ATI Acquisition

It was an honor being the official photographer for the acquisition and merger between ANSWER and ATI yesterday:

“Analytic Services Inc. (ANSER), a public service research institute organized as a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to informing decisions that shape the nation’s future, today announced it has acquired South Carolina-based Advanced Technology International (ATI), a not-for-profit company that organizes and manages Research & Development (R&D) consortia on behalf of the federal government. Through this acquisition, represented by the law firm of Holland & Knight, ANSER gains approximately 165 employees bringing its total headcount to 515 and revenue growth increases to $500 million per annum…http://finance.yahoo.com/news/anser-expands-national-footprint-advanced-170000788.html“

Lacey & Paul’s Secret Proposal

Paul is the epitome of a true gentleman!

Evidence of that is the care and attention to detail he put into a beautiful weekend for his future bride. I was honored to be a part of his plans to propose to the adorable Lacey! We emailed ideas back and forth, figured out the perfect timing, and talked on the phone to fine tune each and every step.

This past weekend, Paul led Lacey into a private courtyard at the historic Mills House in downtown Charleston. With all the staff “in” on the secret, everything went off without a hitch…even when Lacey almost derailed it by asking one of the bell hops to take a selfie with her phone. 😉  Somehow, Paul got things back on track and in a touching moment, asked Lacey to be his wife!!! Celebrating with champagne, a private serenade, and a candlelight dinner, I left the two love birds to enjoy their evening.

The following morning we met up for a fantastic walk-about through our picturesque city streets. Lacey took over the engagement session with her gorgeous smile, bubbly personality, and creative eye. Paul was proud as could be, and happily put up with all our crazy ideas and fun poses!  To see the rest of their photos, head over to http://chrisandcami.zenfolio.com/laceyandpaul.

Many thanks to my good friend and amazing photographer, Roxy, for the kind referral.  CONGRATULATIONS Paul & Lacey! It was such a pleasure being a part of this special day for you both!!!

Photo Wall

At Chris & Cami Photography, we’ve offered our crazy, creative, and zany Photo Wall since before PhotoBooths became popular again.  Many thanks to Colliers International for using our Photo Wall at the Company Christmas Party this year!

The excitement attendees experience when they see their photos pop up on the screen is a huge hit. The instant gratification of receiving and walking away with a fabulous print of it is PRICELESS!  Instead of a tiny little photo strip, our guests receive a big, beautiful, full size 5×7 print. It’s even mounted in an elegant 8×10 folio to properly protect and showcase the image.

Our Photo Wall is NOT like those tiny, dark, cramped little booths that only hold 3 or 4 people. It’s a big, open, and inviting space that can easily fit a happy couple…or the entire sales team. Plus it’s manned and operated by a professional photographer who actually interacts, makes suggestions for fun poses, pumps up the energy, and helps people have a BLAST with the Photo Wall!

So whether you’ve already booked us to photograph your event and want us to bring the Photo Wall as an ad-on, or you just want to book us for the exciting Photo Wall itself, give us a shout! We’d be delighted to work with you…and your guests will thank you for it.

Charleston Trident Association of Realtors

The Charleston Trident Association of Realtors is an AMAZING organization that I’ve had the priviledge of working with over the last few years. This week I got to photograph their Installation Luncheon of their new inductees!

Student Transportation Inc at Francis Marion Hotel

I had the pleasure of photographing this AMAZING event at the Francis Marion Hotel for a wonderful organization named Student Transportation Inc.

Unlike some of the other school bus services around the country, these guys really care about the safety of their kids! One of the ways I know that, is by the mere fact that they have this fantastic Awards Banquet to honor their top drivers! These folks are true heroes!!! We’re talking records like “driving for 30 years without a single preventable accident” or “never ever ever having missed a day of work to drive their appointed route”.

It was a humbling experience being a part of this incredible occasion. I salute all the award recipients! And I want to send a HUGE shout out to the amazing folks at Student Transportation Inc. Keep up the great work!!!

Aleris at Palmetto Bluff for Zielenbach Photography

It was an honor and a pleasure to help cover the Aleris event at Palmetto Bluff a few days ago for my good friend Tim Zeilenbach!  It was an AMAZING evening, filled with good food, good laughter, and good friends.

Export Exchange Conference in Detroit

Nearly 200 international buyers and end-users came together in Detroit last week, eager to meet and build relationships with more than 300 domestic suppliers in attendance over three days of educational sessions and networking opportunities.

Held every two years by USGC and RFA, Export Exchange is the nation’s premier international trade conference focused on the export of U.S. coarse grains and co-products. This record-breaking event in 2014 attracted buying teams from 33 countries, including all of the top U.S. international grain markets.

As voices for U.S. farmers and agribusinesses – and trusted ambassadors for free and fair trade with customers around the world – the U.S. Grains Council and the Renewable Fuels Association were excited to host this event to help expand established export markets and establish new markets.

It was my pleasure to be the official photographer again for this amazing event!!!

Wild at Wingswood 25th Anniversary Silver Celebration

2016 marks 25 years of science, education and conservation at the Avian Conservation Center and Center for Birds of Prey. This weekend I had the distinct honor of photographing their Wild at Wingswood 25th Anniversary Silver Celebration!

The annual corporate event is a fundraising gala for the Center for Birds of Prey. Historically, it’s been held in downtown Charleston. But with the special significance this year, a beautiful tent was erected INSIDE the Center for Birds of Prey compound! It was an absolutely gorgeous setting for a fabulous celebration!!!  The acoustic talents of David Archer of Archer Music made it even more magical!

“Beyond the valuable contributions to avian science the Center provides, there is a more subtle outcome that is perhaps the most profound. Through this shared work, we are defining and fostering a value system, an underlying ethic that will literally determine what of the natural world we will preserve and what will be irrevocably lost. Ultimately, we will be remembered by what we leave for future generations. It is this legacy that we must preserve and share; one that will endure for the benefit of our children, our grandchildren, and all of those who follow.”

In addition to the evening’s usual activities, Jim Elliott, was awarded the Order of the Palmetto! Issued by Governor Nikki Haley, this is the highest honor our state can be bestow upon a civilian!!! Congratulations to the passionate and dedicated founder of the Center for Birds of Prey on a job well done.

Zugunruhefest at the Center for Birds of Prey

I recently had the pleasure of photographing this AMAZING event at the Center for Birds of Prey:

“Welcome to Zugunruhefest – the Southeast’s most comprehensive migration-focused birding festival. Zugunruhe (zu – gun – rue) is a German word derived from Zug (move, migration) and Unruhe (restlessness). This state of restlessness is commonly noted in migratory animals, especially birds.

As fall approaches and instincts prevail, birds are compelled by this silent call to take flight to their wintering grounds. As part of the Atlantic Flyway, the Lowcountry serves as a predictable thoroughfare for migrating raptors and shore birds during fall migration passage. Exploiting the Center’s strategic location, Zugunruhefest will afford numerous opportunities for observers, both novice and advanced, to experience fall migration from an exceptional vantage point.

In addition to onsite vendors and children’s activities, the festival will include three days filled with naturalists, ornithologists, and educators leading bird walks, flight demonstrations, informative lectures and programs, and more. The festival will culminate with a panel of avian experts in a round-table discussion and reception.
Significantly, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which provides over-arching legal protection for all migratory birds, is marking its Centennial this year, a fitting context and milestone to recognize as we celebrate the wonders of migration.”

I hope you’ll consider coming out for this incredible festival next year!!!

Alex’ Bachelorette Weekend

A few weeks ago I had the BEST TIME photographing Alex’ Bachelorette Weekend!!!

When her sister, Blaine, contacted me about covering it for them, I loved all the fun, creative ideas she had! The weekend started out with a welcome dinner and a party-dress-up at Edmond’s Oast. From there we hit up several bars on King Street for live music and fun partying. The next morning found the girls on Pedicab tours that ended with Lingerie Luncheon at The Watch Rooftop Kitchen. Then after a little siesta time back at The Mills House, we hit up Candlefish for their scented-candle-making party.

The whole weekend was just perfect! All the ladies were a BLAST to work with! And Alex was absolutely the sweetest young lady on the planet!!!

US Grains Council Board of Delegates Meeting

Last month I had the honor of photographing the US Grains Council‘s 56th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting in Louisville, KY. It’s been such a privilege to be a part of this wonderful organization!!!

First Corporate Event with the Nikon D500

I’ve had the new Nikon D500 for a couple weeks now. It’s been fun putting it through its paces on a battery of personal projects to make sure it was good to go for paid assignments. (I NEVER shoot an assignment for a client with a new piece of equipment without testing it thoroughly first.) Here are a few images from my very first outing with the D500 with ISO ranges from 800 to 12,800:  https://chrisandcami.com/first-shoot-with-the-nikon-d500/.  In the end, I was very pleased with the performance and the results from this little camera!!!

Here are a few shots from this event using the D500. If you’d like to see the full spectrum of images, and compare how it stacked up against the D4, check out this post: https://chrisandcami.com/withit-professional-womens-conference/.  I doubt you’d be able to spot any difference without some serious pixel peeping at 100% enlargement.

I knew that photographing in the Gold Ballroom at the Francis Marion Hotel was going to be a great challenge for this little crop-sensor camera. It’s a very dim conference room. Most of these shots were done at ISO ranges of 1600-3200…yet were completely usable! There is definitely a stop or so difference between this camera and the legendary D4 in terms of noise at these higher ISO settings. But that’s pretty impressive considering the D4 is a 16MP FX camera, and the D500 is a 21MP DX camera!

My kit for the last decade or so has usually comprised two identical full-frame flagship cameras, and one crop-sensor camera. I like shooting with two identical cameras with different focal lengths to make sure I never miss a moment. But I also like having a third camera that has a different set of “skills”, which I often use as a remote camera or a telephoto camera. Ever since the days of the D3/D300 combo, I’ve tried mixing in the D7100, D7200, and D810 as my third camera body. But none of them truly resonated with me. Now I feel like my third camera body has that magic mojo again!!!

For this event, I started out with a D4 + 70-200 f2.8, D4 + 24-70 f2.8, and D500 + 14-24 f2.8. For corporate events, I find the 14-24 is just TOO wide. I’ve often wished Nikon had a 16-35 f2.8 like Canon does. I do have Nikon’s 16-35 f4 VR as well. But it just isn’t as sharp, or as fast as the legendary 14-24. By mounting the 14-24 on the D500 crop-sensor body, I effectively make it a 21-36mm…which is a much more useful range for general event coverage.

Since this was a relatively small event, the D4 + 70-200 combo gave me PLENTY of telephoto power. But in the larger corporate events I shoot, I’m often yearning for more reach to get a tight crop of the speaker, for example. This is where the real benefit of the D500 comes in! Switching the 70-200 to the D500 gave me an effective focal length of 105-300 f2.8!!! Plus, the 14-24 goes back on the D4, allowing me to have those super-wide shots if I want them.

I haven’t even mentioned the phenomenal new focusing system in the D500, the super clean files, the spot-on white balance, the wicked fast processing engine, the whisper quiet shutter sound, the cranking 10fps, and the speed of the XQD cards. In the end, I was VERY pleased with the Nikon D500. It is definitely here to stay! Eventually I’ll probably replace the D4 bodies with D5 bodies. I think the D5/D500 combo will be a formidable setup indeed!!!