It’s been 5 years since I last had the honor of photographing the Rogers Family. My oh my have Lucas & Tessa grown!!!
We met up for a fun family session at Hampton Park. It was a beautiful afternoon with gorgeous light and perfect temperatures. We had SO MUCH FUN!!!
I’m thrilled to be able to share some of my favorite shots from my time this adorable family. 🙂
Last night I had the pleasure of photographing portraits for my good friend, and amazing photographer, Frank!
We created a natureal portrait studio in his back yard with the beautiful woods as the backdrop and an elegant earth-tone chair for posing. I used the Nikon D5 with the Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 on a Manfrotto Carbon Fiber tripod. For lighting, one SB-5000 was fired through a 24″ Lastolite EZY Box on camera left, and a bare SB-5000 with 1/2 CTO gel on it was fired from behind the chair to camera right. Since it was such an overcast day, this gave a little character and warmth to mimic a setting sun. Both were triggered with the new Nikon AWL system using the WR-10 transmitter.
Thanks for a great evening, Frank!
Yesterday was another WONDERFUL family photo shoot with my favorite clients, Lisa & Clay! I met up with them and their adorable daughter on the picturesque Sullivan’s Island for a fun sunset beach portrait session. Emma is almost a year old now. Isn’t she adorable? It’s hard to believe how time flies!!!
It’s been overcast, gloomy, and rainy all week. I even drove through a short downpour on the way to the shoot. But by the time the Guin family arrived for our beach portrait session on Kiawah Island last night, the skies opened up, the winds calmed down, the temperature cooled off, and the light was spectacular. We could not have asked for a more BEAUTIFUL evening!
Having become a wonderful blended family only a few years ago, the Guins have been vacationing on Kiawah Island ever since. Now that their oldest son is married and moved away from the family home in Chicago, this is the only time they all get together!
It was an honor to meet everyone and capture some wonderful images for them to commemorate this special occasion. 🙂
Last time I photographed the Bryson family, they only had Aubrey, and she was the same age Elsie is now. How perfect that I got to capture both girls at about the same age! 🙂
It was wonderful to have this lovely family back visiting Charleston again. We had a great time exploring the beautiful views of James Island County Park. It was an absolute honor to have them remember us and call to ask me to photograph this next chapter in their family’s life!
One of the BEST parts of my job is meeting new, fun, and interesting people!
I had a serendipitous opportunity to photograph the Rhone family on a beautiful Seabrook Island beach this morning. I say “serendipitous” because I originally had another assignment booked for today…which got rescheduled at the last minute. Later I get a call from Kim, hoping I might have an opening to squeeze in a family beach shoot this week. Today was my ONLY available opening. But their daughter wasn’t scheduled to fly in until late last night…and the forecast called for 70% chance of rain.
We decided to go for it! And the stars aligned for us to have a WONDERFUL family photo shoot this morning!!! In spite of very little sleep (Maddie’s flight got delayed), we arrived to clear skies and cooler temperatures as the rain passed through overnight. We all had a BLAST!!! It was an honor and a pleasure to capture these fun memories for my new-found friends. 🙂
I love photographing on overcast days. The light is soft, the colors are saturated, and the subjects don’t squint as much. But sometimes the images come out a little flat and lack impact…kinda just blah. Fortunately, I have a great little tip to keep all the benefits of the soft natural light, but add a little extra POP back into the image.
Here’s a little technique I call “Speedlight Sunset”. My preferred setup is to work with 2 or 3 speedlights mounted together on my home-made triple-threat flash bracket. Having multiple flashes ganged together provides me with extra power, directionality, and versatility when needed. But you can definitely do this with just one speedlight as well.
Instead of using your wireless off-camera flash as a fill or main light, place it far back behind your subject in the corner of the frame. For best effect, I try to have it shining through a background element like some low-hanging leaves or a clump of Spanish moss. This serves to obscure the true source of the light, and also defuse the quality of the light so that it looks more like the real thing. For best effect, you should also add a CTO gel over the flash. Also known as Color Temperature Orange, this piece of plastic changes the color of the light source to a deep warm tone, like that of a setting sun.
I prefer to trigger my wireless off-camera flashes with radio waves. Nikon’s built in Creative Lighting System is free and will do the job up to a certain distance as long as the Master flash and the Remote flash can see each other. But to place your flash further distances away, or hide it behind leaves and trees, you’ll need a radio triggering system. I sometimes use RadioPoppers to trigger my older Nikon SB-800 flashes. PocketWizard is another great solution that’s out there. But with the new Nikon D5 (as in this case) and Nikon D500 cameras, I can remotely trigger my Nikon SB-5000 flashes via the built-in AWL (Advanced Wireless Technology). I just plug in the WR-R10 Remote Controller, and away we go!
Many thanks to Kelli and Tom for being so much fun to work with on their beautiful maternity shoot. Check out more of their images and see more samples of this Speedlight Sunset at: https://chrisandcami.com/kelli-tom-at-hampton-park/.
I hope this helps open up some ideas and possibilities for taking your images to the next level. Speedlights are small, light, and portable. But they can make a HUGE difference in the quality and creativity of your images!
Earlier this week I had the honor of photographing Frank’s Surprise Proposal to his beautiful, kind, and wonderful girlfriend, Lizzy: https://chrisandcami.com/lizzie-franks-secret-proposal/. What could top that, right?!?
Well, yesterday I got to meet the rest of their AMAZING family for a fabulous beach photo session on Isle of Palms. We had such a great time together!!! The most incredible part of the shoot was at the very end when the most SPECTACULAR anti-crepuscular rays turned the sky into a dramatic Hollywood movie set!
Since the radiant skies showed up after Frank and Lizzy stayed a little extra with me to photograph a few more engagement photos, I told them it was a sign that their marriage was meant to be! What do you all think? 🙂
WOW!!! I can’t believe I’ve been photographing the Nester Family every summer since Jeff & Suzanna’s wedding 11 years ago! They are such an adorable family. And they always make me feel like one of their own. I love these guys!!! 🙂
Here are a few favorites from our family beach shoot on Seabrook Island a few days ago…
YAY!!! Another great summer beach session with one of my all-time-favorite families! 🙂
Our favorite clients are personal referrals from good friends and family. So when friend, neighbor, client, and collaborator, Mackenzie Citro of Just Kenzie Jewelry asked us if we could photograph her cousin’s beautiful family when they were vacationing on Hilton Head Island, we were so honored!
Celebrating their parent’s 70th birthdays, the Watkins Family rented a beautiful house in the immaculate Sea Pines Resort for the week. I met up with them on a beautiful evening, for a fun beach family photo shoot. On the boardwalk to the beach, a magical scene with the sun filtering through the trees reminded me of an enchanted forest from a distant fairy-tale. From there we continued on to the beach, where the evening light, summer breeze, and soft blue skies were a picture perfect scene every photographer hopes for!
The kids did great! And everyone was so much fun to work with! Many thanks to Emily for coordinating everything. And CONGRATULATIONS to Ron & Susan…may you have many many more!!!
Grand children are THE BEST!!! Not only do they bring new-found love and joy into a family’s life…they also prompt NEW Family Portrait Sessions! 🙂
I’ve had the priviledge of working with Sara Gunn and her sewing partner, Julie Starr, on their amazing project, The Tunic Bible. With a new grand daughter, I was delighted when Sarah asked me to photograph some updated family portraits for them! (Thanks for the recommendation, Julie!)
The Gunns have a family beach house on Edisto Island. I’m ALWAYS up for an excuse to drive down to that beautiful part of the world…especially when they decide to do the shoot at the majestic Botany Bay Plantation! With some of the most AMAZING avenues of oaks, marsh views, and rustic backdrops in the low-country, I always love photographing family portraits in this picturesque preserve.
I can’t wait for grand-baby #2!?! Just kidding, John & Mimi…no pressure. HA! 😉 Until then, many thanks to the Gunn Family. Here are some of my favorites from their wonderful family shoot this morning…
