Head-shots for ATI

Advanced Technology International (www.ati.org) is an organization that builds and leads technology development collaborations. They help team members reach consensus, establish priorities and produce technology solutions.

Working with their marketing department was a real pleasure. And everyone I photographed was super nice and fun to work with! We set up and photographed head-shots all morning, as well as a team photos and group shots.  Many thanks to Rebecca for all her help coordinating everything!

Being a technology solutions company, ATI wanted a clean and modern style to their shots. We accomplished this using six Nikon SB-800 remote flashes, a Nikon D4, and a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8.   All the wireless off-camera flashes were controlled by an SB-5000 using RadioPoppers for communication.  Everything was tethered to a laptop so individuals could view their images immediately after their shoot.

If you, or an organization you know, is in need of new head-shots or executive portraits for marketing and promotional material, we’d love to hear from you!

High-key Head-shots

Today was another fantastic day for head-shots. 🙂

This time, we were back at the South Carolina Federal Credit Union. We’ve been working with this awesome organization for years! We’ve styled a high-key look for their staff and executive photos that is bright, clean, and modern.

If you’re looking for head-shots for your office, or if you know someone with a company who could use our services, please let us know. We love creating dynamic and engaging images for businesses and organizations all over Charleston!!!

Nikon SB-5000 does Head-shots for Clawson & Staubes

After receiving the new Nikon SB-5000 a few days ago, I put it through all the rigorous paces to make sure everything was working perfectly, and that I knew what every button and menu item did. This is Nikon’s latest, most advanced speedlight…and it has a few new tricks over previous models. I’ll get into those in a later post! 🙂

Yesterday was my first assignment with the new flashes, and they worked BEAUTIFULLY!!! I was photographing environmental head-shots of new attorneys for one of my favorite clients, Clawson & Staubes.

The images were made with a Nikon D4, Nikkor 70-200 VRII, an SB-5000 on the camera, running as the Master in CLS mode, and two SB-800 flashes as remotes, firing through a 24″ softbox. Everything ran beautifully! The new flash recycles extremely fast…the size is smaller…and the design of the button layout is even more user-friendly than all previous generations I’ve worked with.  The best part is, it’s completely backwards compatible with all other Creative Lighting System flashes!

Next, I’ll be working with the new Advanced Wireless Lighting (AWL) radio mode. Stay tuned…

Nester Family on Seabrook Island

It’s hard to believe…but it’s been TEN YEARS since the Nester Family began their annual tradition of coming to Charleston for the 4th of July!

I had the honor of photographing Suzanna & Jeffrey’s awesome wedding at Charleston Place Hotel in 2006. And each year, the whole family takes time out of their busy schedules to gather together at a beach house for the holiday week.  CONGRATULATIONS Suzanna & Jeffrey…it’s been a pleasure being your photographer, and your friend!

This year found the Nester’s back at a beautiful place just off the beach on Seabrook Island. Sadly, Suzanna’s brother and his family couldn’t make it this year. But they had an AWESOME excuse, as they recently welcomed a new little one into their family. Congratulations Tyler & Meghan! Another big congratulations goes out to Uncle Ron and Aunt Nancy, at the birth of their daughter Megan’s first-born! We missed you guys…but look forward to having you all back next year! For now, here are some picks to let you “absentee” family members see all the fun you missed out on this year…HA! 🙂

Let’s raise a toast to ANOTHER fabulous 10 years of crazy Nester Family Portraits!!!

Gilligan Family on Kiawah Island

Summer is a time for vacations, for flip-flops, for families, for fun, for sunshine, and of course…beaches. I had the pleasure of combining ALL these elements a few days ago with the wonderful Gilligan Family!!!

We scheduled their family beach portrait session on Kiawah Island to coincide with the cooler temperatures, less crowded beaches, gentle breezes, and of course that beautiful soft evening light of “golden hour”.  It was so much fun hanging out with this crazy crew! Since I have three brothers of my own, I felt right at home with the friendly ribbing Ryan and Kevin were dishing out.  🙂  Plus, Emilee and Reagan were absolutely ADORABLE!!!

Many thanks to Debbie for organizing everything, and allowing me to feel like part of their family for an evening…

High-Key Head-shots

This morning I had another fantastic session with one of my favorite companies to work for, Colliers International!

I always set up my portable wireless studio in their office. This makes it so convenient for them. Instead of wasting their time fighting traffic, driving to a studio, finding parking, doing their shoot, than driving all the way back…each person just slips out of their office for a few minutes, does their shoot, picks out their favorites on the laptop, and they’re done! Plus, it’s always so fun for me to hang out with their awesome office staff, enjoy the camaraderie, and catch up on their lives!

Here are a few of my favorites from today.  If you or someone you know is looking for new head-shots, executive portraits, or staff photos, please let us know. We’d be delighted to help!!!

Martin Family at White Point Garden

The Martins are one of my all-time favorite families! They are so fun, friendly, and willing to open their hearts to let a perfect stranger like me feel like I’m actually PART of the family. 🙂

Instead of doing the usual beach portrait session like we’ve done in the past, they decided to do something different this year. Driving all the way downtown from their vacation week on Kiawah Island, we met up at the historic White Point Garden. Also known as Battery Park, this is one of the most picturesque parks in Charleston!

In an interesting twist, this was my first portrait session with an absent member taking part in the photo shoot…through Facetime. Joey had to work and couldn’t be there in person this year. So the kids rang him up and made sure he appeared in a shot or two!

As always, we had a BLAST! Until next year…you guys ROCK!!!

Meredith & Peyton’s Secret Proposal at White Point Garden

It’s been a looong time coming!!!

Peyton, with the help of his incredible family, has been secretly planning his proposal to Meredith in the heart of beautiful downtown Charleston for months! Yesterday, the big day finally arrived. The dreary weather had finally cleared away, leaving us the perfect day for him to ask for her hand in marriage.

But when I got to the spot we had so carefully picked out at The Battery Park, the city of Charleston had roped it all off to let the grass grow in!  After a flurry of frantic texts back and forth, we had an excellent “Plan B” in place. Fortunately, Meredith still had no clue what was in store.  So everything turned out PERFECT!!!

After she said “Yes”, the three of us had a wonderful time strolling through the park, around the old historic district, and along The Battery, capturing amazing engagement photos as we went. Returning to the park, his family was there to congratulate the newly engaged couple, before sending them off on a romantic carriage ride.  To see the rest of their images, visit:  http://chrisandcami.zenfolio.com/p393066554

Longtime sweethearts from ECU (and recent graduates I might add), Meredith and Peyton are absolutely perfect for each other!!! I was so honored, and had so much fun capturing this exciting once-in-a-lifetime event for them.

CONGRATULATIONS Meredith & Petyon! We wish you all the best for a beautiful new life together…

Anne’s Senior Portraits

Anne is an absolute NATURAL in front of the camera! And I love that her personality and interests are so grounded in reality and truth, not bling and fluff. The organic qualities that she brought to the shoot were absolutely AMAZING!!! It was so much fun photographing the raw beauty of this lovely young lady for her senior portraits. I just can’t believe how fast she’s grown up!!!

We’ve known the Doshers for a long time and love this family to pieces! It’s an honor and a pleasure to now photograph their second daughter’s senior portraits. It’ll be fun to see if their son is as photogenic as their beautiful daughters when it gets to be his turn. 🙂

Volvo Car Open – Champions Photo

With Sloane’s big breakthrough this week at the Volvo Car Open, a NEW Champion is crowned!!!

After winning one match in five previous Charleston tries, Sloane Stephens, the 23-year-old American, found her fire this year. She made her first-ever final here, saving a match in the quarterfinals and playing standout tennis before Angelique Kerber was forced to retire. In the championship bout, she stopped a red-hot Elena Vesnina, earning her fourth WTA singles title, third in 2016 and first-ever on clay.

To top it all off, besides winning the trophy, plus a $128,100 check, she gets a NEW CAR!!! With Volvo Car USA as the new title sponsor, it had one more surprise up its sleeve by presenting Stephens with a brand-new limited edition Volvo. “Oh my goodness!” a shocked Sloane said on court. “You guys, I Just won a car.”

As the official photographers, after our champion had a chance to freshen up and catch her breath, Alice, Arielle, and I whisked her away for a private photo shoot with her new hardware. We had fun using our cameras as “stand-in” trophies to test the light. It was a chilly, overcast afternoon. But Sloan was a real trooper. And her hardware was waaay prettier than ours. We all had a BLAST!

CONGRATULATIONS to our new champion, Sloan Stephens!!!