Martin Family at White Point Garden

The Martins are one of my all-time favorite families! They are so fun, friendly, and willing to open their hearts to let a perfect stranger like me feel like I’m actually PART of the family. 🙂

Instead of doing the usual beach portrait session like we’ve done in the past, they decided to do something different this year. Driving all the way downtown from their vacation week on Kiawah Island, we met up at the historic White Point Garden. Also known as Battery Park, this is one of the most picturesque parks in Charleston!

In an interesting twist, this was my first portrait session with an absent member taking part in the photo shoot…through Facetime. Joey had to work and couldn’t be there in person this year. So the kids rang him up and made sure he appeared in a shot or two!

As always, we had a BLAST! Until next year…you guys ROCK!!!

Attaway Family on Kiawah Island

It’s hard to believe that it has been 8 years since Michael & Carreen’s wedding! I must be getting old?!? 🙂
 
A lot has happened in those years. They moved closer to her parents. They both have great jobs. They have two adorable children. And Carreen’s brother, Chris, is doing great in med school.
 
But what I ESPECIALLY love, is that they’ve stayed in touch with me over the years! It’s always such a joy to me to share in the lives of such wonderful couples and their families. Getting to be with them during the excitement of their wedding day is wonderful. Getting to watch their dreams unfold is priceless!!!
 
So it was with great pleasure that I photographed their family once again. We met near the condo they had rented on Kiawah Island, where we found a picturesque boardwalk and a beautiful stretch of beach. Photographing family beach portraits is always so much fun…especially when the family is as wonderful as this one!!!  Many thanks to Candace for organizing this year’s shoot.
 
Trivia Question: Did you know Kiawah Island does not allow motorcycles on their roads?!?

Riley’s Newborn Session

Welcome to the world, Miss Riley!!!

A few days ago I had the honor of photographing Sarah & Jeff’s beautiful baby girl, Riley. She is such a sweetheart, and so incredibly adorable!

Many thanks to Sarah’s sister, Mary, for helping with the shoot. It was so great to see all them again, after photographing Mary & Jan’s wedding LAST spring. 🙂

Since Riley’s shoot was right before St. Patrick’s day, here’s a little Irish Blessing for the “wee little one”, as they say:

“Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter. Lullabies, dreams and love ever after. A thousand welcomes when anyone comes….that’s the Irish for you!”

Elizabeth & Tricia in the French Quarter

Cami & I were so blessed to have Elizabeth Hayes help us with all the financing and paperwork when we closed on our new house two years ago. We can’t recommend her enough to anyone buying a new home! You can find her at Carolina One Mortgage.

It was an honor and a pleasure to meet Elizabeth’s daughter, Tricia, and photograph some mother/daughter portraits for these two. We had a BLAST, exploring all the nooks and crannies of the old historic French Quarter.  We started at Waterfront Park and explored the surrounding area, photographing their fun personalities along the way.

Many thanks to Elizabeth and Tricia for making it such a fun shoot!!! 🙂

Clark Family on Folly Beach

It’s always such a joy to photograph annual photo sessions for families year after year! I get to watch how much the kids have grown, catch up with everyone’s lives, and get a more intimate sense of each person’s personality.

This week I had the pleasure of catching up with the Clark Family!  Plus I got to meet some of their extended family who joined us on this beautiful, sunny, morning-before-Thanksgiving on Folly Beach!!! 🙂

Off-Camera Flash in Daytime

I get a lot of funny looks and silly questions when by-standers and tourists see me using my off-camera light-stand, especially when I’m on the beach, and in broad daylight!

So I decided to take a before-and-after to show what a difference it makes. I’m using four Nikon SB-800 flashes, attached to my home-made Quad-Bracket, mounted on top of a Bogen light-stand. Each is triggered by a RadioPopper Px receiver, and controlled by an SB-910 mounted to my Nikon D4. All flashes were in Group A and manually dialed in at 1/4 power. Camera settings were f5.6 at 1/250th and ISO 50. The stand is placed 30-degrees to camera right.

Many thanks to the Clark family for another AWESOME annual family photo shoot!!! 🙂

Lindsay & Tracy at Hampton Park

It’s been such an honor and a joy photographing Lindsay & and her beautiful daughter, Hannah, over the years. This year, they took it to the next level by sharing their new EXPANDED family with me!!! 🙂

It was a pleasure meeting Tracy and his girls, Hannah (#2) and Catelynn. I love that they picked Hampton Park for their photo shoot. It’s one of my favorite places in town!

We all had so much fun together! CONGRATULATIONS Lindsay & Tracy…you guys ROCK!!! 🙂

Grace’s Model Shoot at the Old Charleston City Jail

Personal projects are what feeds the creative soul! It’s what professionals photographers do on their spare time to keep the fire burning with passion.

When Grace decided she wanted to do her own Model Shoot…something totally different…I was super excited! I’ve photographed Grace’s family, along with her 3 wonderful sisters, for years. But it was wonderful to just having a little one-on-one time with her to have fun and be ourselves!

Grace is a super bright young lady and an A+ student. But you’d never guess it. Her sweet personality, calm nature, and quiet humility instantly puts you at ease. She has the most beautiful big brown eyes, and is as good in front of the camera as any professional model I’ve worked with!

Many thanks to my friend Mahmood for helping us gain access to the haunted Old Charleston City Jail. And thanks to David & April for letting Grace come out and play with me. We had a BLAST!!!