Workshops at Howard Heights

Yesterday I had the pleasure of capturing Bill & Julie’s vision for Workshops at Howard Heights as part of an Annual Report for the SC Community Loan Fund.  From their profile at http://sccommunityloanfund.org/blog/2017/06/06/loan-closing-workshops-at-howard-heights/ we read:

SITUATION:
Bill Hussey is a custom woodworker. Bill and his wife, Julie, wanted to serve Charleston’s craftspeople by creating a shared workspace where custom makers could gather and practice their craft. The Husseys had already purchased land in the Howard Heights neighborhood and were ready to get started on construction when they approached SCCLF.

SOLUTION
Workshops at Howard Heights is situated in a neighborhood that is experiencing a rebirth, and the Husseys are committed to creating a physical space that celebrates the neighborhood’s history. SCCLF saw an opportunity to partner with a borrower who understands the role community businesses play in community development and worked closely with Workshops to finance their construction.

IMPACT
Workshops at Howard Heights is committed to honoring their neighborhood’s history while being part of it’s revitalization. Local artisans, often microbusiness owners themselves, will have a place to practice their trades. By joining the ranks of other light industrial businesses in what they call the Craftsmanship Zone, Workshops at Howard Heights is part of a movement to renew their community while fostering economic development.

Many thanks to Victoria for all her hard work in coordinating schedules, writing profiles, and making the magic happen!

New Construction Drone Photography

It’s no secret that the Charleston real estate market is on fire. Charleston is at the top of many Best Of lists, feeding the “I want to move to Charleston” craze!

Growth of the aeronautics, automotive, and tech sectors has Lowcountry area home builders working hard to build homes fast enough to keep up with growing needs. Due to the high demand, Charleston has a lower number of available homes on the market than most areas of the country. The Charleston real estate market only has a three-month supply of homes available, unlike most markets with at least a six-month supply! It’s no wonder there are so many new developments, new neighborhoods, and new construction projects going up all over town!

If you’re a home builder, this is a great time to capitalize on your share of that business. With our licensed, insured, and FAA Certified Remote Pilot, we are here to help you attract your piece of the pie through dynamic aerial drone photographs. Let us capture beautiful images of your projects today before it’s too late!!!

Aerial Assignments

More and more corporate clients are turning to us for our new Aerial Drone Photography. Why?

EXPERIENCE:
Much like buying a nice digital camera doesn’t instantly make one a great digital photographer, simply buying a drone doesn’t make one a great aerial photographer! Just because someone can fly a drone doesn’t mean they know how to capture a compelling image. Mastering the tried and true techniques of lighting, exposure, composition, color, (and the list is a mile long) takes time! Cami and I have professional photography degrees, which means we’ve truly studied the finer nuances of beautiful art and imagery. Plus we’ve been photographing professionally for over two decades! That’s a priceless amount of experience and training that you just can’t pick up in a weekend workshop. Think about the revolutions and changes that have taken place in 20+ years. From medium format to 35mm, from film to digital, from crop sensors to full-frame sensors, from megabytes to gigabytes…we’ve seen it all! Which is why our clients feel confident in our abilities to deliver more compelling images.

EQUIPMENT:
Sure, the latest drones are easy to fly and take descent photos in their dumbed-down-out-of-the-box settings. It takes a lot of studying and experimenting with the deeper nuances and internal settings to eek out that NEXT higher level of quality and detail. I wonder how many new drone pilots never even read the manual?!? Flying the latest quadcopters on the market, and setting them up to take full advantage of every pixel they offer, we’re able to deliver a superior quality product.

EDUCATION:
Everyone has seen one news story or another about crashed drones or near collisions with other aircraft. Unlike a highway where you can only go one of two directions, airspace is a wide open fronteir. For the safety of other aircraft, and the safety of people below, the Federal Aviation Administration has implimented strict rules and regulations. Unfortunately, very few UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) pilots have taken the time to study, train, and pass the FAA certification process. We are proud to have passed the exam with the highest grade in the class, on our way to obtaining the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Licesnse! This means we are legal to fly our drones commercially, and will do so with safety as a primary concern.

For more information, check out https://chrisandcami.com/gallery/aerial/.  When it’s time for YOUR aerial photography assignment, please don’t hesitate to contact us! You’ll be in good hands…and you’ll be glad you did.

CresCom Bank

Photographing great aerial images with a quad-copter is tough. Photographing great aerial images with a quad-copter AT DUSK is nearly impossible!!!

With calm winds at my back, and clear skies ahead, I was able to keep the stick steady enough for the drone to capture several beautiful images of CresCom’s West Ashley location. The glowing windows and doors are representative of the banks warm customer service attitude and welcoming personality!  So the timing was critical.  And I’m very pleased with how it turned out!

CresCom Bank, a leader in community banking, is dedicated to providing exceptional customer service and quality products to the communities it calls home, and prides itself on its strong knowledge of local business and economic trends. Currently, CresCom Bank has 62 branch locations throughout the Carolinas and also owns Crescent Mortgage Company.  You should check them out!

The Ocean Course

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort hosted the 2007 Senior PGA and the 2012 PGA Championships. It will also host the 2021 PGA Championships. The Ocean Course is only the fourth course to have hosted each of the PGA of America’s major championships.

The Ocean Course gained instant notoriety as the host of the dramatic “War by the Shore,” a battle decided literally by the final putt of Sunday’s final match in 1991’s Ryder Cup Matches. In 1997, The Ocean Course hosted the World Cup of Golf, with the world’s finest golfers from 32 countries competing in the stroke play tournament. The inaugural UBS Cup took place on the course in 2001, and in 2003 the course hosted the World Golf Championships World Cup. The PGA Professional National Championship was played in June 2005.

Golf Digest named The Ocean Course “#3 Public Golf Course in U.S.”, #20 among “America’s Greatest Courses” and “America’s Toughest Resort Course.” It is one of only 17 “5-star” courses in North America in Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play” reader’s poll. GOLF Magazine has rated it #4 in its “Top 100 Courses You Can Play” list. The Ocean Course has achieved the designation as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” by the Audubon Sanctuary System, and has recently been named “Golf Course of the Year” by the National Golf Course Owners Association.

The Ocean Course made its big screen debut in November 2000 when the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, directed by Robert Redford, narrated by Jack Lemon, and starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, and Charlize Theron, opened at theatres nation-wide.

Old Sheldon Church Ruins

Known also as Old Sheldon Church, these ruins are all that remain of what was originally Prince William’s Parish Church.

The church was built as a chapel of ease in the English Georgian style, using the Roman Tuscan or Doric order, between 1745 and 1753. The traditional understanding is that Prince William’s was burned by the British in 1779 during the Revolutionary War, rebuilt in 1826, and then burned again in 1865 during the Civil War.

As a trusted Charleston aerial photography team, we had the pleasure of capturing this unique view of the old ruins with our high-definition drone, preserving this part of history before it deteriorates any farther.  The effects of weather, erosion, and human traffic continues to have negative long-term effects on the failing structure.  Enjoy it while you can!

Drayton Hall in Infrared

Drayton Hall, the iconic 18th-century estate in the South Carolina Lowcountry, is vital to our understanding of early American history. It’s also one of my favorite plantations in Charleston!

Founded in 1738, Drayton Hall is the nation’s earliest example of fully executed Palladian architecture…and the oldest preserved plantation house in America still open to the public!!!

I recently had the pleasure of exploring and photographing the property with my Infrared Camera. It’s a special Nikon camera, converted to be able to “see” a frequency of light that’s beyond the range of human sight. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the surreal images it creates! Please enjoy…

Hidden Cypress Golf Course

Over the holidays, I had the pleasure of photographing aireal drone photography of the Hidden Cypress Golf Course.

Hidden Cypress Golf Course, located on the way to Hilton Head Island, is Sun City’s Crown Jewel. It features 6,946 yards of unique golf challenges. Golfers love the beauty of the course, but also face a unique battery of menacing greens and fairway bunkers. No wonder it gets so many excellent reviews on Golf Advisor!

One of my favorite images was this soaring panorama from just over 100 feet in the air, a compilation of 21 images from the DJI Mavic Pro.

Kiawah Cottage for Solaris Inc.

One of my favorite parts about my job is that no two assignments are ever the same!

I photograph a lot of “people” assignments where juggling personalities is a large part of the equation. Balancing those assignments with the more cerebral ones like architecture and interior photography is always a nice change of pace. Houses don’t talk. To capture their “good side” involves carefully calculating the best lighting, angles, and perspectives.

One of my favorite architecture clients is Solaris, Inc. They create such BEAUTIFUL houses with such unique character! They pay attention to the fine details.  Every little piece of the puzzle is considered to ensure it belongs in the design.

Here is one of their amazing projects on Kiawah Island that I had the honor of photographing recently!  Kudos to Steve on another brilliant home.  And Thanks to Julie for always being so great to work with.

Real Estate Agent Head-shots

We are always so honored when clients keep coming back to us again and again!

I got to know Kristin many years ago when I photographed her head-shots for the company she worked for at the time. Today, she’s spreading her wings and striking out on her own as a real-estate agent. Needing new headshots for her website, business cards, and social media channels…I was thrilled when she reached out to us!

Kristin and I met this morning for a fun little photo shoot at Gadsdenboro Park. We had a BLAST and came away with some beautiful shots that capture her fun personality! Here are a few favorites from our session.

If you’re a real-estate agent, entreprenuer, or business leader in need of professional photographs, give us a call!!!