It has been such a joy for me to capture Brendan’s surprise proposal to Nina (https://chrisandcami.com/brendans-surprises-nina-with-a-proposal/), photograph their beautiful wedding (https://chrisandcami.com/nina-brendan-at-holy-trinity-greek-orthodox-church/), and now preserve this truly miraculous time in their journey as they prepare to bring a new life into this amazing world.
CONGRATULATIONS Nina & Brendan! You two are going to be the most amazing parents ever!!! 🙂
Maaany years ago in another lifetime, one of our bestest friends at High-Purity Standards was an adorable young lady named Andrea. Although we don’t see her as much anymore, we’ve never lost touch with the fond memories of our time together. So it was SUPER excited when Cody told me he’d gotten our name from Andrea! 🙂
Cody was calling to schedule a maternity portrait session for his beautiful wife, Sarah! She had broken her foot recently. They weren’t sure how it would work. But they really wanted to capture this special time in their lives! We picked Hampton Park as a beautiful backdrop with easy access to get Sarah around in a wheelchair since she still wasn’t allowed to put weight on her foot.
It turned out to be a GORGEOUS day!!! Sarah was absolutely stunning in her flowing hunter-green maternity gown, which really brought out her beautiful green eyes. Cody was awesome and clearly so proud to be a first-time Dad. I can just tell these two are going to be the most incredible parents to this wonderful child when it arrives next month. 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS Sarah & Cody! We wish you all the happiness in the world as you begin your new family together.
Last July, I had the incredible honor of photographing Ron’s surprise proposal to his beautiful girlfriend, Allyson!
Fast forward one year, and THIS July I was overjoyed when Ron & Allyson told me they were expecting their first child! We had so much fun photographing their maternity shoot at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, where it all started. Ron was so proud and couldn’t stop smiling. Allyson was beautiful in her elegant maternity gown with that radiant “new mom” glow about her. We had so much fun capturing this special moment in their lives!!!
Due to the pandemic, Allyson & Ron couldn’t have a big wedding this year. Hopefully next year when things settle down in their lives (I think getting married, having a baby, and building a house all in one year is enough), they’ll be able to plan a fun 1-year anniversary celebration. But in the meantime, help me shower these two amazing people with love and lots of CONTRATULATIONS!!! 🙂
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I had so much fun photographing Jameel & Jason’s seaside wedding at Folly Beach last year. They are such an amazing couple, and so much fun to be around! So imagine my excitement when they called to tell me they were EXPECTING!!! 🙂
With downtown Charleston being practically empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to meet at Washington Square Park to photograph a maternity shoot to commemorate this special time in their lives! It was kind of eerie at first wandering about the park, City Hall, The Hibernian Hall, down Chalmers Street with its picturesque cobble stones, The Dock Street Theater, and up Broad Street with out hardly seeing a soul. But honestly, it ended up being kind of refreshing to have the place to ourselves!
We had a fantastic time, wandering the streets and alleys around the French Quarter, laughing and joking the whole time, while capturing these beautiful photographs of this wonderful couple! CONGRATULATIONS Jemeel & Jason!!! You guys are going to be such amazing parents. 🙂
Charleston Aerial Photographer, Charleston Drone Photographer, Charleston Family Photographer, Charleston Maternity Photographer, Charleston Portrait Photographer, Chris & Cami Photography, D5, DJI, Expecting, Flatten the Curve, Maternity, Mavic Pro, Nikkor, Nikon, Nikon Pro, Nikon USA, Pregnant, Social Distancing, True Love, Washington Square Park, Hibernian Hall, City Hall, Chalmers Street, Dock Street Theater
One of the joys of my job is celebrating life’s moments! It’s been such a pleasure to photograph Tatjana & Scott’s engagement photos…capture their beautiful wedding…and now create these beautiful maternity portraits for them. 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS Tatjana & Scott! You two are going to be the best parents ever!!!
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!
I just about did back-flips in my office when I got this email from Kelli, one of my all-time-favorite brides:
“Hey Chris!! Hope all is well! So… from taking family pictures when I was 12 years old… to engagement… to wedding pictures… and now I want to ask if you wouldn’t mind doing maternity pictures?” 🙂
After tons of planning and adjusting, the day of the big photo shoot finally arrived. Kelli & Tom (and little baby Peyton) met up with me at Hampton Park. We had a gorgeous morning with wonderful soft light to work with. It was so much fun catching up with these two as we wandered around the beautiful grounds, capturing gorgeous images to preserve this special time in their lives.
Kelli & Tom have big plans ahead…moving to a new city, opening a new restaurant, and now…starting their new family. We couldn’t be happier for these two. CONGRATULATIONS Kelli & Tom! You guys are going to be the best parents ever!!!
“A baby is like the beginning of all things – hope, wonder, a dream of possibilities.” – Eda J. Le Shan
From their engagement shoot to their maternity shoot, it’s been such a joy to be a part of Jeni & Jon’s life moments! Here are a few favorites from their maternity session the other day. 🙂
