Oddly enough, none of the Conaghan’s, nor myself, are big golf fans. With a family history from Scotland, you’d think that was kind of strange. But guess what! We all shared a passion for “The Beautiful Game” of soccer…or “true” football as it’s known overseas. 🙂
Still, the famous Ocean Course was close to their summer vacation home on Kiawah Island. And it has one of the most beautiful stretches of beach in the Charleston area! So we met there and had a FANTASTIC evening of fun and fellowship while photographing a variety of family portraits together!!!
Many thanks to the Conaghan Family for being such a kind and delightful group to work with.
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I’d like to say a HUGE “Thank You” to my friend and amazing photographer, Michael Cyra, for recommending me to the Sutton Family! They were SO MUCH FUN to work with!!! 🙂
From Arden, NC, The Suttons gathered the whole family together and decided to wrap up their year of celebrating 40 years together with a beach vacation. This was their first time at Seabrook Island…and I don’t think it will be their last…everyone seemed to be having a BLAST!
Originally, Rene’ had planned for the family shoot to be a big surprise. She was going to tell the kids they would just set up a camera on a tripod and take their own picture. Then I would come swooping in to save the day…HA! But her daughter started asking about hiring a professional to do it. So Rene’ had to let the cat out of the bag. 😉
I arrived on a beautiful evening, the day after Hurricane Isaias had rolled through. Everyone was so organized, and dressed so perfectly for our beach shoot. All the kids were absolutely adorable. They couldn’t have been a nicer family to work with!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Rene’ and Kenny!!!
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I had so much fun photographing the Guin Family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island again this year. They have easily become one of my favorite repeat-families to work with!!! Everyone’s enthusiasm, encouragement, and positive energy is so refreshing! 🙂
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With only a few more weeks before school starts back, I’ve been having so much fun photographing all our repeat family beach sessions this summer. Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing a brand new family…and they turned out to be such a delight to work with!!!
I met up with the Glahn Family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, where they were enjoying a fun family get-away before their girls go back to school. With McKenna involved in dance, and Ryleigh into gymnastics, you can imagine how hectic this family’s life is back home! It was wonderful to see them decompressing from daily life, and truly enjoying their time together.
I couldn’t have asked for a prettier day. And I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful family to spend the evening with! Many thanks to Jimmy & Jen for selecting me to be their photographer. I hope they become one of our many fabulous “boomerangs” as they return each year to create new memories together!!!
P.S. As an added bonus, I got to stop and photograph Comet Neowise again on my way home. 🙂
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When she called, Marianne sounded a bit flustered. She had nothing to wear.
Vacationing on Kiawah Island for the week, Marianne and her family hadn’t planned for family portraits. They realized what a great opportunity this was to get some beautiful and unique Senior Portraits for their daughter Grace. And I had suggested we throw in a few fun family portraits while we were at it! So suddenly Marianne was scrambling to find outfits for everyone.
Fortunately this gave her a good excuse to do a little shopping. And everything worked out PERFECT!!! 🙂 In spite of an afternoon thunderstorm, the weather was beautiful. Selecting three outfits for her session, Grace was absolutely stunning in each one. And the family outfits Marianne had selected were awesome. We all had a fantastic time together…even their 11-year old golden doodle, Bella.
CONGRATULATIONS Grace! You rocked it!!!
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I have been photographing the Nester family so long that I feel like I’m that silly Uncle every family has…you know, the one that’s always acting silly and getting the kids riled up right before bedtime! 🙂
It’s been quite a few years. But I still remember Jeff & Suzanna’s 2006 wedding like it was yesterday. Each year their family returns for summer vacation, always with something fun and new and interesting going on in their lives. This year I was sad that Suzanna’s brother, Tyler, and his family couldn’t make it due to travel constraints from the corona-virus. But hopefully next year we’ll all be back together again!
It’s only been 24 hours since their photo shoot. And I’m already looking forward to seeing the Nester’s next year! They are easily one of my all-time favorite families other than my own!!!
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I had so much fun capturing some porch portraits, or what we call “porchaits”, for the Schiff Family on Kiawah Island this morning!
Every year the Schiffs schedule this special photo shoot exclusively for the grandparents and their grand-kids. Parents can help prep the young ones, but aren’t allowed in the photos…HA! 🙂 This year because of the resurgence of corona-virus, we elected to do the photos on the porch and pool deck of their rental home instead of at the beach. It was a gorgeous setting. And the kids did great! I can’t believe how much they’ve grown since last year.
Thank you so much to Debbie & Russell for their kindness and continued patronage! We appreciate you more than you know!!!
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In this video, I’ll be playing with the brand new GoPro Hero MAX 360 camera! I wanted to ask the question, is this possibly the best motovlogging setup ever? With the ability to mount the camera in one place on the motorcycle, but be able to choose any angle of view within 360-degrees, it just might be! However, is the exported resolution of 1080p worth the sacrifice? And is the added complexity of editing 360 video worth the headache? Check it out and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Another one of my absolute favorite interior designers in Charleston is Alexandre Fleuren! We’ve been working together for many years. Her style, creativity, and attention to detail never ceases to amaze me!!!
Alex has been repeatedly invited back as a contributor to the CSO Designer Showhouse. This year’s Designer Showhouse, which is sponsored by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League, is the historic Fitch-Rivers House. The home was constructed circa 1883 as a classical Charleston Single house in historic Radcliffeborough. The property was previously owned by the Lucas family, rice planters who built the West Point Rice Mill on the Ashley River.
It was such a pleasure photographing Alexandre’s space in this gorgeous historic home in the heart of downtown Charleston. If you get a chance, I highly recommend a visit once they re-open for tours after the COVID-19 threat has passed. Also, check out more of Alexandre’s beautiful work at: www.designafi.com.
Sandra Ericksen Design is one of my all-time favorite interior designers in Charleston. I’ve been working with her for years! Her creativity, the vibrant colors she uses, and the tasteful yet unique style of her designs are always so beautiful. Plus Sandy is just a wonderful person and so much fun to work with!
Sandy has been repeatedly invited back as a contributor to the CSO Designer Showhouse. This year’s Designer Showhouse, which is sponsored by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League, is the historic Fitch-Rivers House. The home was constructed circa 1883 as a classical Charleston Single house in historic Radcliffeborough. The property was previously owned by the Lucas family, rice planters who built the West Point Rice Mill on the Ashley River.
I enjoyed photographing Sandy’s room in this beautiful old home across from the MUSC campus. If you get a chance, I highly recommend a visit once they re-open for tours after the COVID-19 threat has passed. And check out more of Sandy’s amazing talent at www.sandraericksendesign.com.
Last year several friends and I started planning an epic motorcycle adventure. We were to fly to Morocco, rent Honda XR250 enduro bikes, and explore that amazing country for two weeks. When those plans fell through, I shifted my sights to a NEW journey! We’re calling it the Moto Photo Mexico Adventure!!!
I say “We” because I’m so excited to be partnering with my good friend, amazing photographer, and incredible video editor, Jason from Docent Prodigy. Although Jason isn’t able to ride with me on this trip, he’s going to be working with me to produce daily moto vlogs of my epic journey, which we’ll be sharing on YouTube. He’s a fun guy with an amazing gift! Working together on this is going to be amazing. But I’m even more excited for our NEXT collaboration, when he will be able to join me out on the road!!!
In addition to Jason joining me in the post-production department, I am so grateful to his lovely wife, Erica, for letting “boys be boys”, and to my beautiful bride, Cami, for all her love and support. Cami will be holding down the fort and keeping up with our clients while I’m away. We couldn’t do it without you two!!!
As most of you know, I’m no stranger to living and traveling abroad. Having lived most of my formative years in a remote mission station in The Democratic Republic of Congo, AFRICA, I’m well accustomed to roughing it, and indeed feel quite at home in the third world. In fact, I seem to get an itch every few years to return to that simpler way of life that exists outside the realm of American commercialism, politics, and overindulgence. For example, in 2012 I went backpacking solo across Belize and Guatemala for two weeks, riding the “chicken buses” along with the locals, discovering incredible wildlife, and exploring the amazing Mayan ruins along the way.
Saying I’m super excited about this new Moto Photo Mexico trip would be an understatement. A ton of planning and preparation has gone into it. I have so many incredible friends who either live in Mexico, live along the route I’ll be taking through the southern US states, or have ridden their motorcycles in Mexico. Everyone has been so selfless with their guidance, and so generous with their hospitality. Many of them have even invited me to stay with them along the way. Others have connected me with their relatives and friends in towns I’ll be visiting. It has truly been wonderful to see this outpouring of help, encouragement, and support! (Speaking of which, if you live along the route I have planned in the map, and would like to reach out, I’d be delighted to connect with you!)
The ultimate final destination, and one of the biggest goals of this journey, is to finally see the millions of monarch butterflies that return to Mexico each winter from their long migration up through the United States. It’s been a bucket-list item for me for quite some time! I’ll be arriving at the pinnacle of this mass migration. I’m so excited!!! There are of course so many other incredible sights I’m looking forward to seeing and photographing. From the Cave of Swallows (which is the largest pit-cave in the world), to the spectacular waterfalls along the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains…from the old historic mining towns, to the glorious architecture of the Spanish colonial cities…it’s all going to be amazing!
However, I am most looking forward to meeting the incredible PEOPLE of Mexico! Everyone I’ve told about my journey (at least everyone who has never lived outside the U.S.), has stared at me like I’m NUTS!!! Their comments range from “why on earth would you go down there” to “are you bringing a gun”. Seriously?!? I personally believe there are two sides to every country…the political side, and the people side. What we see in the news here in America is all about the political side of things. How would you like to be judged as an individual by what people in other countries see on their news station every night? School shootings, police brutality, the social media ramblings of our leaders…you get my point? We forget that the “people” of every country, of every tribe, of every place on earth are no different than we are. “People” all around the planet have the same hopes and dreams we do. All they want in life is be healthy, to be happy, to fall in love, to raise a family, to have a good job, to enjoy life, and be a good neighbor.
My hope is that this video series will be fun, will be entertaining, will be educational, but more importantly, will show that people everywhere are full of goodness and kindness. I hope you’ll Subscribe to the channel and follow along. It’s going to be a WILD RIDE!!! And I’d love to share it with you. 🙂
It was a pleasure photographing new headshots for my friends at Commonwealth Financial the other day!
I’mages captured on a Nikon D5, with Nikkor 70-200 f2.8, shot at ISO 400, f5, 1/250sec. I used a large Westcott octobox with three SB-5000 flashes in it as my main light. And I used a small Westcott striplight with one SB-5000 flash in it as a kicker light. The light of the open shade served as the fill light. Manfrotto light stands and a Manfrotto 055CX Pro tripod served as support. It was really windy! So a bunch of BoaBag sandbags held everything in place.
