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I first met with Katie & her mom last summer…and felt an instant connection! What an AMAZING young lady…school teacher, super organized, full of life, and such a joy to be around! I met Matt on their engagement session, and we hit it off too.  He reminded me so much of my youngest brother…quiet at first but a BLAST once you get to know him!

Their Big Day finally arrived last weekend…and what a beautiful celebration it was! I loved the deep relationships they had with all their family and attendants…and the honest emotions Katie & Matt shared with one another! It’s a rare thing to see true love in action…and such a deep honor for me to be able to capture all these special moments for such a wonderful couple!

Their ceremony was held at Nativity Catholic Church on James Island. Their reception followed at the Sand Dunes Club on Sullivan’s Island…one of my favorite venues! Everyone truly had an AMAZING time…including my wonderful team of Cami, Laura, and myself.

CONGRATULATIONS Katie & Matt! May God bless you as you begin your new journey together!!!

DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. – Venus Williams, former World No. 1 and 2004 Family Circle Cup Champion, has officially entered the 2014 Family Circle Cup. Younger sister, Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Sloane Stephens join V. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, in a world-class player field forming for the 42nd tournament, March 29 – April 6 in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Venus is one of the greats,” said Eleanor Adams, Family Circle Cup Tournament Manager. “She created a brand of power tennis that is now a staple on the women’s tour, a type of tennis that our fans can’t get enough of. We’re excited to have her back in Charleston this spring.”

The 2014 Family Circle Cup will mark V. Williams’ seventh appearance in Charleston, where she holds a 17-5 record. In 2013, V. Williams made a return to the Cup’s final four, losing in the semifinal to sister and World No. 1 S. Williams. The match marked the first time the sisters met in singles since 2009, and the first time on clay since 2002.

“I love traveling to Charleston and playing in a stadium where the fans always get behind me,” said V. Williams. “The Family Circle Cup has come to have a special place in my heart, and a tournament I always look forward to.”

The 2013 season marked V. Williams’ 16th time in the WTA’s Top 50, proving her staying power among the game’s elite. In total, she’s captured 44 WTA singles titles, the second most among active players and the seventh highest of all time. Along with her singles accomplishments, Williams has amassed 21 doubles titles, including 13 Grand Slam championships and three Olympic gold medals.

The 2014 season has begun with a promising start for V. Williams, appearing in the finals of Auckland before succumbing to Ana Ivanovic in three sets.

Tickets to the 2014 Family Circle Cup are on sale at www.FamilyCircleCup.com or by calling the box office at (800) 677-2293.

Melissa’s mom just gave us the sweetest, kindest review!

“I am writing this review over two years after the wedding that Chris photographed.  I am the mother of the bride and my great nieces were the flower girls.  From time to time, my niece uses one of the wedding photos for her Facebook profile picture.  Each and every time, I am amazed at how many people comment on what a beautiful photo it is.  It is just one of hundreds of photos in which Chris captured the moment to perfection.  He was an absolute pleasure to work with and put everyone at ease.  The other amazing thing about him is that my daughter recently ran into him and he remembered the exact date and location of her wedding – 2 years later!!!  Since my daughter is an art major, the photography was the most important expense to her and she got everything she had hoped for in these photos, as did I!  Thank you again Chris – we love you!”

Kevin & Melissa were one of those extra special couples to me…I just felt a true connection with them.  I’ll never forget being with them, at witnessing the pure joy from their hearts, written all over their faces on that special day at Middleton Place Plantation:  https://chrisandcami.com/blog/2011/11/28/melissa-kevin-at-middleton-place-plantation/.

 

One of my FAVORITE weddings of 2010 was also my last one for that year…that of Jason & Ashley at the French Huguenot Church! I felt a real connection with these two…and just loved their energy and their positive outllook on life.

So it was with great honor that I got to meet their first-born son, John Colin, this past week while they were back in town visiting. The dreary cold from earlier that week disappeared, and gave us a beautiful evening to photograph his 1-Year Portraits down at Waterfront Park.

We had a great time catching up and hanging out together. CONGRATULATIONS Jason & Ashly…you got yourselves a good one!!! 🙂

During those cold and dreary days of that freak storm last week, I spent the time holed up inside, going through our closets, and doing some spring cleaning. It was a fun trip down memory lane, going through boxes and boxes of albums, slides, and prints.

Here are a few images from the “early years”…that first one is of a bride and groom from one of my first solo weddings back in the 90s!!! It’s amazing to see that I was doing a lot of off-camera-flash back before off-camera-flash was “cool”…and waaay before digital and the wireless TTL technology made it a lot easier to accomplish!

Most of these were shot on my trusty old Mamiya 645Pro…yup, that means FILM!!! 🙂

With this freak winter storm sweeping across the south, I couldn’t resist ignoring the warnings to stay indoors today, venturing out at daybreak to capture something of the Frozen Lowcountry!

I had a WONDERFUL time getting to know, and photographing all the fantastic folks at Condon Law the other day. If you need a criminal or personal injury lawyer, give the Condons a call.

This particular young lady really caught my eye. She had just returnded from taking her granddaughter to a volleyball tournament over the weekend. You could just see the pride in her eyes as she described the event! So full of life…and so photogenic…I love getting to meet such interesting people in my job!!! 🙂

I’ve photographed several shoots for Blackbaud over the years. But it’s been a whils since the last one. So I was very excited when my friend Matt Daniel recommended me for their Sales Reward Banquet it the Sweetgrass Pavilion at Wild Dunes Resort!

I always enjoy photographing Corporate Events.  This was no exception…what a fantastic evening with a REALLY fun group! I always enjoy working with Blackbaud folks. They always seem so open, friendly, and easy-going…just like me! Many thanks to Margaret, Tracey, and Allen for all their hardwork in putting this event together. And a big thanks to Matt for the referral!!!

All images shot with Nikon D4 cameras, 14-24 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, & 70-200 f2.8 lenses, multiple SB-800 and SB-900 Speedlights, Manfrotto stands, and ThinkTank Speedbelt system.

Like the legendary Tinker Juarez…I’m always “tinkering” with my gear to make it work for my style of shooting!

I love working with light modiers like the Lastolite EZY Box to help soften the light. Unfortunately, firing a single off-camera-flash through that diffusion material robs it of a lot of power. Using battery operated flashes up around full or 1/2 power means having slow recycle times.

So I modified the bracket of my 24″ EZY Box to hold TWO flashes. Not only does this increase the QUANTIY of light, giving me double the power, but it also helps spread the light and fill the softbox more evenly…improving the QUALITY of the light!

I’ve included a couple close-ups of the modifications I made. It was really quite simple. I used a pair of pliers to pry the corners just wide enough to squeeze two flash heads in. Then I drilled two holes just big enough to thread a ball-bungee through. To attach the flashes, I simply insert them from either side, thread them through their respective bungee cord, angle the heads at 90-degrees, and slip them through the opening.

To test the new modifications, my good friend and AMAZING model, Brittany McDougal, joined me at the always beautiful Runnymede Plantation for a fun “Good Witch, Bad Witch” fashion shoot. Her friend Sierra provided hair and makeup. And my friend Chrissy came along to help with setting up and shooting.

All images were shot with a Nikon D4 and either the 14-24 f2.8 or the 70-200 f2.8 VRII. The on-camera SB-910 operated in Commander Mode only to tell the remote flashes what to do. The two SB-800s in the EZY Box were set to group A and filtered with a full CTO gel. Each of the other two remote flashes were set to Group B and Group C respectively, with no gel. All flashes were triggered via RadioPopper Px Transmitters and Receivers. Most of the images were shot around 3700K White Balance…slightly warmer than the basic Tungsten setting.

We had a BLAST! The shots turned out great!! And the modifications on my 24″ EZY Box worked perfectly!!!

(Note that I haven’t modified my 16″ Lastolite EZY Box, allowing it to still work with just 1-flash. On a previous project I modified my Westcott Apollo 28″ Softbox to use 3-flashes. So with the new modifications to the 24″ EZY Box, I now have a 1, 2, or 3 flash option to choose from as the need arises.)

I hope this gives you some ideas for your own light modifiers. Get out and get creative!!!

Corporate events, trade shows, and other company programs are always a exciting to be a part of! Whenever I’m photographing one of these, I always feel like I’m part of the “team”. Whatever the event revolves around, I always get behind it, support it, and feel like my images help to contribute to the cause. I feel like in some small way, I’m helping the organization accomplish its goals!!!

Yesterday I photographed this really fantastic event for the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors. As we all know, the economy, and thus the real estate market, has struggled over the past few years. It was really great to feel the positive energy in the room as the experts shared with us that things are making a huge turn for the good!!! 🙂

It was also encouraging to know that my decision to stay with the Nikon flagship cameras and go with the then new D4 several years ago has paid off over and over again. On a dreary and rainy day, there was almost no natural light spilling into the Coliseum where the event was held. And with the dim sodium vapor lights of the facility (which is starting to show its age), almost all these images were shot between ISO 1600 and 3200!!! Yet the files are as clean, crisp, and noise-free as they would have looked on a lesser camera at ISO 400!

It’s a NEW year! Welcome to 2014!!!

It’s also a NEW WORLD! The society we live in is very visually oriented, driven by imagery. I you haven’t had a new head-shot, business photo, or executive portrait done in a while, IT’S TIME!!! Your “image” is getting stale. You need to change it up, freshen it up, and take it to the next level! After all, your image is everything!!!

Dr. Geier had me do some new headshots to go with his move to a new location, and his rebranded website. Knowing how valuable his time is, I brough my portable studio system to his office, set everything up, and got the shots…which he was able to approve immediately afterwards on our wireless display. It didn’t hurt a bit…I promise! And he was able to get right back to his patients and to doing what he loves.

It was an honor and a pleasure to work with Dr. Geier. And I look forward to doing the same for you…

While on vacation in Florida, I got up early one morning to hike through the Circle B Bar Reserve!

The property is named after the cattle ranch that once occupied the site and was purchased to help maintain the Banana Creek marsh area. It hosts the Polk County Nature Discovery Center, completed in 2008. But the real attraction is an impressive array of birds such as white ibis, Roseate Spoonbills, sandhill cranes and bald eagles along with other wildlife like alligators, bobcats, snakes, river otters and wild hogs which can be found here!

The Circle B Bar Reserve is designated as part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail (GFBWT). If you’re ever in the Orlando are, and you love wildlife, you gotta check this place out!!!