looks a little span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_1″mischievous/span to me!/em/divdiv /divdiva href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiPnIO7MI/AAAAAAAACsU/FKvonHhKHxY/s1600-h/081216-0009.jpg”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281634114595646658″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiPnIO7MI/AAAAAAAACsU/FKvonHhKHxY/s400/081216-0009.jpg” border=”0″ //a div align=”center”emCindy with her new “right arm”, Stephanie./em/divdiv /divdiv align=”center”a href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiO–cYlI/AAAAAAAACsM/nZO8GOCiGtg/s1600-h/081216-0011.jpg”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281634103817167442″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SUwiO–cYlI/AAAAAAAACsM/nZO8GOCiGtg/s400/081216-0011.jpg” border=”0″ //a div”span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_2″Mahmood/span having a good laugh…at span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_3″SOMEONE’s/span expense I’m sure.”/div/div/div/div/div/div

Mary & Gary Are Married

Mary & Gary had a romantic, intimate destination wedding at St. Luke’s Chapel in downtown Charleston this week. They came down from Wisconsin for a quiet get-away and to share their vows with each other. It was just Mary & Gary, Missie the planner, Doug the officiant, Gregory the guitarist, and myself. They are such a neat couple that they made us all feel like family by the end. I really enjoyed spending a few hours with them creating these beautiful memories they’ll be able to enjoy for years to come. CONGRATULATIONS you guys!!! šŸ™‚

Photographer’s Christmas Party

It seems we’ve gone to more Christmas Parties this year than ever before! I LOVE IT!!! šŸ˜‰ Cami and I have a wonderful group of fellow photographers in town that all get together about once a month for lunch at a local restaurant. We all chat about the latest technology, share inspiration and ideas, and just support and encourage each other in our art. We always have a great time! For our December meeting, Kate McKinley was kind enough to open her beautiful home and have us all over there. She really went all out…it was an AWESOME party. Here are a few snapshots. I hope you’re all having a wonderful Christmas Season as well…

Cami taking a break from helping Kate set out all the food.
Rod & Tara’s beautiful daughter giving us ukulele lessons. šŸ˜‰

Rod snuck this one of me while playing with my D3…sneaky!

Andy looks a little mischievous to me!

Cindy with her new “right arm”, Stephanie.

Mahmood having a good laugh…at SOMEONE’s expense I’m sure.”

Julie & Howie Love Each Other


I had a lot of fun photographing Julie & Howie’s Engagement Session. They are both as easy-going as I am. šŸ™‚ And they’re very excited about their up-coming wedding. We had a GORGEOUS day to work with, culminating at the beach on Seabrook Island with a dramatic sunset. But as we turned to head in, we saw this HUGE moon rising in the east. It was my old friend SERENDIPITY…and we took advantage. Later I found out the moon was closer to the earth that day than it will be any other time in it’s orbit! How cool is THAT?!?