Author: Chris Smith

We are SO EXCITED about how popular our Coffee-Table style storybooks have become. We have searched long and hard to find three different manufacuteres that offer beautiful and unique products that fit every budget. We’ve even been getting calls from brides who’s wedding we photographed YEARS ago, before such a product existed, asking us to go back and use their images to design one for THEM! It’s so cool to be able to use our creativity to tell the story of the day in this fluid style. Cami does the design. Her attention to detail, discerning eye, and degree from the Ohio Institute of Photography help her come up with some really beautiful layouts. Then I add appropriate quotes, scripture verses, or the song from the first dance. 🙂 Here’s what one of our favorite brides said when she saw the layout of her storybook: “OHMYGOSH!!! Okay, anytime someone gets engaged, I always suggest your name for a photographer, but seeing our book makes me want to pay for a TV slot for you guys to advertise!!! The book is amazing!!!! We love it!”

I always enjoy photographing on Kiawah Island. Just the drive out there through the tunnel of Spanish Moss covered oak trees draped over the winding road is an experience not to be missed. My most recent trip out there was to photograph a wonderful event for the RAA. During the morning session at The Sanctuary, their keynote speaker was George Will. Mr. Will is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post, writing about foreign and domestic politics and policy. Among many other accolades, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary in 1977 and The Washington Journalism Review named him “Best Writer, Any Subject” in 1985. He had some interesting insights on the current presidential race. What’s a trip to Kiawah without stretching your legs on a golf course? So after lunch, the attendees got to try their drivers out on the Cougar Point golf course.

I had an AWESOME time photographing the Charleston Air Show this year. With the war going on, we haven’t had one in town for several years. I’ve always been fascinated by flight. When I was growing up in Africa, my brothers and I were always loaded on to little Cessna single-engine airplanes for our trips to boarding school. So I think the awe and wonder of lifting off those little grass airstrips is where it all began. But even today as I watch the huge C-17s come floating into the base from their missions, it just blows me away that something THAT monstrous can remain span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_0″air born/span! Anyway, here’s a few shots of the famous Patty Flagstaff in her stunt plane, the span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_1″Thunderbirds/span pulling span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_2″their/span span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_3″maneuvers/span, and the amazing F22 Raptor showing off it’s prowess.br /br /img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197302813826279986″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCHX2hA6jI/AAAAAAAABOY/JbTrleJlg3c/s400/080425-0278.JPG” border=”0″ / div align=”center”a href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvGhA6dI/AAAAAAAABNo/yhKMoz1iTfQ/s1600-h/080425-0154-2.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197298815211727314″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvGhA6dI/AAAAAAAABNo/yhKMoz1iTfQ/s400/080425-0154-2.JPG” border=”0″ //aa href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvGhA6eI/AAAAAAAABNw/Z54qsk97oZs/s1600-h/080425-0201-2.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197298815211727330″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvGhA6eI/AAAAAAAABNw/Z54qsk97oZs/s400/080425-0201-2.JPG” border=”0″ //aa href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvWhA6fI/AAAAAAAABN4/ga6Q95UVcSo/s1600-h/080425-0220-2.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197298819506694642″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvWhA6fI/AAAAAAAABN4/ga6Q95UVcSo/s400/080425-0220-2.JPG” border=”0″ //aa href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvmhA6hI/AAAAAAAABOI/k-lhfh8E0Cg/s1600-h/080425-0327-2.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197298823801661970″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JUm00NS-SIo/SCCDvmhA6hI/AAAAAAAABOI/k-lhfh8E0Cg/s400/080425-0327-2.JPG” border=”0″ //a emAll shot with Nikon D3 amp; 200-400 f4.0br //em/div

I had an AWESOME time photographing the Charleston Air Show this year. With the war going on, we haven’t had one in town for several years. I’ve always been fascinated by flight. When I was growing up in Africa, my brothers and I were always loaded on to little Cessna single-engine airplanes for our trips to boarding school. So I think the awe and wonder of lifting off those little grass airstrips is where it all began. But even today as I watch the huge C-17s come floating into the base from their missions, it just blows me away that something THAT monstrous can remain air born! Anyway, here’s a few shots of the famous Patty Flagstaff in her stunt plane, the Thunderbirds pulling their maneuvers, and the amazing F22 Raptor showing off it’s prowess.

All shot with Nikon D3 & 200-400 f4.0

Nikon D2x, 14-24 f2.8, WT2a, 6-SB800s

This was a really cool catalog shoot for Southern Lady Bedding Company. They’re a really neat local company that provides high-quality mattresses for high-end hotels all over the country. I had fun using Nikon’s Creative Lighting System to bring out the textures in the mattresses and create a sense of tranquil ambiance in the images.

Maria Sharapova is using some of the photos I took of her during her off-court activities at the Family Circle Cup on her website. To check them out, visit her Website, click on Tournaments, and click on FamilyCircle Cup. Enjoy!

Everybody says I have WAY too much fun at what I do. I guess this goofy picture proves it. My good friend, photographer, and fellow tennis player, Frank Oplanic, was up in the stands waiting to get a different perspective of Maria Sherapova exiting the stadium after one of her matches. Mic Smith (no relation) of the Charleston Post & Courier, who is standing behind me, and I were on-court hoping for a good shot of her signing autographs. When Frank yelled out at me I turned and gave him my best “Blue Steele” pose. 🙂

Frank also caught this one of Serena Williams heading off court after she won the championships. He was standing about where I was in the shot above. I had just finished photographing Serena with the ball crew. That’s Amy Binder, of the WTA Tour, walking with Serena. Amy is a huge help to us media people, letting us know which players are going to be where for photo ops. Many thanks to Frank for sharing these with me!

My good friend and fellow photographer, Doug Cunningham, and I stretch our legs while the players change sides during the finals on Stadium Court at the Family Circle Cup. (Those photographer’s benches are low to the ground and not built for comfort – HA!) Many thanks to Doug for sharing this photo with me and our friend and compatriot, AP Photographer Alice Keaney, for shooting it.

CONGRATULATIONS to Serena and a fantastic victory yesterday! This is her first Family Circle Cup trophy after five appearances in Charleston. She now joins her sister, Venus, as a winner in our beautiful city. And what a year to win it…on the 35th Anniversary of this historic tournament! This was shot in a private session shortly after the match yesterday. Doesn’t she look happy!?!

It was a tough three-set match, but in the end Serena Williams prevailed over Vera Zvonareva. Serena’s ranking is expected to rise to #6 in the world after winning this, her third title of the year. Serena was glad she came out of the gates strong. “I just wanted to get that first set under my belt, and thank God I did because I lost the second.” She knew it wasn’t going to be an easy day against Vera. “I’ve played her a few times, so I really know her game and she’s a real fighter and she never stops.” The power and shot-making from both sides of the court was IMPRESSIVE. Here are a few of my favorites out of the mere 715 I shot during the match!!!

During the tournament, tennis action is not the ONLY thing I photograph. Part of my responsibilities include all the VIP Events that happen off-site. There’s a party of some sort almost every night of the week! But tonight’s was THE BIGGIE! 🙂

Virginia Wade, the last British lady to win Wimbledon, with the always kind and gracious Martina Navratilova, at an earlier party at the Charleston Maritime Center

Chrissie Evert (who won 8 titles at FCC – the most ever) with her fiance (Greg “The Shark” Norman) on the left, and Arantxa Sanches Vicario (former champion who made the most appearances at the FCC – a total of 18) and her fiance on the right during cocktails at the Market Street Circle outside Charleston Place Hotel.

Jelena Jankovic (last year’s champion who won the hearts of many fans here…including THIS one…because of her sportsmanship, positive attitude, down-to earth personality, and beaming smile) posing with her mother during dinner at The Riviera.

Pam Shriver (the evening’s co-MC with Bud Collins) and Chris Evert share a laugh about the “good old days” of women’s tennis (something about home-made brownies that I can’t repeat) during a panel discussion that included a who’s-who list of former FCC champions: Rosie “Rosebud” Casals (who won the very first tournament 35 years ago!), Arantxa “The Bumblebee” Sanches Vicario, Conchita Martinez, Chris Evert, and Jelena Jankovic.

Arantxa recounts a funny story about a Ferris wheel (and that’s all I have to say about that!) with her fellow spaniard, Conchita.

Bud Collins, Jelena Jankovic, Chris Evert, Conchita Martinez, Rosie Casals, Pam Shriver, and Virginia Wade.

As a bit of a “doubles-specialist” myself, I actually enjoy watching and photographing the doubles matches more than the singles. Unfortunately, the demand for images from the singles far outway the doubles, so I shoot more of the other. In any event, I was SURE this was going to be Kveta Peschke & Rennae Stubbs‘ year! Unfortunately, they got beat today. But I like them as a team because I can relate. They’ve both passed their physical prime and no longer enjoy the grind of playing both singles and doubles. So they’ve teamed up to only play in the doubles portion of tournaments like the Family Circle Cup. They’ve been doing very well. And I would have loved to see them win this one. Particularly because they’re both SO fun and pleasant to everyone. Their excitement for tennis and for life is infectious. I get to shoot a lot of “behind-the-scenes” events with top players on the tour. And nothing ruins my day like a professional tennis player turned celebrity that doesn’t have the time of day for the rest of us mere mortals. 😉 Witnessing stars like Kveta and Rennae who are still as friendly to the people they meet as ever…well…it’s a pleasure just being around them.