Every once in a while, God brings special people into your life to lift your heart and make you a better version of yourself. Breeana & Andy are two of those people for me! They truly have learned the secret to living life to its fullest!!!
Their wedding was at his parent’s beautiful home in Awendaw. In spite of the dreary weather, Breeana & Andy bring their own sunshine everywhere they go! NOTHING could rain on their parade!!! Spirits were high, laughter filled the air, and it was one of those amazing weddings where everyone was having so much fun that the day just seemed to fly by. Check out the rest of their photos at www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.
CONGRATULATIONS, Breeana & Andy!!! Knowing now that you will be able to “live life to its fullest” TOGETHER with your soul-mate, makes it all that much sweeter…
Family Reunions are always a special treat for me. Since my family is so spread out…parents in CA, brothers in OR and OH, and me in SC…the times when we get together are very special. And I love seeing other families make the effort to get together as well.
Here are a few fun shots from my time with the wonderful Barbaro Family on Sullivan’s Island.
A few weeks ago I got a very interesting phone call. Jay Thomas had seen my image of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge on the cover of The Towne Planner and was struck by the ethereal glow from the bridge lighting that reflected in the low-lying clouds. It turns out, Jay was writing a book entitled “A Call to Faith“…a very REAL story about his journey through the ups and downs, highs and lows, of being diagnosed with…and ultimately surviving cancer. This journey caused him to reflect on what is truly important to us during our short time on planet earth. Just in talking to Jay, I struck by the realism and truth of his words.
It turns out, Jay was almost ready to go to press…but needed a cover image for the book. So I sent my original photo over to the AMAZING and talented John Locklair of Studio Seven Designworks, Inc. John’s faith, talent, and friendship has been an inspiration to me over the years. So I knew he would come up with something AMAZING for Jay’s cover!
Check out John’s work at www.studio7designworks.com. And pick up a copy of Jay’s book when it comes out!!!
The new Spring Issue of Mount Pleasant Magazine is out!!! Here’s the cover with Julian Smith (founder of the Bridge Run), and Bob Moran (director of the Family Circle Cup). To see the behind-the-scenes of how I shot this image, head over to https://chrisandcami.com/blog/2011/12/26/mount-pleasant-magazine-shoot/. Both events are coming up soon. So pick up your copy and enjoy the article on these two huge sporting events that draw crowds from all around the country!
I’m so excited to get started editing Breeana & Andy’s wedding photos from last night! Here’s a sneak peek of this AMAZING couple!!! More coming soon…
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Remember your first visit to the Science Museum when you were a kid? Remember the awe you felt when you got to the room with that big metal sphere that stored static electricity…the one where you coud stretch your hand out and when it got close enough a miniature lighting bolt would arc out to your finger tips?
The chemistry between Ashlynn & Allen is THAT palpable! When I’m around them it reminds me to “feel” life and live it to its fullest! I can’t wait to photograph their wedding later this spring!!! 🙂
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Chris McKee is a world-traveler, owns several international companies, is a new Dad, loves to work out, and has a passion for jazz guitar! The other day we met up to do a series of casual Executive Portraits that personify who he is and what he’s about. I had a great time getting to know Chris and collaborating with him to create these images. He is such a great guy…it’s easy to see why he’s been so successful!
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This Great Blue Heron’s name is Steve. I should know…I spent a good amount of quality time with him. We talked about our families, our hobbies…you know…the usual stuff guys talk about while they’re out fishing. The whole time, Steve just stayed perched at this little breach in the bank where an spring fed into a flooded rice field. One after another, little minnows would just funnel right under his nose…er…I mean beak. And one after another he’d scoop them up and slurp them down. Tasty, tender little fishies…yummm! 🙂
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The other day I had a chance to visit Bear Island Wildlife Management Area. It was absolutely GORGEOUS out and I got some neat images. Purely by coincidence, I bumped into AMAZING nature photographer, Eric Horan. I’ve gone out shooting with Eric before, and have the highest respect for not only his vision, but his knowledge of the natural world.
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Virginia Wade and Martina Navratilova at Family Circle Cup
Charleston, S.C. (February 28, 2012) – The Family Circle Cup announces 40Love: A Night of Empowerment Celebrating 40 Years of the Family Circle Cup, a special evening presented by Dove, featuring a reunion of the Original 9, including Billie Jean King and first-ever Family Circle Cup Champion Rosie Casals. Honorary coaches Billie Jean King and Virginia Wade will lead a star-studded World TeamTennis-style exhibition with former Family Circle Cup champions Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Martina Hingis and Rennae Stubbs, along with tennis legend Jimmy Connors and American standout Aaron Krickstein.
40Love: A Night of Empowerment Celebrating 40 Years of the Family Circle Cup presented by Dove begins promptly at 7:00pm on Saturday, April 7th, 2012. Tickets for this event are on-sale now, with seating options available throughout Family Circle Stadium. Pricing begins at $20 in the Grandstand, $35 for Terrace Level, and $65 for Box Seats.
“This commemoration is designed to celebrate our 40th year in professional tennis, and honor the incredible women who made it all possible with their courage and steadfast determination for equality,” said Bob Moran, Tournament Director, Family Circle Cup. “The Original 9 served as a catalyst for change in not only women’s tennis, but helped shift our country’s attitude toward equality as a whole. I truly believe that this is an evening that should be experienced by every generation from daughter to grandmother.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Dove on this extraordinary celebration and recognition of these incredible women,” says Nancy Weber, EVP/Chief Marketing Officer, Meredith Corporation. “Over the past four decades, The Family Circle Cup has played a critical role in supporting their mission, and we are excited to have the opportunity to mark this historic occasion.”
Nikki Haley, Governor, South Carolina, Stacey Allaster, CEO, Women’s Tennis Association, and several representatives from Dove will be present to recognize the Family Circle Cup and the Original 9.
In September 1970, the birth of women’s professional tennis was launched when nine female tennis players signed $1 contracts with World Tennis publications publisher Gladys Heldman to compete in what would become the Virginia Slims Series. The Original 9, as they were called, included Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, Kerry Melville, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, Judy Dalton, Valerie Ziegenfuss and Julie Heldman. They have previously reunited in 1980 (US Open, NYC), 1986 (Virginia Slims Championships, NYC), and 1989 (Slims of Houston, TX).
Additional 40Love honorees will include Fern Lee “Peachy” Kellmeyer, the first employee and director of the WTA in 1973, a direct contributor to the creation of the Title IX amendment, and International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee. Kellmeyer currently serves as WTA Operations Executive Consultant. She is also a member of the ITF Fed Cup Committee and oversees the WTA’s alumni program to ensure that past players and tournament directors remain engaged with the WTA that they helped build. During Kellmeyer’s tenure, prize money on the WTA has increased from $309,000 in 1973 to more than $90,000,000 in 2012, and the number of WTA events has increased from 23 domestic tournaments to 53 events in 33 different countries.
“The WTA has been extremely fortunate to have the Family Circle Cup as its partner for 40 years and I congratulate them on running one of our most prestigious events,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA. “We are excited to celebrate Family Circle Cup’s landmark anniversary along with the reunion of our Original 9 trailblazers. These amazing champions helped shape women’s professional tennis into the number one professional sport for women and it is wonderful to bring them all back together to celebrate the historic achievements of the past 40 years at the Family Circle Cup.”
“Women’s tennis is about more than serving up exciting match play,” said Rob Candelino, Vice President, Brand Building, for Unilever Skincare. “Dove® believes that when girls see positive female role models in action at the Family Circle Cup, it helps expand their definition of beauty and builds their self-esteem to better equip them to become future leaders. Our brand and the Family Circle Cup have a shared commitment to helping women and girls reach their full potential, on and off the court.”
About The Family Circle Cup
The Family Circle Tennis Center, home of the Family Circle Cup and World TeamTennis Finals Weekend, is a public facility owned by the City of Charleston and operated by Meredith Corporation that also hosts a variety of additional events including concerts, festivals, tennis tournaments and other activities throughout the year. The Tennis Center features a 10,200 seat stadium, Grand Lawn, 17 tennis courts lighted for night play, Pro Shop, and a full service event management staff capable of handling all aspects of an event including ticketing, operations, sales, marketing, public relations, and food & beverage. Charleston, South Carolina was named was named the “No. 1 tourist destination in America” in the 2011 Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards, and Charleston was also voted the “Best Tennis Town in America” in a 2010 USTA contest.
The Family Circle Cup is the largest women’s only tennis tournament in the world, and Family Circle is the longest running title sponsor of a sporting event in the United States, as well as in all of professional tennis, world-wide. With over 21 million readers, Family Circle is one of the most widely read monthly magazines in America and is one of 14 leading subscription magazines owned by Meredith Corporation, which speaks to 80 million women nationwide. The Family Circle Cup receives four days of live broadcast domestically on ESPN2, and is viewed internationally in over 25 countries, featuring over 200 hours of live and delayed global broadcast time, reaching 8.54 million viewers worldwide.
This time I combined 4 images…separately lighting the left, right, foreground, and background of the sand dune. The camera’s white balance was set to tungsten to give that electric blue color to the sky. Shooting with a Nikon D300 and the 14-24mm lens, I used the pop-up flash as my Master. I placed a RadioPopper Hot Shoe adapter on the camera, and used the RadioPopper Px Transmitter to control the remote flash. The off-camera flash was an SB-800 with a RadioPopper Px Receiver on it, set to Group A, manually dialed in at 1/2 power, and covered with warm CTO gel.
One of my mentors, Joe McNally, reminds us “to make a subject more mysterious and interesting…don’t light the whole thing”. The flash was zoomed to 105mm to illuminate specific spots with precision, rather than globally lighting everything.
As a creative being, it’s important to me to find opportunities to photograph personal images whenever I can. Often when I wrap up my last shoot of the day, I’ll hang out after everyone leaves and just “play”.
After a fun Family Reunion session on the Sullivan’s Island beach last night, the moody low-lying clouds gave me an idea for a dramatic light-painted shot of the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse.
I switched my camera’s white balance to tungsten, which gave the electric blue color to the sky. Knowing that the dry, dead sea oats are almost translucent this time of year, I decided to light them from an angle behind them to give that ethereal glow. Shooting with a Nikon D300 and the 14-24mm lens, I used the pop-up flash as my Master. I placed a RadioPopper Hot Shoe adapter on the camera, and used the RadioPopper Px Transmitter to control the remote flash. The off-camera flash was an SB-800 with a RadioPopper Px Receiver on it, set to Group A, manually dialed in at 1/2 power, and zoomed to 105mm. Knowing that I was going for a fairly contrasty look, and knowing that the angle of the flash (which was aimed back at towards the camera) would fool the meter, I knew that going with TTL was probably not the best option here. I had a full CTO orange gel on the flash to bring the oats back to their natural warm tone.
With such a wide-angle lens, the light fall-off from one end of the scene was pretty substantial. So in the first frame, I lit the right-hand set of oats. In the second frame I stepped back 10 feet or so and lit the left-hand set of tall reeds. Later I combined the two exposures with a layer mask in Photoshop, added a little lens flare to the lighthouse, and cropped the final image for my final 1:2 panoramic image.
I hope you like it…and I hope this inspires you to do something creative today!!!
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