Category: Uncategorized

I’ve known Jimmy for many years, rubbing elbows as we worked together at many weddings where he played his melodic bag pipes. This time was a little different!

I was SO EXCITED when Jimmy & Lauren decided to tie the knot, and wanted us to capture all the fun and excitement of their day! What an honor, considering how many amazing Charleston photographers Jimmy has probably met over the years. But after meeting with them, I knew our personalities were a perfect match since all three of us absolutely refuse to “grow up”. 😉

I joined forces with my good friend and fantastic photographer, Robbin Knight…and we had a BLAST documenting and telling the crazy story that is Lauren & Jimmy’s wedding day.

I met up with Lauren and “the girls” at Charleston Place where they were getting ready, while Robbin caught up with Jimmy and his posse at their hotel. The ceremony was held at the beautiful Saint Mary’s of the Annunciation Roman Catholic Church in downtown Charleston. Jimmy’s “Uncle Jack” did the honors. The reception followed at the fabulous Harbour Club, where Lauren & Jimmy are members. It truly was an AMAZING day full of joyful tears and side-splitting laughter!

Enjoy this fun slideshow and favorite images from the story of their day.  To see more of their photos, head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Jimmy & Lauren! You guys ROCK!!!

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Several months ago, Rich from Sun City in Hilton Head Island asked me if I’d be willing to com speak to their Photo Club. I was HONORED! So today I came down here and had a fabulous time talking to a very enthusiastic group of over 100 passionate photographers. Rich said it was about the largest turnout they’d ever had!!!

Marge was kind enough to model during the “Live Demo” portion of the program. This part always makes me nervous since all these eyes are staring intently at what I’m doing.  And since I’m shooting tethered to Lightroom, they see the results instantly on the big. If I mess up, they all see it! 🙂 Fortunately, everything worked beautifully as I demonstrated the A-B-C’s of creating a simple but interesting portrait in a short amount of time, in a boring conference room. Here’s the sequence of images… progressing from Main Light only, to Main Light + Background Light (gelled blue and shot through window blinds), to Main Light + Background Light + Rim Light (with amber gel and Honl grid).

Of course the “secret sauce” in my wireless system is the amazing RadioPopper Px system! This technology is what allows me the freedom to hide flashes inside window blinds and behind subjects, while still controlling them from the Master flash on the camera!!!

Many thanks to Nikon, RadioPopper, ThinkTank, Zenfolio, MPIX, FlashZebra, and all the other folks that help make our programs happen!
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 Charleston, S.C. (February 8, 2012) – Venus Williams, former World No. 1 and 2004 Family Circle Cup Champion, has officially entered the 2012 Charleston event.  Williams joins World No. 5 and 2010 Cup champion Samantha Stosur and World No. 8 Vera Zvonareva in a world class player field assembling on Daniel Island.  Marking the tournament’s 40^th year, the Family Circle Cup will be held March 31 – April 8, 2012 at the Family Circle Cup Tennis Center in the Best Tennis Town in America, Charleston, S.C.

“Venus Williams is an undeniably accomplished superstar with a huge presence about her, and she is very loved by our fans,” said Eleanor Adams, Family Circle Cup Tournament Manager.  “She has such passion for the game, which makes it so exciting to watch her compete.”

Williams’ stellar career continues to make an indelible mark on the world of women’s professional tennis.  With 43 singles titles, including 14 majors, this 31-year-old has notched three gold medals in the Olympic games, and nearly $28 million in career earnings, placing her at the number two spot on the WTA career prize money leader list.  She holds a career record of 598-147, including thirteen singles wins over the standing World No. 1 player.

“I’m very excited to return to the Family Circle Cup this year, especially because the Original 9 will be recognized for their significant contribution to women’s professional tennis,” said Venus Williams. “The WTA would not be where it is today without their pioneering spirit, and I’m so glad to be a part of this celebration.”

In her four prior appearances in Charleston, Williams has accumulated an impressive 11-3 record.  In 2004, she captured the Cup title as the number four seed, defeating two-time Champion Conchita Martinez in the final. Williams is one of five women to win the Cup in a debut appearance. While competing in Charleston, she has participated in many youth clinics and has made appearances at several charitable and community events.

“The fans and the atmosphere in Charleston always make it a thrilling tournament,” added Williams.

Since my earlier post “Image is Everything”, we’ve met a ton of wonderful business people looking to upgrade their first impressions.  If you’re looking to make a better first impression, give us a call.

One of my favorites was Jeff Baxter, who came in yesterday for business portraits to use in his new marketing material. Jeff is a runner, an active individual, conscientious about our planet, and an all around great guy.  It truly was an honor getting to know him!

Many thanks to my good friend and amazing photographer, Leigh Webber, for passing our name on to Jeff!

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After photographing “Super Star” Brittany in her red blouse, we switched gears into Wedding Mode. 🙂

Here are some of my favorites from the second part of our “Lightbending Walkabout”. Some downtown ones were created using a similar lighting set up as before. The ones with the Ashley River Sunset were mostly done with 3 to 4 bare SB-800 strobes. And the ones after sunset used my my Moody Blue technique of placing a CTO Gel on each flash and switching the WB setting to Tungsten.

It was a really fun day and I can’t wait to go out and “play” again soon!!!

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My passion for creative lighting carries over into our Lightbending411 Workshops and Lightbending Photo Mentor Sessions.  But last week some friends and I went for a  “Lightbending Walkabout”.

Cami & I had gotten together for lunch with our good friends Kate McKinley, Michell Frizzell, and Chrissy Janes. Then afterwards, amazing model/actress/friend, Brittany, joined us for a fun walkabout downtown. We all had a great time sharing ideas, helping each other grow in our knowledge and understanding of light, and capturing some beautiful photos for our portfolios. Here are some of my favorites from the first part of the shoot with Brittany in her red blouse.

All shot with Nikon D3 and 70-200 VRII, mostly using 3 SB-800 strobes in a Westcott Apollo 28 softbox, controlled with the CLS of an SB-900 via the RadioPopper Px system.  Some shots also had a 4th SB-800 as a kicker/hair-light on a Bogen Justin Clamp. More of Brittany in her wedding gown to come soon…
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Our friends Byron & Kathleen have an extraordinarily intelligent daughter. Yet for some reason she decided she wanted to shadow Cami & I for her class “Career Day”. 😉 Seriously, we are thrilled that she thinks photography might be an interesting career…we sure think so!

We had a BALL teaching her all kinds of things! I don’t think she was that thrilled about all the billing, taxes, and business part of being a photographer. But we did a fun photo shoot, during which she even took over and became “photographer-for-a-day”. Since she’s a big animal-lover, we got Marley to be our model. Amelia was so great with Marley that I had to get a shot of them together at the end.  Except for Cami’s Behind-the-Scenes photos, and my two portraits of her and Marley, these were all shot by our little apprentice!!!

Then we went hiking through Caw Caw County Park, where Amelia learned who to “see” light, how to look for unique perspectives, how to create silhouettes, how to find reflections, how to use shadows as subjects, how to use the rule-of-thirds, and much more!

She even edited all her own work in Adobe Lightroom! Then we transmitted her favorites to a local lab so she and her dad could pick up the prints on their way home. I think Amelia had as much fun as we did. And I hope she’ll enjoy passing her pictures around for show-and-tell when she gets back to class tomorrow!
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My good friend and AMAZING model/actress, Brittany McDougal, asked me to photograph an image for her No H8 Campaign. We had a BLAST and got some great stuff. Here’s one of my favorites…
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You may have heard of Andy Savage? He is one of Charleston’s most distinguished, most high-profile, most in-demand…and yet most down-to-earth criminal defense lawyers! On top of his reputation as a lawyer, Andy also headlines in The Savage Report, an Emmy Award Winning public affairs TV show.

I had the honor of photographing new head-shots for him and some of his brilliant staff at www.savlaw.com a few days ago. It’s always a pleasure working with such nice professionals!

(Photographed with a Nikon D3, 70-200VRII lens, and 4 SB-800 strobes controlled via the RadioPopper Px System from an SB-900.)
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I had a photo shoot at the law offices of the renowned Gedney M. Howe, III, PA for Super Lawyers Magazine one morning earlier this week. I got there ahead of time to scout and set up. While I was waiting for everyone to arrive, I saw the sunrise slowly light up St. Micheal’s Church steeple. It was a beautiful sight, up-lifting, encouraging, and full of hope…
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Jeni & Jon have been married like 5 years, but wanted some really cool photos from downtown Charleston to decorate their home with. Their fun (slightly nuts?!?) personalities fit Cami & I perfectly! Needless to say, we had a BLAST and love how their images turned out!!! 🙂
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We’ve had such a mild January here in Charleston! The other day was a beautiful, sunny, 70-degree day. I’m always on the lookout for sections of downtown that hold great backdrops for doing photo shoots in. So I decided to leave early for my last appointment of the day and just go for a short walk-about, exploring a block of downtown that I don’t normally see. We are so blessed to live in such a photogenic city!!!

(All shot on a Nikon D3 with a 50mm f1.4G)
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