Vida Family on Kiawah Island

What a lovely evening for a beautiful beach session with the Vida Family!!! I had so much fun playing with Andrew & Diana’s adorable kids, and capturing these family memories for them at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. This was their first vacation together to the low-country. And I hope it won’t be their last!

Schiff Family on Kiawah Island

It has been such a pleasure to photograph the Schiff Family on Kiawah Island last night! Several years ago, Debbie & Russel started a wonderful tradition of having portraits made of them with their grandchildren. This year, we met at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island on a beautiful summer evening. It was so much fun catching up with everyone and playing with their beautiful grandkids again!!!

Muro Family on Isle of Palms

It has been such an honor to photograph the Muro Family’s annual reunion on IOP for over a decade! This year, afternoon storms threatened to ruin our photo shoot. But Susan said we should “go for it”…and I’m so glad she did. It was AMAZING to see how big the kids have grown, and to catch up with this beautiful bunch of friendly faces. They always make me feel like part of the family!!! 🙂

Guin Family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island

It’s been a couple years since I’ve had the pleasure of photographing the Guin Family. But they made such an impression on me last time.  So I was super excited when Catherine reached out to let me know they were coming back to Kiawah Island this summer! 🙂

We met up at The Sanctuary Hotel on a GORGEOUS summer evening. Everyone looked amazing in their complimenting blue outfits. I was so bummed that their oldest son and his family couldn’t make it this year. But the rest of us had a BLAST and captured some fun family memories to commemorate this year’s family vacation!

The best part was, this was the 10-year anniversary of when Joe proposed to Catherine right on the same boardwalk in front of the hotel.  CONGRATULATIONS you two!!!

Dillon Family at Edisto Island

When Bernadett contacted me about photographing a “surprise” family portrait session for her parents, I knew I had to be a part of it! The last time the whole family had been together in a photo was at her sister’s wedding 10 years ago!!!

Their family was vacationing in a beautiful rental house a few minutes from the beach on Edisto Island. So I met up with them at their rental house, where Bernadett and Nicol had sprung the surprise to their parents earlier that day…much to their delight!

A few thunderstorms had passed through that afternoon…and more were predicted for later that evening. So the skies were full of character, with interesting cloud formations rolling through. But the light was beautiful! And the kids were amazing!!! Everyone was so much fun to work with. 🙂

Many thanks to Bernadett and Monica for organizing this fun gift for their parents.

Powell Family on Kiawah Island

It was such a pleasure catching up with the Powell Family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island last evening for their annual photo shoot!

It was an extra special evening because “Nana” Suzanne was celebrating her birthday this week. And adorable Eloise just joined the family a couple months ago! 🙂

As is common during Charleston summers, a late afternoon shower popped up. But it sailed on out of here just in time for us to still have enough light for our beach session. It helped cool things off as well, which was nice. But the best part was, it left a beautiful rainbow behind for us to admire!!!

Whitmer Family at Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park

It’s hard to believe how fast kids grow up!!!

Photographing the Whitmer Family over the years has been a real joy. I remember when the grandkids were just that…little kids! Fast forward to today, and the oldest, Grace, is going to be a senior in high-school. How did that happen already?!? 🙂

After a rainy, ugly weekend, the sun popped out and gave us some gorgeous light to work with. Everyone was in high spirits. And we had so much fun exploring Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park together!

Many thanks to Milt for his hard work organizing everyone’s schedules to make these photo sessions happen. He and Karen always make me feel like part of the family. 🙂

The Citadel First Salute Ceremony

One thing I love about my job is that every day is different!

Yesterday I got to photograph the First Salute Ceremony at The Citadel. I was commissioned by Christian’s parents to capture the event for them. He chose his dad, who was a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines, to give him his First Salute. It truly was a touching moment in this young man’s life. The emotions shared by father and son were palpable, as Christian’s dad told him how proud he was of him.

It was an absolute honor being a part of this special ceremony for this amazing family. I’ll never forget it!

Johnson Family at Azalea Park

Photographing Sarah & Cody’s maternity shoot last year was so much fun! So imagine my excitement when they called to ask if I could photograph family portraits with their beautiful new daughter, Emory?!?

To make it even more special, they also brought Sarah’s dad, Billy, for a 3-gerneration photo. And to top it all off, her dad brought his beautiful 14-year old dog, Fred!!! We had a wonderful time capturing a nice variety of lovely portraits in Summerville’s picturesque Azalea Park.

I owe a HUGE Thank You to our mutual friend, Andrea, for recommending us to Sarah & Cody. It’s been such a pleasure getting to know them. And I can’t wait to watch their amazing family grow!  🙂

McKenzie’s Senior Portraits

We’ve been friends with Jim & Re FOREVER!!! They are such a neat couple that we used to hang out with all the time. We were so excited for them when they started their family with the birth of their adorable daughter, McKenzie.  A couple years later, Caleb joined the crew.  It’s hard to believe, but now McKenzie all grown up and about to graduate from high-school! 🙂

I had so much fun catching up with Jim & Re, and photographing McKenzie’s Senior Portraits. McKenzie and Caleb are best friends…so she invited him to be in a few photos with her, which I thought was super cool! She also requested we do her shoot in and around Joe Riley Waterfront Park, because she wanted to re-create a couple of her favorite portraits I had taken of her and Caleb during a family shoot there when they were little kids.  Isn’t that awesome?!?

McKenzie has grown up to be such a beautiful, thoughtful, and kind young lady. It was an honor and a pleasure to capture these portraits of her during this special time in her life!  Please help me in CONGRATULATING McKenzie on her up-coming graduation!!!

Matthew’s Bar Mitzvah

Shabat Shalom!

In spite of the challenges of the pandemic lockdown a few years ago, Jen & Gabe managed to pull off a beautiful and unique Bar Mitzvah for their oldest son, Jason. It was a touching experience for me personally. And I’m so glad I got to connect with this amazing family during that time. So it was a great honor when Jen & Gabe asked if I would photograph their youngest son’s Bar Mitzvah!

What a contrast a few short years makes!!! Matthew’s Bar Mitzvah was a totally different, but every bit as special an experience! Matthew is a thoughtful, kind, and charismatic young man, who also happens to have a truly gifted voice. His silky smooth vocals during the reading of the Torah, and leading the congregation in worship, resonated throughout the KKBE sanctuary. It truly was one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had the pleasure of photographing!

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim is located in downtown Charleston. Founded in 1749, this is the first Reform synagogue, and one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the United States! The founding members of the KKBE were Sephardi Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent. The current 1841 synagogue, featuring an architecturally significant Greek Revival style, was built after the original synagogue was destroyed in a fire in 1838. The present structure is the second oldest synagogue building, and the oldest in continuous use, in the United States.

Later that evening, celebrations kicked into high gear at Hotel Indigo! With a “pre-party” for Matthew and his closest friends, cocktail hour for the adults, the family’s Grand Entrance to the reception, Motzi and challah, DJ Eddie cranking out tunes, Sir Andrew Larris and his dance crew keeping everyone on their feet, a wild and crazy Hora, a Party Boss photo booth, an ice cream sundae station, a glazed donut display, a candy bar, a cocoa-with-marshmallows extravaganza, and personalized sweatshirts for each of his friends…Matthew’s party was off the charts!!!

Many thanks to Rabbi Alexander and Rabbi Kanter for their leadership and guidance during Shabbat Terumah.  And a very special THANK YOU to Sha Sha at Loluma for making sure everything on the Big Day was absolutely perfect!

CONGRATULATIONS on this amazing milestone in your life, Matthew!!! We wish you all the best as you begin this new journey into adulthood…

Mylo’s Puppy Portriats

Meet Mylo! He’s a super sweet 16-year old Pomeranian. He may be mostly deaf and nearly blind, but for being as old as he is Mylo is still active and in great health. I had so much fun hanging out with Mylo and his “parents”, Jocelyn and Lawrence, at Hampton Park last evening! He truly is a special pup who found a beautiful home and has had a wonderful life!!!