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!
A few days ago I had the distinct pleasure of photographing Jim & Pat, who were celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary with a vacation to KiawahIsland 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…
A few days ago I had the distinct pleasure of photographing Jessica & Keith’s family portraits on Isle of Palms. I photographed the usual shots on their rental property, then offered to shoot some of them on the beach at no charge. It was a beautiful evening, cooler weather than last week, and an absolutely GORGEOUS sunset to work with. As a bonus, the tide was going out and left all kinds of interesting tidal pools in the soft sand. I asked if everyone was crazy enough to get a little wet, and they were all for it! I LOVE the shots at the end with the reflections from the tidal pool they are sitting in. J Such a neat family…so much fun to hang out with these guys. Enjoy…
A few days ago I had the great privilege of documenting Damon’s TOP SECRET Proposal to Allison on the beach in front of The Sanctuary on KiawahIsland! He and his Mom & Dad, along with his girlfriend, Allison, and her beautiful daughter, were all vacationing there for the summer. Little did Allison know that Damon & his Mom were secretly scheming behind her back. They had contacted me to be there “incognito” when they arrived on the beach so that I could capture all the momentous occasion. It was SO AWESOME! She said YES! And we had a beautiful photo shoot afterwards. Congratulations to Allison & Damon!!!
Lisa & Clay were finally married last weekend. So it’s safe for me to finally reveal some of Lisa’s gorgeous Bridal Portraits from her shoot in charming downtown Charleston. J I posted some of their really cool Engagement Portraits here: https://chrisandcami.com/blog/2010/03/29/lisa-clay-rock-bowens-island/. But I just couldn’t post any with Lisa’s dress until now for fear of Clay “snooping” around to get a peek at her dress! Just kidding…Clay would never do that.
Last week Cami & I had a really cool eSession with Heather & Marcus in Fernandina Beach, FL!!! They are such a great couple…young, gorgeous, and full of energy! They’ve been dating a couple years now and last September Marcus popped “The Question”. J They are from the Jacksonville area and selected FernandinaBeach as the backdrop for their portraits. It’s such a cute little historic town with lots of texture and ambiance, plus a great view of the sunset! Here are a few of my favorites…
While we were at our reunion, my brother and his wife asked me to photograph their son’s Senior Portraits. He’d had some done back home in Oregon, but they just weren’t thrilled with them. Since Shawn is very into his music, and a killer guitar player (he performed a solo for his classmates at their graduation ceremony), we borrowed my uncle’s guitar for a prop. Shawn’s such a great kid and I had an awesome time photographing him. Maybe when he gets to be a super star he’ll let me shoot his first Album Cover….HA! J
Jackie & Chris’ wedding has been a long time coming! But through all the ups and downs of Chris’ fight with cancer, the families rallied together and victory was claimed!!! I truly believe the difficult times in life draw us closer and strengthen our bonds beyond measure. I was witness to the evidence of these bonds time and time again throughout Jackie & Chris’ wedding day. It is such an honor and a privilege to have been able to share in this special day with such an AMAZING couple!
Jackie & Chris were married at the gorgeous Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivan’s Island. After the ceremony, we walked across the beach to sink our naked toes in the sand and get some fun shots of the wedding party. Then we joined the PARTAAAAY on the Carolina Girl Yacht. I always love working with Captain Bob and his crew…they are top notch and always make sure everyone has a GREAT time on board!
Enjoy Jackie & Chris’ fun Music Video at www.chrisandcami.com/blog. Then head over to www.chrisandcami.zenfolio.com to see the rest of their photos. CONGRATULATIONS Jackie & Chris. You guys are a very special couple to me and I will never forget sharing this beautiful day with you!
Yesterday evening I was “on walkabout” doing an Engagement photo shoot with one of my favorite couples EVER! We were just walking along, having a blast, and getting some cool shots…when suddenly on the other side of an old brick wall I could hear a camera clicking away. I peeked around the corner and who should I see by my good friend and fellow photographer, Nathan Bell of Richard Bell Photography! Nathan’s a great guy with a wonderful sense of humor…so we both immediately went into mock horror mode…like “hey man, what are YOU doing in MY shooting space?!?” Then we busted out laughing and introduced our couple to each other, and chit chatted for a few minutes before carrying on our separate ways. But before Nathan could get out of sight, I enticed his couple into this zany pose with him. It’s always fun bumping into friends while out shooting. J
Kim & Michael are a sweet, gentle, amazing couple from Aiken. For their Engagement Shoot, we did a double-whammy. As I was driving downtown to meet them for the first part of their shoot, the wind was blowing and the sky looked dark and foreboding. I was concerned, but soldiered on. When we met up, I found out they were concerned about the weather too. But we decided to be adventurous and go for it. We were rewarded a few minutes later with beautiful light. By the time we got to FollyBeach for the second session, the sky had turned into this AMAZING backdrop. WOW!!! I love how the images turned out. Many thanks to Kim & Michael for being so much fun to work with and being willing to brave the elements to humor this passionate old chaser of DRAMATIC LIGHT! J
