Last week I had the pleasure of photographing the brand new Tru Hotel by Hilton in Orangeburg, SC for the Naman Hotel group! As always, Dexter and Kristi from the marketing team were fabulous to work with. The staff was super friendly and accommodating. And the breakfast spread they are famous for was delicious!
Variety is the spice of life, as they say. That’s one of the reasons why I choose NOT to be pigeon-holed into one particular genre of photography. Instead of doing the same thing over and over again, day after day…for me each day is full of unique assignments and new challenges!
Recently I have really enjoyed working with Siemon Whiteside, photographing a number of their projects. SW is a leader of environmentally conscious, low-impact advancements in engineering and site design. They are known for how they blend civil engineering civil engineering and landscape architecture to create beautiful yet functional holistic environments.
From wide sweeping landscape shots, to tiny detail images, to aerial drone photos…capturing the essence of these projects always pushes the limits of my dexterity and creativity. I absolutely LOVE that!!!
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of photographing this delightful home on the marsh, tucked away in the back of Brickyard Plantation, for our good friend and amazing real estate agent, Pat Broghammer.
Indeed, Pat isn’t just a friend, she’s also OUR agent! She helped us sell our previous home, and helped us find our current one. Plus we had the honor of photographing her daughter’s wedding! Check her out at www.iwanttoliveincharleston.com. We highly recommend her!!!
Last week I had a fun assignment, photographing the Holiday Inn Express at the Harbison location in Columbia. Many thanks to Dexter and Kristi at Naman Hotels for trusting me with another one of their awesome photo shoots!
Since receiving our FAA Certification for Commercial Drone Photography last year, we’ve been loving all the requests for amazing aerial images!
This shoot for Solaris was one of my favorite interior/architecture assignments to date. The freedom allowed by the DJI Mavic Pro to capture epic images from impossible angles was fantastic! This quad-copter is a real work horse, combining excellent quality with a streamlines size that allows it to fly in higher wind gusts than previous models.
In addition to the benefits of the drone, this was also the first time I had used the incredible Nikon D850 on such an assignment. The detail and resolution provided by this new high-performance camera is INCREDIBLE!!! The sensor in this camera is the first ever to receive a “Perfect 100” score from the independent testing agency DXO Optics. I’ve been very pleased to add this camera to our arsenal.
Between the DJI Mavic Pro and the Nikon D850, I’m wondering if we’ve hit upon the best one-two combination for architecture photography ever?!?
Many thanks to Julie at Solaris for all her help on this project!
It’s no secret that the Charleston real estate market is on fire. Charleston is at the top of many Best Of lists, feeding the “I want to move to Charleston” craze!
Growth of the aeronautics, automotive, and tech sectors has Lowcountry area home builders working hard to build homes fast enough to keep up with growing needs. Due to the high demand, Charleston has a lower number of available homes on the market than most areas of the country. The Charleston real estate market only has a three-month supply of homes available, unlike most markets with at least a six-month supply! It’s no wonder there are so many new developments, new neighborhoods, and new construction projects going up all over town!
If you’re a home builder, this is a great time to capitalize on your share of that business. With our licensed, insured, and FAA Certified Remote Pilot, we are here to help you attract your piece of the pie through dynamic aerial drone photographs. Let us capture beautiful images of your projects today before it’s too late!!!
More and more corporate clients are turning to us for our new Aerial Drone Photography. Why?
EXPERIENCE:
Much like buying a nice digital camera doesn’t instantly make one a great digital photographer, simply buying a drone doesn’t make one a great aerial photographer! Just because someone can fly a drone doesn’t mean they know how to capture a compelling image. Mastering the tried and true techniques of lighting, exposure, composition, color, (and the list is a mile long) takes time! Cami and I have professional photography degrees, which means we’ve truly studied the finer nuances of beautiful art and imagery. Plus we’ve been photographing professionally for over two decades! That’s a priceless amount of experience and training that you just can’t pick up in a weekend workshop. Think about the revolutions and changes that have taken place in 20+ years. From medium format to 35mm, from film to digital, from crop sensors to full-frame sensors, from megabytes to gigabytes…we’ve seen it all! Which is why our clients feel confident in our abilities to deliver more compelling images.
EQUIPMENT:
Sure, the latest drones are easy to fly and take descent photos in their dumbed-down-out-of-the-box settings. It takes a lot of studying and experimenting with the deeper nuances and internal settings to eek out that NEXT higher level of quality and detail. I wonder how many new drone pilots never even read the manual?!? Flying the latest quadcopters on the market, and setting them up to take full advantage of every pixel they offer, we’re able to deliver a superior quality product.
EDUCATION:
Everyone has seen one news story or another about crashed drones or near collisions with other aircraft. Unlike a highway where you can only go one of two directions, airspace is a wide open fronteir. For the safety of other aircraft, and the safety of people below, the Federal Aviation Administration has implimented strict rules and regulations. Unfortunately, very few UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) pilots have taken the time to study, train, and pass the FAA certification process. We are proud to have passed the exam with the highest grade in the class, on our way to obtaining the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Licesnse! This means we are legal to fly our drones commercially, and will do so with safety as a primary concern.
For more information, check out https://chrisandcami.com/gallery/aerial/. When it’s time for YOUR aerial photography assignment, please don’t hesitate to contact us! You’ll be in good hands…and you’ll be glad you did.
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort hosted the 2007 Senior PGA and the 2012 PGA Championships. It will also host the 2021 PGA Championships. The Ocean Course is only the fourth course to have hosted each of the PGA of America’s major championships.
The Ocean Course gained instant notoriety as the host of the dramatic “War by the Shore,” a battle decided literally by the final putt of Sunday’s final match in 1991’s Ryder Cup Matches. In 1997, The Ocean Course hosted the World Cup of Golf, with the world’s finest golfers from 32 countries competing in the stroke play tournament. The inaugural UBS Cup took place on the course in 2001, and in 2003 the course hosted the World Golf Championships World Cup. The PGA Professional National Championship was played in June 2005.
Golf Digest named The Ocean Course “#3 Public Golf Course in U.S.”, #20 among “America’s Greatest Courses” and “America’s Toughest Resort Course.” It is one of only 17 “5-star” courses in North America in Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play” reader’s poll. GOLF Magazine has rated it #4 in its “Top 100 Courses You Can Play” list. The Ocean Course has achieved the designation as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” by the Audubon Sanctuary System, and has recently been named “Golf Course of the Year” by the National Golf Course Owners Association.
The Ocean Course made its big screen debut in November 2000 when the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, directed by Robert Redford, narrated by Jack Lemon, and starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, and Charlize Theron, opened at theatres nation-wide.
Drayton Hall, the iconic 18th-century estate in the South Carolina Lowcountry, is vital to our understanding of early American history. It’s also one of my favorite plantations in Charleston!
Founded in 1738, Drayton Hall is the nation’s earliest example of fully executed Palladian architecture…and the oldest preserved plantation house in America still open to the public!!!
I recently had the pleasure of exploring and photographing the property with my Infrared Camera. It’s a special Nikon camera, converted to be able to “see” a frequency of light that’s beyond the range of human sight. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the surreal images it creates! Please enjoy…
One of my favorite parts about my job is that no two assignments are ever the same!
I photograph a lot of “people” assignments where juggling personalities is a large part of the equation. Balancing those assignments with the more cerebral ones like architecture and interior photography is always a nice change of pace. Houses don’t talk. To capture their “good side” involves carefully calculating the best lighting, angles, and perspectives.
One of my favorite architecture clients is Solaris, Inc. They create such BEAUTIFUL houses with such unique character! They pay attention to the fine details. Every little piece of the puzzle is considered to ensure it belongs in the design.
Here is one of their amazing projects on Kiawah Island that I had the honor of photographing recently! Kudos to Steve on another brilliant home. And Thanks to Julie for always being so great to work with.
I love to travel. And I love photographing corporate assignments. So when one of my all-time-favorite corporate clients asked me to travel around the state to photograph images of all their financial centers, I jumped at the opportunity!
To catch the best light at each location, the planning and preparation had to be meticulous! I used a number of photography apps and online resources such as The Photographers Ephemeris to map out the best route so that I hit each center at the optimum time of day for which direction it was facing. I also used a number of weather apps to make sure the dates picked for each shoot would have clear blue skies.
Everything worked out perfect! And the shots came out great! Many thanks to the South Carolina Federal Credit Union for the opportunity. We’re not just their photographer, we’re also a client. If you run your own business and need an AMAZING financial institution to work with, I highly recommend www.scfederal.org!!!
Last week I had the pleasure of photographing a couple of AMAZING downtown condos for my favorite architecture firm, Solaris Inc.
Their attention to detail, their creativity, and their ingenuity never ceases to amaze me! From TVs hidden inside antique cabinets, to TVs mounted behind bathroom mirrors…it truly is AMAZING what these guys come up with! I love photographing interior and architecture assignments JUST to see what neat ideas they’ve incorporated into the design.
Many thanks to the wonderful team at Solaris…great job as always!!!
