Anniversary Model Shoot

18 months ago, I had the honor of photographing Frank’s surprise proposal to his beautiful girlfriend, Lea. Then a year ago I had the pleasure of capturing all the wonderful moments of their amazing wedding. Fast forward to this week and Frank booked a fun Anniversary Shoot for Lea!!! He had purchased a gift certificate from us and given it to her on their anniversary. What a great gift idea, right?!?

We scheduled the photo shoot at Pixel Studios, which has a wonderfully creative vibe to it. LeRoy, the owner, is a longtime friend. He made sure everything was all set up and ready to go. Lea arrived early so that the amazingly talented hair and make-up artist, Erika Paola could do her magic. Then it was time to get in front of the lights and camera!

We had a blast transforming Lea into a model for the day…capturing a wide variety of studio portraits for her. She looked AMAZING!!!

Ally’s Senior Portraits

I had so much fun photographing Ally’s high-school senior portraits yesterday!

Ally is an adorable young lady, with a beautiful smile, a bubbly personality, and tons of energy!!! Not only is she beautiful, she’s also brilliant, hoping to study Marine Biology at the University of Georgia. And to top it all off, she’s an athlete…hoping to make the college baton twirling team!

CONGRATULATIONS Ally! We wish you all the best for a bright future ahead…

FX Dance Performance at Queen Street Playhouse

It was both a pleasure and a challenge photographing the FX Dance Performance at the Queen Street Playhouse!

Capturing explosive movement in extremely low light conditions is probably the most difficult scanario for any camera to handle. But even with pushing the Z9 to 8,000 and 16,000 ISO, I was very impressed.

Many thanks to Allie for inviting us. She did an amazing job leading and choreographing this talented group of dancers!

Mande Calhoun Art

It was an absolute pleasure working with Mande of Mande Calhoun Art, to create a new series of images for her social media marketing and promotional material. She’s an incredibly talented landscape artist with a very unique style! I highly recommend checking her out at www.mandecalhounart.com.

Sunrise on Bulls Island

Sunrise at the boneyard beach on Bulls Island turned out to be meh. But Jamie Clark and I salvaged it with a fun impromptu modeling shoot for her beautiful daughter, Katie! Many thanks to my friends and amazing photogrpahers Kim McManus, Mary Wessner, and Cary McDonald for making it a fun morning. And a HUGE shout out to #coastalexpeditions for this incredible opportunity. This is the second-to-last sunrise expedition the company will be offering to Bulls Island. I feel lucky to have been able to experience this protected barrier island’s wild majesty one last time!

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Izzy & Chance’s Senior Portrait Sessions

I love photographing Senior Portrait Sessions. But what’s even more fun is when I get to photograph a double-session for an AMAZING couple like Izzy & Chance!!!

I was so excited when Tena and Tammy (Izzy & Chance’s parents) called to set up a double photo shoot for these two. They are all from Thomson, GA, and had planned a family get-away this weekend. They thought it would be really cool to get some amazing photos of their kids that would be unique and different from the ones Izzy & Chance’s friends were getting back home. What a cool idea!

After driving into Charleston Friday afternoon, I met up with both families at Folly Beach for Part 1 of their photo shoot. We had decided to do some beach portraits. I love Folly Beach County Park for its perfect views of the sunset. We lucked out with a gorgeous evening and a fantastic sunset!

The next morning we all met at White Point Garden for Part 2. This was a great location from which to explore the heart of old historic downtown Charleston. We had a fun walk-about as we discovered great avenues of trees, black iron gates, and old brick walls to use for backdrops. As a grand-finale, we also zipped over to Rainbow Row to mix in some of those cotton-candy colored houses.

Izzy was so beautiful and had such a delightful smile. Chance was quite dashing and so much fun. We all had a BLAST and came away with some wonderful images to preserve this special time in their lives.  CONGRATULATIONS Izzy & Chance!!!

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Sunrise Shoot in Cartagena, Colombia

While in Cartagena, Colombia, I had the opportunity to photograph an AMAZING sunrise photo shoot with my good friends and gorgeous models, Heidi and Stella!
Arriving on the deserted beach in front of the Hilton Cartagena before dawn, I saw a bunch of birds circling overhead in the dim light. Rounding the rock jetty, I saw they were keen on picking off the remnants of a boat full of fisherman. It was fun watching the men work the nets and show off their catch with glee. The egrets, herons, and frigat birds fought for the scraps around the perimeter.

When Heidi and Stella arrived, we headed over to the rock jetty and the dilapidated lifeguard stand. One of my favorite shots is the one of them in the doorway of the faded structure up on its wooden stilts. Shooting with a Nikon D850 and a Nikkor 16-35 f4 VR, I placed a Nikon SB-5000 flash behind them inside the room, and covered it with a CTO warming gel to create a warm silhouette against that electric blue sky. The great white heron perched on top was just icing on the cake!

The rest of the shoot was done with a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 VRII, often mixing in the SB-5000 flash, mounted on a Manfrotto 5001 nano stand as either a rim light, kicker light, or an off-camera main light. I love Nikon’s new Advanced Wireless Lighting (AWL) system, which allows me to control the flash directly from the camera’s menu.

I had an absolute BLAST with Heidi and Stella as we enjoyed our final morning in Cartagena together! These two adventurous ladies were heading out to an island off the coast later that morning, as Cami and I boarded a plane for our flight back to America. 🙂

Abby’s Fashion Shoot

Currently signed with Elite Model Management in New York, I had the distinct pleasure of photographing Abby Meeker last week! Check out her portfolio at https://www.elitemodel.com/newyork/women/abby-meeker/portfolio/ and contact the agency if you’re looking for an amazing young lady to work with!

This was my second shoot with Abby. If you’d like to see images from our outdoor session at an old abandoned hospital, visit: https://chrisandcami.com/abbys-model-portfolio/.

Congratulations to Abby on her rising stardom!!! And many thanks to LeRoy at Pixel Studios!

Impromptu Modeling Session at Circle M Farm

Last weekend, my good friends Kim and Randy invited a few of their photography friends up to their farm in Manning for a cookout and a night of shooting the Milky Way.

Always looking for an excuse to combine my profession with my passion for motorcycle adventures, I elected to ride my Honda CB500X and camp there for the night.

The ride up there was absolutely beautiful. But nearing night-fall, the skies opened up and we were trapped in the barn under a deluge of POURING rain! As we waited with crossed fingers for the dark clouds to pass, I explored the barn, admiring all the old equipment and aging tools.

Some of the guests had brought their spouses and kids.  Not wanting to waste time, or waste these awesome backdrops, I asked if anyone wanted to pose for an impromptu modeling session!  Luckily I had pulled my bike into the barn, giving me access to all my gear.

Tori and some of the other kids had been running around in the rain, because that’s what you do for entertainment on a farm when you’re a teenager and have nothing else to do!  🙂  She had done some modeling when she was younger, and was delighted to be our muse. I placed a Nikon SB-5000 behind her with a full CTO gel and the diffusion dome in place. It was hanging from a dangling piece of equipment, aimed directly at her back. With the WR-R10 transmitter attached to my Nikon D850, I selected a power output of 1/16. The camera was set to ISO 1000, f2.8, and 1/40th of a second. Mounted on my tripod to prevent camera shake, the slow shutter speed and high ISO was selected to allow the dingy overhead sodium-vapor unit to be my main light. The flash acted as a dramatic background/rim light, making her “pop” off the backdrop. One click confirmed my settings and we were off to the races, waltzing through a variety of poses. Many thanks to Kim for snapping the photo of my excited response when I confirmed that the settings were spot on!

Eventually the rain dissipated and we all headed back out to the lake to set up for a fun evening of night-photography. I headed home the following day…but not before grabbing a drone shot of my AWESOME camp site! Thanks for a great weekend, Kim & Randy!!!

Abby’s Model Portfolio

The daughter of a friend of ours, Abby was in town to model for Charleston Fashion Week. During some down time, we photographed a portfolio session for her at the old abandoned Naval Hospital.  It also gave me a chance to really test the limits of the astounding new Nikon D850!

The Charleston Naval Hospital Historic District is nationally significant as an example of the United States effort to mobilize medical support for the Navy during World Wars I and II. Now neglected and in dis-repair, it once exemplifies the Navy’s ability to create a permanent and professional medical service for Navy personnel and their dependents.  The complex is an intact collection of thirty-two buildings located in the northwest corner of the former Charleston Navy Base.

Abby was so much fun to work with!  She is a beautiful young lady, both inside and out!  And she has a very unique look.  I can see why she’s so popular on the runway!!!  We had a great time exploring the area, and coming up with some killer images for her to add to her portfolio.

Beetlejuice Fashion Shoot

Reid is one of my FAVORITE “creative collaborators” in Charleston!!!  She is so artistic and has such a great sense of humor!

One day while out exploring on my motorcycle, I found this amazing old church ruins with a decaying piano in the middle of the sanctuary. I pitched the idea of a fun fashion shoot to Reid. She loved it!  Wrangling her three beautiful daughters, Sydney, Jackie, and Trinity to model for us, the game was on. They brought their beautiful pet boa constrictors, great props like the vase of old dead roses, and some outlandish outfits from places like Goodwill and who-knows-where!

We had an absolute BLAST and came away with a fun collection of images. Many thanks to Reid and our three gorgeous models!!!