Headshots for DHG

I always enjoy working with the fun folks at Dixon Hughes Goodman. The company has such a healthy work environment, and genuinely cares about the happiness of its employees!

Here are a few favorites from my latest session of head-shots at the Charleston office. I used my trusty portable studio setup, featuring the Nikon D5, Nikkor 70-200 f2.8, Nikon Speedlights, Westcott Apollo softboxes, Manfrotto support equipment (light-stands, tripod, and background stands), Savage background paper, Sony XQD cards, and Lenovo laptop.

Piecewise Coffee Co

Yesterday I had the distinct honor of photographing Stan and Lindsey, the brains behind Piecewise Coffee Co in Columbia, SC. I was there to create images on behalf of the SC Community Loan Fund to tell their amazing success story.

Naturally, I arrived early to see what the experience was all about. Walking in, I was immediately hit with this wonderfully warm and vibrant atmosphere. This is clearly a place where “happy people” roam. I enjoyed an amazing cup of Chai tea with an organic gluten-free chocolate chunk cookie that was to die for!

Afterwards I introduced myself and we began shooting. Stan and Lindsey were absolutely fantastic to work with! We had a BLAST getting to know each other, and creating these beautiful images to go with the article.

I’d like to send out a HUGE Thank You to Victoria at SCCLF for trusting me to cover this assignment! And I’d like to say CONGRATULATIONS to Stan and Lindsey on following your dreams!!!

Accounting Firm Headshots

Dixon Hughes Goodman is one of our favorite clients to work with! This week I had the privilege of returning to photograph updated head-shots for existing team members, as well as new headshots for those who have recently joined the organization.

For this shoot I used a 109″ roll of Savage seamless background paper in Charcoal Gray. Many of our clients custom order specific background colors to go with their branding. For the main light, I used 3 SB-800 flashes on one of my triple clamps, firing through a 50″ Westcott softbox, slaved as Group A. For the fill light, I used a single SB-800 flash in a Westcott stripbox as Group B. And for a background light, I used 2 SB-800 flashes firing through a Westcott 60″ shoot-through umbrella, placed on the left side of the background to create the gradient. Triggering all the lights was an SB-5000 flash on the camera, using RadioPoppers to signal each remote flash when to fire. My camera of choice was the Nikon D5, with the Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 VRII, tethered to my Lenovo Yoga laptop. Support for the camera, lights, and background, were all Manfrotto products.

DHG is the largest certified public accounting firm headquartered in the Southern U.S. and the 17th largest in the United States. It provides accounting, advisory and tax services to public and private companies. If you don’t already have an accounting firm, we highly recommend them!!!

Attorney Head-shots for Clawson & Staubes

It was a pleasure meeting and photographing Michael and Ashley this morning. Michael is from Charlotte. Ashley is from New York. Michael has recently joined the amazing team of attorneys at Clawson and Staubes. Although he loves Charleston, he’ll be working out of their Charlotte office…at least until the call of the ocean is too strong to resist! 😉 Ashley has been in town for many years. She’s worked her way up through the ranks to reach her goal of being an attorney at Clawson & Staubes. She’s recently engaged, and planning her beautiful destination wedding in Turks & Caicos!

We had a fantastic time during their photo shoot! I chose the Nikon D5 and Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 VRII for this assignment. The natural light was augmented with a single Nikon SB-5000 off-camera flash, mounted on a Manfrotto light-stand, shooting through a 24″ softbox.

CONGRATULATIONS to Michael and Ashley on achieving their dreams!!!

Headshots for SC Community Loan Fund

This morning I had the pleasure of photographing the newest member of the team at SC Community Loan Fund. Everyone, meet Kelly!

Kelly moved to New Orleans about 10 years ago to help with disaster relief. She moved to Charleston about 2 years ago. Her and her fiance were recently married at Alhambra Hall. And now she’s a proud member of the awesome group of wonderful human beings at SCCLF, doing good works around the lowcountry!!!  🙂

We were blessed with beautiful light today, a gentle breeze, and less-than-scorching temperatures (which was quite nice compared to last week’s heat-wave). I photographed her with the Nikon D5 and Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 VRII, mounted on my Bogen Manfrotto tripod. I used a single SB-5000 off-camera flash, firing into a 24″ Godox softbox, mounted on a Manfrotto light-stand.

Many thanks to Kelly for being such so wonderful to work with, and to Victoria for coordinating everyone’s schedules for the photo shoot!

Tru Hotel by Hilton

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!

Exaqueo Meeting

I always enjoy staying in touch with our clients!

Yesterday I got to go hang out with my friends at Exaqueo. They had recently hired a new team member, and were haveing one of thier planning meetings out at Wild Dunes Resort. I went out and photographed headshots of Jaclyn, as well as some fun updated team photos.

It was great seeing everyone again! What a great company…and such a nice group of people!!!

Kevin Sevier State Farm

Remember the old Hairclub for Men advertisement, “I’m not only a client, I’m also the president”? For many of our clients, I can say “I’m not only a client, I’m also the photographer! 🙂

Last week I had the honor of catching up with our old friend, and our trusted State Farm insurance agent, Kevin Sevier. It’s truly amazing what he has done with his business! They finally moved into their new building last year. And they’ve added new members to their team. So Cami and I went down to photograph new team photos and updated head-shots for them.

We had a great time, and even got the behind-the-scenes tour!

DHG Leadership Conference, Part Deux

The second part of the Dixon Hughes Goodman Leadership Conference was even more fun than the first! With all kinds of team-building activities, motivational speakers, and fun entertainment, everyone had an amazing time!!! Everything culminated in a fun party at TopGolf to celebrate another awesome conference.

DHG Leadership Conference

One of my favorite events to photograph each year is the Dixon Hughes Goodman Leadership Conference!

This year the program was held at the AC Hotel in Charlotte. It’s a really cool venue in the heart of the city, boasting a beautiful conference room, delicious food, and the highest rooftop bar in town!

The first day of the destination event was an absolute BLAST!!!

Headshots in The Cigar Factory Basement

Being a professional photographer is not always roses and sunshine. Sometimes we are faced with difficult scenarios, yet expected to produce stellar results!

Photographing an assignment for Lee & Associates, I needed to create headshots for a couple of recent additions to the team. We normally do their shoots in The Cedar Room. This is the big beautiful ballroom in Charleston that’s known for its gorgeous historic brick walls. Instead, they offered us this wall in the bottom floor, which is now a a back service entrance in the basement of the old factory.

I got to work and set up my Nikon D5 with Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 on the Manfrotto 055 carbon fiber tripod. I mounted 2 SB-5000 flashes, both set to Group A, on a Manfrotto light stand with a 60″ Westcott shoot-through umbrella, as my main light. I set 2 SB-5000 flashes, on another light stand with a shoot through umbrella in the back. One of these flashes was set to Group B and directed at the subject to act as a rim/fill light. The other was set to Group C and directed at the wall as a background light. The camera was then tethered to my Lenovo Yoga laptop, which rested comfortably on the trash can in the corner.  Using Adobe Lightroom allowed the client to proof images as I shot, and allowed each individual pick out their favorite shots.

In spite of the conditions, with a little ingenuity, and a dash of creativity, we were able to make this dark hallway look as bright and beautiful as the gorgeous ballroom above!

Lancaster Christian Services

Yesterday found me traveling to Lancaster, SC for another shoot with the South Carolina Community Loan Fund.

The assignment was to tell the “story” of the Lancaster Christian Services Center. The SCCLF had helped this organization secure the financing to purchase a bowling alley to house a number of their community outreach programs, including two churches, a food pantry, meeting rooms for education programs, and of course a fun place for youth to hang out.

Images were captured with the DJI Mavic Pro and Nikon D850 with either the 14-24 f2.8 or 24-70 f2.8 and as many as three SB-5000 off-camera flashes, depending on the scene.