Jackie & Chris at Sunrise Presbyterian Church

Jackie & Chris’ wedding has been a long time coming!  But through all the ups and downs of Chris’ fight with cancer, the families rallied together and victory was claimed!!!  I truly believe the difficult times in life draw us closer and strengthen our bonds beyond measure.  I was witness to the evidence of these bonds time and time again throughout Jackie & Chris’ wedding day.  It is such an honor and a privilege to have been able to share in this special day with such an AMAZING couple! 

Jackie & Chris were married at the gorgeous Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivan’s Island.  After the ceremony, we walked across the beach to sink our naked toes in the sand and get some fun shots of the wedding party.  Then we joined the PARTAAAAY on the Carolina Girl Yacht.  I always love working with Captain Bob and his crew…they are top notch and always make sure everyone has a GREAT time on board! 

Enjoy Jackie & Chris’ fun Music Video at www.chrisandcami.com/blog.  Then head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com to see the rest of their photos.  CONGRATULATIONS Jackie & Chris.  You guys are a very special couple to me and I will never forget sharing this beautiful day with you!

Joy & Michael on the Carolina Girl

Joy & Michael had an AMAZING wedding celebration last weekend!!! Their day started out at the fabulous Wentworth Mansion…a beautiful and historic place I always love photographing in. They were married on the Carolina Girl Yacht with The Battery as our scenic backdrop. Camille did a fantastic job as usual orchestrating everything. All of Joy & Michael’s friends and family were on board to help them celebrate. So the party went on non-stop throughout the evening as Captain Bob and his crew took us on a romantic cruise all over Charleston Harbor.

Click Here to see the rest of their photos. CONGRATULATIONS, Joy & Michael! You guys are an AWESOME couple!!!


Flash Freeze

I created this image at Erin & Jason’s wedding last week. Everyone was marveling at how dramatic the moon was that night. It didn’t take much prodding to get Erin & Jason to join me for a daring adventure to capture that drama in an image of them! 🙂

Working with a minimalist amount of gear, I had my two Nikon D3’s, each fitted with a Nikon SB-900, plus one remote SB-800 on a Bogen 3333 stand I had used earlier for group photos.
I set the SB-800 off on camera right, zoomed to 70mm to concentrate the beam of light on them. I took the SB-900 off one camera and flipped it to remote mode (I LOVE how quickly you can switch modes on the 900 vs. the 800). This one was placed behind the couple for a rim light. I positioned Erin & Jason so that the street light in the distance was behind her veil. And there’s some landscape lighting on the famous Pineapple Fountain I liked.
To pick up the ambient light of the moon, street lamp, and landscape lighting, I used ISO 1600, f2.8. Even so, I was at 1/30th of a second. I was using the D3 with the 70-200. I had no tripod with me. So you’re probably thinking at that slow a shutter speed, this image is going to be blurry, right? Well, by carefully placing Erin & Jason so that all the ambient light was behind them, the couple was pretty much pitch black at this point. The only light hitting them from the camera side was the off-camera SB-800. This is VERY IMPORTANT! By doing this, I am essentially using the high-speed burst of light from the strobe to FREEZE them in place. At this point, the shutter speed of the camera is only affecting the ambient light, it has nothing to do with the exposure of the main subject. So even hand-holding that long lens at such a slow shutter speed, Erin & Jason are as sharp as a tack!
And that’s how you use Flash Freeze to save your behind when you don’t have a tripod with you! 🙂

Glorious Sunsets

Here’s a glorious sunset over (or under?) the new Arthur Ravanel Jr. Bridge, which has rapidly become a symbol of Charleston. I caught saw this while driving home from a portrait shoot one evening and just sat and soaked up the light show…just STUNNING! I wise photographer once told me: “God only gives us ONE sunset a day…and no two are EVER the same…so enjoy them.” 🙂