Roberts Family Christmas Photos at Palmetto Islands County Park

It was such a pleasure to “play” with little Ellie again this year, and photograph her family’s Holiday Portraits. 🙂

We only have a VERY FEW spots left for Family Christmas Photos this year. If you’re interested in booking a session with me, call 843-324-8900 or email chris@chrisandcami.com ASAP!

Once the last few dates are gone…they’re GONE!!!

Hannah’s Senior Portraits

It was an honor and a pleasure to photograph Hannah’s Senior Portraits for her this week!

Hannah is a beautiful young lady and star volleyball player. Her family is from Texas, vacationing in Beaufort for the holidays. Being the free-spirit she is, and marching to the beat of her own drum, Hannah decided not to do the “usual” senior portraits that all her friends were getting done back home. She wanted something UNIQUE!!! So we hashed out a plan to do all kinds of cool portraits of her in historic downtown Charleston, picturesque White Point Garden, and gorgeous Folly Beach!

We had an awesome time and captured some killer shots! Congratulations Hannah!!! And best wishes for whatever dreams lie ahead…

Lindsay & Tracy at Hampton Park

It’s been such an honor and a joy photographing Lindsay & and her beautiful daughter, Hannah, over the years. This year, they took it to the next level by sharing their new EXPANDED family with me!!! 🙂

It was a pleasure meeting Tracy and his girls, Hannah (#2) and Catelynn. I love that they picked Hampton Park for their photo shoot. It’s one of my favorite places in town!

We all had so much fun together! CONGRATULATIONS Lindsay & Tracy…you guys ROCK!!! 🙂

Grace Under Pressure

I’ve been working on a big project for an up-coming publication. We had a few last-minute photos the client needed before wrapping up the shooting. And we knew that the beautiful and “graceful” Grace would be the PERFECT model for it!

It’s hard to believe Grace is still in high school. She has elegance and poise far beyond her years! We had a great time and got exactly the shots we needed on this fun fashion shoot. 🙂

Catie & Justin at Boone Hall Plantation

What a blessing in my life, to be able to share in the happiest day of other’s lives!!!

Catie & Justin are one of my favorite couples EVER!!! It’s been such a joy getting to know them over this past year on the many photo shoots we’ve shared, leading up to their beautiful wedding last weekend. They are such a unique couple, with a genuine love for each other that is pure and true!

I have to send a HUGE shout out to another one of my favorite couples, Jay & Erin, for introducing us. I had the distinct honor of photographing their wedding four years ago, in which Justin was Jay’s Best Man. Last weekend the roles were reversed, with Jay returning the favor…quite enthusiastically I might add!

The ceremony was held at the historic Boone Hall Plantation, on the rustic Cotton Dock, overlooking the tranquil marsh.  With such a beautiful backdrop, an awesome wedding party, and such an incredible couple, Laura & I were able to capture so many wonderful images of their special day!  Many thanks to Christy Loftin for making sure everything ran perfectly throughout the day, to DJ Wade for spinning those amazing tunes, and to all the other vendors that made this celebration so special.  To view their entire collection of images, visit:  http://chrisandcami.zenfolio.com/p336963658.

Originally from Delaware, Catie us a nurse. Justin is an IT engineer. There is an amazing story about how Justin & Catie had their first blind date whem they went out with Jay & Erin for an afternoon on their boat. It was the first time Erin had met Catie.  The two became instant friends! Naturally, Erin went to put Catie’s number in her phone. And when she did, she added her contact as: “The Future Mrs. Boucher”!!! 🙂

Well, Catie, you are no longer the “Future” Mrs. Boucher! You are THE Mrs. Boucher!!! CONGRATULATIONS to both of you…may your love go stronger day by day!

“In as much as love grows in you, so in you beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.”
            – St. Augustine

Charlestowne Landing Bridal Portrait

Waiting…

That’s the one thing I can’t stand about photographing Bridal Shoots!   🙂

I’ve been dying to share images from Catie’s beautiful Bridal Session last month. But of course her gorgeous wedding gown had to be kept a secret until the Big Day. Now that her and Justin tied the knot this weekend, I can finally show off how amazing Catie looked in her elegant and unique wedding dress.  The waiting is over!!!

I love this southern tradition of photographing Bridal Portraits about a month before the wedding. It’s quite likely that this is the most expensive garment a young lady will ever own in her life! Sure she’ll have a few shots of herself in the dress on her wedding day. But with the hustle and hurry of that stressful day, there just isn’t time to truly do it justice.  I always encourage my brides to schedule a Bridal Shoot to truly document how gorgeous they look in the gown of their choice.

These fun “fashion style” photo shoots are scheduled for a more relaxed time and place. Hair and make-up is fresh. It can be planned around the best light of the day (instead of being squeezed in wherever it fits among the zillions of other pictures to be taken on the wedding day). Due to time constraints, all the photos on wedding day are done at the wedding or reception venue. Bridal Sessions allow brides to pick a totally different location. Maybe it’s somewhere special to them (where they had their first date?). Maybe their wedding is downtown, but they want some photos at a plantation? A Bridal Shoot is a great time to be creative and come up with some cool and creative wedding photos that simply can’t be done on the wedding day due to the constraints of time and space.

Catie & Justin LOVE the many beautiful plantations around Charleston! After all, their wedding was held at the historic Boone Hall Plantation. However, leading up to the wedding, they also had photo shoots with me at Runnymede Plantation, Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, and finally these inspirational images from Charlestowne Landing.

Catie…you were absolutely STUNNING!!! What a pleasure it was to share this afternoon with you and your parents, capturing your amazing spirit, and documenting the spirit of your stunning wedding gown.

The Silly Outtakes

I could have titled this so many ways!
   “When Photo Shoots Go Awry”
   “The Train Goes off the Tracks”
   “You’re on Candid Camera”

The truth is, I absolutely love what I do! Life is just too short not to have fun, right? Plus I try to dig deep to bring out each person’s personality…really capture who they are (not just a thin fake representation).

So even when photographing what some photographers would view as boring old stuffy head-shots, I do a lot of goofing off to help my clients relax. When it’s working right, it’s contageous! Pretty soon they’re hamming it up and joking around with me in between takes. SOMETIMES…I just can’t resist snapping those moments just for the heck of it!!!

Here then, are a few of the silly outtakes from an awesome shoot I had for the amazing folks at ECS Carolinas LLP. They are an amazing engineering firm in town. I highly recommend them if you’re looking for any environmental consulting or geotechnical engineering on an up-coming project!

Amanda & Alicia’s Wedding at Medecine Wind Farms

What a joyful celebration of genuine love!!! It was truly an honor to be a part of Amanda & Alicia’s joyful wedding at Medecine Wind Farms last weekend! 🙂

Amanda & Alicia dated in high-school, though they lost touch afterwards when they went separate ways. But hearts drawn together by true love can’t stay apart for long! These two re-united several years later, and have been inseperable ever since.

According to her big brother, Alicia asked Amanda to marry her more than once. 😉 But the one that stuck was when she proposed in Azalea Park. This beautiful sanctuary in the heart of Summerville is a very special place to these two, where they always enjoy spending time together.

Amanda & Alicia’s gorgeous bohemian-themed wedding was held at the rustic Medecine Wind Farms, a picturesque venue just outside of Summerville. Friends and family surrounded the couple with joy and love, in one of the most heart-felt ceremonies I’ve had the privilege of photographing in a long time!

“May the longtime sun shine on you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide you on your way
Akal, Akal, infinity
Akal, Akal, no end”
      – Irish Blessing

CONGRATULATIONS Alicia & Amanda!

Casey & Bekah’s Secret Proposal at Magnolia Plantation

It’s rare to find true love as genuine as Casey & Bekah’s!!!

A few days ago I had the pleasure of photographing Casey’s secret proposal to Bekah. He and I had been diligently planning every detail of this special moment for months! Finally the big day arrived…and it turned out absolutely PERFECT!!!

Casey had a full day planned out for the two of them, involving sight-seeing together, a picnic at the beach, and eventually a tour of Magnolia Plantation & Gardens. The grand finale of their fairy-tale day was him asking her to be his wife, on bended knee, under this beautiful cathedral of oaks.

“May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.”
– Irish Blessing

CONGRATULATIONS Casey & Bekah!

Washington DC Architecture

Last month, Cami and I had a wonderful time photographing Matt & Caroline’s destination wedding in Turf Valley, VA.

Since we flew into Washington D.C. to get there, we decided to take an extra day to “play tourist” in our country’s capital on the way home. Here are a few architectural studies I did while we visited the many sights.

All images shot with Nikon D810 and Nikkor 16-35 f4 VR.

Migration to Memminger

This week I had the honor of reprising my role as the official photographer for “Migration to Memminger”, which is the annual fund-raising gala for the Center for Birds of Prey.  I absolutely love photographing corporate events that are as fun and rewarding as this one!

This Avian Conservation Center is located approximately 30 minutes north of Charleston, in Awendaw. If you’ve never been, I HIGHLY recommend it!!! Jack Hanna writes:

“I have traveled worldwide and seen countless centers and this is the absolute best of its kind I have ever seen anywhere.”

Many thanks to David Archer for his amazing musical gift, my friend Steven Hyatt for raffling off his beautiful fine-art prints of the raptors in flight, Kara Bale for her amazing leadership and organization, and the zillions of other staff and volunteers who made this evening a huge success!!!