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Ashley & I were scheduled to photograph her Bridal Portraits several weeks ago at Huntington Beach State Park. Hurricane Irene had other plans. However NOTHING could dampen the high spirits and electric energy I felt when I arrived at Ashley & Rusty’s wedding last weekend! Everyone was in full celebration mode!!!  🙂

The ceremony and reception were held at the exotic Yaupon Dunes property in Myrtle Beach. Elizabeth of Grand Occasions did an amazing job of organizing everything. The venue was decorated beautifully. Live Caribbean music filled the air as Justin from Pans on the Sand played his steel drums. And Paul from Myrtle Beach DJdid an excellent job officiating and DJing the festivities.

Rusty was decked out in a khaki suit, complete with a cool fedora hat. Ashley was absolutely stunning in her elegant gown. The two of them have been together for a really long time. So it was such an honor for me to be there to preserve all these memories for them as them take this next step in their journey together. To see more of their photos head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Ashley & Rusty! May God bless you as you embark on this new chapter in your story together.
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Last week my good friend, Gary, and I teamed up to photograph the Edward H. Angle Society Gala at The Riviera Theater in downtown Charleston.  The event was a very kind referral from Dan & Kate, who’s wedding I photographed several weeks ago.  (Thanks guys!!!)  It was a pleasure to work with Sheila from Imagination at Work, who organized everything for the event.  The gala had a “Movie” theme, of course.  SoI photographed each attendee in front of the old historic movie projector in the lobby.  The images would then wirelessly fly across the room to Gary, who printed the images within seconds.  We then slipped the 5×7 prints into custom movie-themed clap-board frames and put them on display so the guests could take them with them that evening.  We used a couple Alien Bees, and three SB-800 strobes for main, fill, hair, kicker, and background lighting.  Gary & I always laugh a lot and have a great time working together!  I can’t wait till our next one this Friday…

One of my favorite corporate clients is Colliers International.  They have the nicest folks working there!  So it was when I had the privilege of meeting Laura to photograph her new Executive Portraits. 

Here’s one of her images.  It’s important to note that the background is being lit separately from the subject.  This is the only way to have total control over the exposure value of the background, while maintaining perfect exposure on the subject.  I use Alien Bee 800s for my main lights, and an Alien Bee 400 for my hair light.  I prefer using a reflector for fill, rather than another light, because I like the more natural look of only having one catch-light in the eyes.  I matched the level of the hair light above her, with a kicker light behind her, and off to camera-right, to give that extra dimension to her hair.  Sometimes it’s the subtle details that make all the difference.  The background is a Savage White Seamless, hung from a Bogen Auto-pole system of six different backgrounds to choose from.  Strobes are triggered, and power levels controlled from the camera, via RadioPopper JrX system.

I’ve been DYING to share some of Ginny’s gorgeous Bridal Portraits from Waterfront Park! Finally, Ginny & Justin were married yesterday…and what an AWESOME wedding it was!!! So now that the cat’s out of the bag, and Justin has seen Ginny’s gorgeous wedding gown, here are a few of my favorites from our session last month. 🙂

P.S. Wedding photos are coming soon…

I found this cool, calm, and collected snowy egret on my way out of Huntington Beach State Park after photographing Danielle & Matt’s Engagement Session. Shot with Nikon D300 + Nikkor 200-400 f4.0 VR at 330mm. Effective focal length after 1.5x DX Crop = 495mm.

A great way to jazz up the “gray” of an over-cast day, is to use this technique I learned from legendary sports photographer, Dave Black.

I switched my Nikon D3 white balance setting to tungsten. And I under-expose the background by a stop or more. This switches the gray sky to a moody blue tone. Then I placed full CTO (orange) gels on two Nikon SB-800 speedlights, effectively turning them into tungsten-balanced lights. This brings the light temperature from the flashes back to a natural color. I fired my remote flashes using an SB-900 on the camera, set to Master, and triggered them with my RadioPopper Px system.  One flash was up high on a Bogen lightstand.  The other was rimming from behind on a Bogen Justin Clamp.

No crazy Photoshop here…this was all done “in-camera”!  🙂

Ayla & Jason met several years ago at a wedding where they were both in the wedding party. Now here they are having their OWN wedding! Fate can be funny that way.  🙂

I met up with Ayla at the gorgeous Brookgreen Gardens where her and her sister and her adorable niece were getting ready. We photographed several portraits of her out on the grounds before heading up to their beach house in Myrtle Beach where the wedding would be held.

Everything was decorated so beautifully for their Big Day. Elizabeth and Nick from Grand Occasions had done an AMAZING job. I met up with Jason and had a great time photographing him and his “posse”.

The ceremony was absolutely perfect…a gentle breeze, mild temperatures, and nice soft light to shoot in. The air was filled with live steel drum tunes by the talented Justin of Pans on the Sand. Paul from Myrtle Beach DJis easily my favorite officiants in Myrtle Beach, eloquently presiding over the service.  Later his magical disc jockeying even got Ayla & Jason (who told me they were NOT big dancers) out on the deck, dancing the night away.  To see more of their fun wedding photos, head over to www.chrisandcami.com.

CONGRATULATIONS Ayla & Jason!!! May God bless you both as you begin your new journey together.

Charleston, S.C. (September 21, 2011) – Samantha Stosur, reigning US Open champion and World No. 7, has become the first player to commit to the 2012 Family Circle Cup.  Stosur won the Charleston singles title in 2010 and doubles title in 2006 (w/ Lisa Raymond).  Marking the tournament’s 40th year, the Family Circle Cup will be held March 31 – April 8, 2012 at the Family Circle Tennis Center in the Best Tennis Town in America, Charleston, S.C.

We congratulate Sam on her US Open championship, and we’re very excited to welcome her back to Charleston,” said Eleanor Adams, Family Circle Cup Tournament Manager.  “She has solidified herself as a Top 10 player and a true force in the WTA, so we couldn’t be happier that she will continue to thrill our fans in Charleston.”

Entering the 2011 season as World No. 6, Stosur has posted continuously successful results throughout the year.  She reached the third round at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, the finals at Rome and Toronto, posted her 23^rd doubles title at Stuttgart, and secured her first singles major at the US Open.  The 27-year-old top-ranked Australian has notched over 350 career singles victories, been ranked as high as World No. 4, and amassed total career earnings of $9,062,278. She is climbing towards the $2.7 million earnings mark since January, the highest earning season of her career.  In recognition of her US Open championship, Stosur was presented with the keys to the city of Gold Coast, on her native continent of Australia, on September 20, 2011.

“I’m very excited to add the Family Circle Cup to my 2012 schedule.  I’ve had so much fun there, and winning in Charleston is one of the highlights of my career,” said Stosur.  “It will be an honor to compete at this event as this historic tournament celebrates their 40^th year in women’s tennis.”

Stosur is poised to make her sixth appearance in Charleston, where she owns a 7-4 career singles record and has set the event’s mark for the fastest championship victory on record by defeating Vera Zvonareva 6-0, 6-3, in just 52 minutes, in 2010.  Fans can visit Samantha Stosur’s official web site at www.samstosur.com. 

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of photographing one of the state’s most notable trial lawyer, Richard A. Harpootlian, P.A.  The assignment was from Super Lawyers Magazine, which I’ve appreciated an excellent relationship with over the years, and always enjoy working for.  Here are a few of the images from the shoot.

The 3rd image is a location-shot, demonstrating the placement of my lights for an image of the lawyers standing in the lobby, photographed down the leading lines of the staircase.  All images were photographed with a Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70 f2.8, and multiple SB-800 Speedlights.  Each Speedlight was controlled via an SB-900 in Master mode, using RadioPopper PX transmitters.  Enjoy!

Danielle & Matt are a FABULOUS couple from our old stomping grounds in Ohio. But they are planning a destination wedding in Myrtle Beach next year. When they found out I was going to be in Myrtle Beach last weekend, photographing a couple fun weddings with the uber-talented Elizabeth Hodges of Grand Occasions, it worked out perfectly to do their photo shoot while I was there. They had arranged to meet Elizabeth (who’s also doing their wedding!) to visit vendors and make plans for THEIR big day.

We decided to meet at the historic Atalaya Castle ruins on the grounds of Huntington Beach State Park. This place is AMAZING…so much character…such a great backdrop for photographs. We had a BLAST and came away with some awesome images. In spite of driving most of the night to get there, I loved Danielle & Matt’s energy and excitement. I can’t wait to work with them again on their wedding day!!! 🙂

Breeana & Andy are my kind of couple!!! They are so laid back, full of energy, and fun to be around. The chemistry between these two is something special. I can’t WAIT to photograph their Big Day! 🙂

Since they love to be outdoors, enjoy hunting and fishing, and spend much of their free time walking on the beach or out on the water. So it was fitting that they planned their VERY COOL engagement session to take place in Charleston Harbor!

I love it when a bride has a unique and meaningful location that she wants for her Bridal Portraits! Cherry Point, on Wadmalaw Island, is one of those gorgeous low-country gems that’s off the beaten path. It’s near a boat landing that she and Daniel sometimes use for their outings. So she has a lot of great memories there.  Her sister, Allison, joined us to help out. We had a lot of fun and came away with so many beautiful images to showcase Elizabeth’s perfect dress!