My friend and extraordinary real-estate agent, Nick Maffia, came over the other day to update his portfolio of images for his brochures, business cards, and marketing material. He’s lost a lot of weight recently and looks GREAT! Nick sold our old house and helped us buy the one we’re in. I highly recommend him if you need a real estate agent!
After courting her for a while, Kyle proposed to Laura over Christmas last year. Soon wedding plans were in full swing and through their fabulous wedding planner, Emmy at Peacock Events, I was the lucky photographer they picked to cover their special day! J Laura is a teacher…and you all KNOW how much I love and respect teachers! Her and Kyle live in Greer, where they’ll be returning after their fabulous Jamaica Honeymoon. Laura & Kyle rented a beautiful home on the marsh side of Folly beach where they could do their “I Do’s”. As it turns out, it was the home of my good friend and fellow photographer, Charlie Thiel!!! The late afternoon summer showers held off juuuust long enough for the ceremony and a few photos on the lawn. And they didn’t dampen the fun atmosphere and crazy party that ensued! I had a great time and LOVED being a part of Laura & Kyle’s beautiful wedding day. To see their fun Music Video, head over to www.chrisandcami.com/blog and click on the first image. To see their Engagement Portraits and the rest of their Wedding Photos, head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com. CONGRATULATIONS to Laura & Kyle…may you have a LIFETIME OF DREAMS together!!!
A couple days ago I met with Mollie & Vincent, who were in town on break from Furman University, to see if we’d be the right fit for them to photograph their wedding. Not only are they the coolest couple on the planet, but we hit it off so well that they decided they wanted me to go shoot their Engagement Portraits right away! So we zipped over to Mollie’s parent’s house, where they got changed. The property is this beautiful red barn-style house on the marsh way out on Wadmallaw Island. With the sun setting and sifting through the trees, the creek running through the marsh, the boardwalk, and that peaceful night sky…I was in heaven. We got some AMAZING photos and had a blast traipsing all around her parent’s property. We probably didn’t even get to HALF of it! But Mollie could tell I was loving the place, discovering all kinds of neat spots to shoot in. So she said she might let me do her Bridal Portraits out there too…WOOHOO! J I’m SO EXCITED for Mollie & Vincent! I hope you guys have fun back at Furman…and we’ll see you guys next time you’re in town!!!
Just before I left for Romania I got a call from Corbin, who was secretly planning to propose to his girlfriend. They are from Augusta, but were moving to Charleston that weekend. He’d already convinced her that they should make their first morning in town a special one by watching the sunrise together and going to breakfast afterwards. He even bought her a special beach dress to wear and made arrangements with The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. He’d seen my pictures of Allison & Damon’s Proposal (https://chrisandcami.com/blog/2010/07/07/allison-says-yes-to-damon-on-kiawah-island/) and really wanted me to be there to capture theirs.
Well, 5:00 A.M. came awfully early as I dragged myself out of bed to drive out to Kiawah. But to experience such a beautiful moment between two people in love, within the stillness and calm of a deserted beach before dawn, and accentuated with the glorious rising of the sun…well, I have chills just writing about it. Needless to say, the comfort of my bed didn’t hold a stick to the gravity of such a moment! I felt truly blessed to be there.
After shooting his proposal incognito, Corbin brought Sarah over to meet me. We laughed and I shared some of the pictures from the back of the camera with them. Then as the sun rose into place, I shot a few “true” Engagement Portraits for them. We had such a great time together. Corbin & Sarah were so much fun to work with…even letting me talk them into getting a little wet. J CONGRATULATIONS to you both!
I first met Brittainy & Nate last August. They are friends of Whitney & Ryan, as well as Amy & Seth, both of whom I photographed their weddings. So I owe a HUGE thank you to these guys for encouraging Brittainy & Nate to check out our website. I’m so glad I got a chance to work with them and preserve all these beautiful moments of their special day! I had SUCH a hard time narrowing down my favorites for the blog!!! J
Brittainy & Nate were married at St. Luke’s Chapel…one of my favorite churches in town. I love the dramatic wooden rafters and quaint courtyard. Brittainy went to MUSC Pharmacy School, so the chapel, which is located on MUSC campus and is affiliated with the school, was a great choice. Chaplain George Rossi, also of MUSC, did a beautiful job with their ceremony. Afterwards, Brittainy & Nate made a stop down at Waterfront Park for some really cool portraits. I LOVE IT when a couple appreciates what I do enough to give me just a few moments alone with them so that we can create something special together!!! Afterwards we met everyone at Cottage on the Creek for a fun-filled evening reception. One of my favorites is this last shot of them on the top deck at dusk with Shem Creek below and the dramatic sky behind them. After watching their Music Video below, head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com to see the rest of their wedding photos, engagement portraits, and Brittainy’s beautiful bridal portraits.
Brittainy & Nate, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You guys were AWESOME! I had so much fun on your wedding day and wish you all the best for a beautiful new life together…
Earlier this week I got to work with some of my favorite corporate clients at Colliers Keenan. They’re doing some re-branding and decided to make all new headshots using a high-key white background. I lit them with a single giant softbox and placed a reflector on the oposite side to open up the shadows. The background was placed about 8 feet behind my subject and lit separately with an umbrella on each side. I’ve found that when shooting high-key, it’s very important to light the background separately from the subject to really keep those whites clean and bright!
While thinking about what I wanted to take to Romania, I knew I wanted to pack light. So I left my main ThinkTank Take-Off bag at home. But I also knew I wanted to have as full a range of equipment at my disposal as possible, since I didn’t know what kinds of photographic opportunities were going to avail themselves. So here’s what I packed:
Nikon D3
Nikon D300 + MBD10 Grip with ENEL4a adapter
Nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye
Nikkor 24-70 f2.8
Nikkor 70-200 f2.8
3 – RadioPoppers (1 transmitter, 2 receivers)
3 – SB800 strobes
2 – Bogen 5001B light stands
All of this gear along with spare batteries, chargers, compact flash cards, lens cleaning pens, and the usual assortment of doodads all fit into my ThinkTank Streetwalker Pro and this super small generic light stand bag pictured in the photo. I was very happy with my selection and used every piece of equipment I brought, without being left wanting for anything I didn’t!
My thinking on bringing the D300 instead of two D3 bodies was because it gave me a little more reach, turning my 70-200 into a 105-300 f2.8 if I needed it. Plus in a pinch I could command my remote flashes with its built-in pop-up flash. Both proved to be scenarios I would be glad I had. I fitted it with the MBD10 Grip with the ENEL4a adapter so that I could use the same larger capacity batteries for both cameras and only have to bring one charger.
For image management and storage, I brought my smaller 14” Toshiba laptop in a small backpack. That and my Streetwalker Pro were my carry-on luggage. The light stand case fit easily into my checked bag. I’ve mounted this laptop with a small 320GB external drive and software that backs up all the important data off my laptop every night. After each day of shooting I transferred all the images from my CF cards to my laptop, which then got backed up to the external hard drive. I brought enough CF cards that I never had to re-use them. I kept each copy of my images separate from the other…especially during the 26-hour trip home.
I hope some of this info helps you out the next time you have to pack light…
Mike Saia, my “Boss” for the week at the Family Circle Cup when I photograph the professional tennis tournament there every spring, just sent me this note: “Check out the WTA home page: www.sonyericssonwtatour.com. Wait for the Flash to move to More News!” Turns out the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is using my image of Samantha Stosur, last year’s champion, on their main page. I love it!!!
A few days ago I had the distinct pleasure of photographing Jim & Pat, who were celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary with a vacation to Kiawah Island along with their extended family. Having recently returned from my own family reunion in Ohio, it was neat to witness the bonds and connections that were shared by all. Next month marks 15 years for Cami & I. Only 35 more to go and we’ll reach Jim & Pat’s status!!! J
Though I mostly post my Wedding and Portrait work on here, I shoot a good bit of Corporate/Commercial photography as well. One of my favorite corporate clients to work with is Caldwell Commercial. They are a great group of folks, always fun and entertaining to be around. Plus, Bob (the owner) used to do a bit of professional photography himself back in the film days. So he and I always have lots in common to talk about. Here’s a shot I did a few days ago of Cindy, the latest member on their team.
Last weekend I attended Ken Sklute’s photography seminar for the annual Lamarr School of Photography in Columbia. He’s an amazing photographer and fantastic speaker. After the seminar, we had a short photo-shoot-out where the attendees could break out their gear. It was overcast, meaning the light was nice and soft. So everyone else just started shooting with available light. But when I saw our model and the custom chopper, I knew I wanted something a little more EDGY! Soft natural light just wasn’t going to do her justice. So I lit her up with three SB-800 strobes and further enhanced that with a high-contrast selective-color filter in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Let me know what you think…
I had a really cool 4th of July Wedding at Pepper Plantation last weekend. Lisa & Chadwick are a really fun, casual, and laid back couple that are absolutely a RUSH to be around. They have so much personality and energy…and truly are perfect for each other! Check out the fun slideshow on our blog at www.chrisandcami.com/blog. Then head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com to see photos from their downtown Engagement Session, their entire Wedding Day, AND their crazy PhotoBooth! CONGRATULATIONS Lisa & Chadwick…you guys deserve the world!
