Tim Waters for SCCLF

Earlier this week I had the distinct honor of photographing visionary (and a persistent one at that I might ad) Tim Waters at the future site of his healthy food retail store. I was truly blessed to spend time with this humble hero!

Check out the excellent article at http://sccommunityloanfund.org/blog/2017/10/25/loan-closing-elijah-craig/. Here are a few excerpts to give you some context:

The North Dargan Street and Darlington Street corridor, a neighborhood in Florence, SC, is deemed “blighted” by city officials. It is also located in a food desert, meaning residents lack access to fresh and nutritious foods. Tim Waters, owner of Elijah Craig, LLC and a lifelong resident of the neighborhood, wanted to help his community by bringing a full-service grocery store to the area. However, Tim struggled to secure financing and lacked the specialized experience grocery store operators need to secure a franchise deal.

The Elijah Craig, LLC Save-A-Lot will initially create 20 new jobs for community members, 12 of which will be full time and the number of employees will increase to 30 as the store grows. Families in the North Dargan Street community will finally have the ability to purchase fresh, healthy food in their neighborhood. Further, a neighborhood currently defined by the city as blighted will have a revitalization effort led in part by a lifelong resident with a vision of community change. “I see the store as building up the community in a healthy way,” says Tim. “I want it to be a beacon for healthy change.”

Many thanks to the SC Community Loan Fund for this amazing opportunity!

Pete’s Mobile Auto and Truck Repairs

I had the honor of photographing Pet’s Mobile Auto and Truck Repairs as part of a project for the SC Community Loan Fund. Their story will be featured in the SCCLF Annual Report.

“An older repair shop in Columbia’s Percival Road community has remained an eyesore to residents after falling into disrepair and shuttering its doors over a year ago. The closing of this facility left the community without a full-service automotive repair shop. Meanwhile, Pete’s Auto & Truck Repairs, LLC, a South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) was leasing a building in the Columbia area but the owners had a dream of purchasing their own shop. Once Pete’s owners Melvin & Sandra Wells discovered the Percival Road site, they sought to leverage Mr. Wells’ 40 years of experience in the automotive repair industry to attract the financing to purchase and renovate the shop.”

Congratulations to Sandra, Melvin, and their boys, who plan to one day carry on their father’s legacy as they continue to run the family business.

Headshots for Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

It was a pleasure to meet and photograph the latest addition to the team at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart this morning.

Michelle earned her B.B.A. from Mercer University in 2005, focusing on business management and international business. In 2012, she graduated magna cum laude from Charleston School of Law. While in law school, she interned for The Honorable Tommy R. Hankinson, superior court judge of the Griffin Circuit of Georgia. Prior to joining Ogletree Deakins, Michelle served five years as a law clerk to the late Honorable C. Weston Houck of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Welcome to the team, Michelle!!!

Headshots at First Citizens Bank

We are so blessed to work with some of the nicest, kindest clients on the planet! Yesterday I had the pleasure of catching up with our friends at First Citizens Bank. It was so much fun meeting and photographing corporate head-shots for the new faces on this amazing team of professionals!

Zaw Family at Hampton Park

The Zaw Family has been in Charleston for 15 years. But they are originally from Myanmar (Burma). In the next few months, they will be traveling back to their home country to introduce Bennett to the rest of their extended family. Before they left, they wanted to capture some fun family portraits in their NEW home of Charleston!  How cool is that?  I had so much fun working with Bennett.  He is still in his oh-so-adorable age! Is he not the CUTEST KID EVER?!?  🙂  It was an honor and a pleasure to meet his parents, his grandmother, and his three amazing uncles!

The Lovely Law Firm

It was my pleasure last week, to photograph the Lovely Law Firm for Super Lawyers Magazine!

Based out of Myrtle Beach, the Lovely Law Firm specializes in personal injury and criminal defense. If you’re in need of legal representation, I highly recommend checking them out: www.justiceislovely.com.

All the attorneys were great to work with! We staged the shoot at an old historic train depot, located across from their offices. It made for a unique and interesting backdrop. I really enjoyed working with the talented team at the Lovely Law Firm!

Katie & Tom’s Secret Proposal at White Point Gardens

Under adverse conditions, with dreary weather, LOVE PERSEVERED!!!

It was such a pleasure to photograph Tom’s Secret Proposal to his beautiful girlfriend, Katie. The two of them have been inseparable for 4 years now, having met each other for the for the first time under a Christmas Tree.  At least that’s the story, and they’re sticking to it!  😉  They currently live and work in Washington D.C., where they raise the most adorable warm and fuzzy rabbits!

Tom initially connected with me about a month ago. We had so much fun covertly planning every detail of the moment when he would ask Katie to be his wife. When the Big Day finally arrived, and the weather moved in, I think I was JUST as nervous as he was!!!  We went back and forth by text, and came up with a “Plan B”.

By the time our meeting point had arrived, the showers eased up, the gazebo emptied out, and everything came together perfectly. KATIE SAID YES!!! 🙂

Congratulations to Katie & Tom. May your new life together be full and free!!!

Turner Family in Australia

Cami and I have had so much fun hanging out with the Turner Family in Australia!!!

Cami and Kylie became instant life-long friends when they met at a CISV exchange program in their formative years. They stayed in touch, visiting each other whenever they could, even though they lived half-way around the world. Cami came back to stay with Kylie’s family in Australia over Christmas break one year. Kylie came to stay with Cami’s family in Ohio for a semester of high-school another year. And Kylie even came back to the US to be the maid of honor in our wedding!

It’s been some 25 years! But we finally made it to Australia so Cami and Kylie could be reunited, and so I could meet Kylie’s family. 🙂

While we were together, I took the opportunity to photograph some fun family portraits! Kylie’s daughter, Hayley, is an absolutely GORGEOUS young lady, both inside and out. As she said during the family shoot “we know who the REAL talent is in this family”…HA! It was a funny moment, but so very true. Hayley took to the camera like the superstar that she is!

Cami and I had a BLAST in Australia and can’t wait to come back for more!!!

New Zealand Travels

We had an absolutely BEAUTIFUL time in New Zealand.

Thank you so much Laura and Kevin for your generous hospitality. It was so much fun catching up with you, and experiencing this amazing island you now call home!

Here are a few favorite images from our week together…

New Zealand Harness Racing

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing New Zealand Harness Racing at the Nelson Harness Racing Club! It was so cool to capture these magestic animals in fierce competition, the pomp and circumstance surrounding this age-old sporting event, as well as the “best dressed” fashion contest. Many thanks to Laura and the Wild Tomato publication for this rare opportunity!!!

The Australian Open

It was a true thrill to be able to photograph the action at the Australian Open this week! I’m not only a tennis and sports photographer, but also a longtime fan and avid player of the sport. This has been a “bucket list” item for me to check off the list!!!

Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches, volunteers, organizers, sponsors, ball kids, media, and everyone else who helped make this awesome event possible.

The Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia was formulated in 1904 in order for Australasia to be eligible to contest the Davis Cup competition and for Australia to host the region’s Championships. 1926 saw a name change to Lawn Tennis Association of Australia and Sir Norman Brookes became President for 29 years. It became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969.​​

Fast Facts:

  • The Australian Open was first played at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in St Kilda Road, Melbourne in 1905 as The Australasian Championships
  • Since 1905, the Australian Open has been staged in five different cities: Melbourne (62 times), Sydney (17 times), Adelaide (14 times), Brisbane (8 times), Perth (three times), as well as in New Zealand (two times)
  • In 1972 Ko​oyong Lawn Tennis Club became the permanent home of the Australian Open due to Melbourne attracting the biggest patronage
  • In 1984, the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia became a company, and then in 1986 began to trade as Tennis Australia (TA)
  • TA is the governing body for the sport of tennis in Australia. The organisation exists to promote tennis and conduct domestic and international tournaments on behalf of Australia, including the Australian Open, Davis Cup and Federation Cup
  • TA and the Australian Open moved to its new, permanent home at Flinders Park (now Melbourne Park) in 1988
  • The tournament was not held between 1916 and 1918, or 1940 and 1945, due to international conflicts happening at the time

AO Women’s Doubles Final

Congratulations to Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic on capturing the Australian Open Women’s Doubles crown!!!

“Of course it’s an incredible feeling to share this moment together on court. We really enjoy playing together. We improved overall I think every single match,” said Babos.

The accomplishment is made even sweeter by the formidable team they beat in the finals. Makarova and Vesnina were shooting for their first Australian Open title which would have landed them a career Golden Slam, having previously won the French (2013), Wimbledon (2014), US (2017) and Olympic (2016) titles.

As the official photographer of the Volvo Car Open, it was a real honor for me to be credentialed for this match. Hopefully we’ll see these four ladies vying for the title in Charleston a few months from now!!!