Jeremy & Kyle’s Folly Beach Wedding

We’ve known Kyle from back when we were neighbors down the street from his amazing parents, Cathy & Gary. Some of our fondest memories include dinners out with their family, handing out candy together on Halloween, and sitting on their porch late into the evening on lazy summer days.  We are honored to call Cathy & Gary our friends!

When Kyle told us he and Jeremy had gotten engaged, we were SO EXCITED for them! Their relationship has blossomed and matured over the last few years. They are such a great couple. And we love seeing how incredibly happy they are together! 🙂

Although their big wedding plans got curtailed due to the pandemic, they just couldn’t wait to get married! They are saving the “BIG PARTY” for next year when things get back to normal. But last weekend they shifted their ceremony to an intimate beach-house venue on Folly Beach. While their closest family and friends gathered around them in love and support, they exchanged their vows on a gorgeous fall afternoon. With bare feet and bow-ties, touching hand-written vows, tears of joy, and the Atlantic ocean as the backdrop, it truly was a beautiful ceremony!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Jeremy & Kyle! We wish you all the best as you begin your new journey together…

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Headshots for Weeks & Irvine Law Firm

I’ve really enjoyed working with Weeks & Irvine Law Firm over the last few years. They are a great group of people who truly go out of their way to help their clients!

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of photographing updated head-shots for the newest members of their growing team.

You would never guess it, but we photographed these in a room they have set aside at their office as a “children’s play room” for when the adults need to talk. Yup, we were surrounded by squeaky toys, bean bags, and choo choo trains!!! 😉

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Wildlife Workshop at Center for Birds of Prey

I had the pleasure of leading another fun workshop at The Center for Birds of Prey last weekend! 🙂 Many thanks to Mandy Feavel for all her hard work putting it together. And what a treat to work with the amazing educators, Jessie Curry and Natalie Hendrickson, again!!!

https://www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/visit/special_events/instructor-led-photography-workshop/

“Join expert photographer, Chris Smith of Chris & Cami Photography, for an in-depth workshop focusing on the photographic study of birds of prey, both in motion and while perching.”

A special thank you also goes to THINK TANK PHOTO and RetouchUp for their support with some generous door prizes. And a HUGE shout out to all the attendees. You guys were AWESOME!!!

I’ve included a bunch of the behind-the-scenes shots from the day. Please feel free to share, tag yourselves, and enjoy these images of you in action!

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Scott Family at Hampton Park

I got to know the Scott Family last year during our Mt. Pleasant photo shoot. We had so much fun that I was super thrilled when they called to schedule this year’s family session!

This time we chose to meet at the scenic and historic Hampton Park. A cold front had just moved through, giving us a beautiful afternoon with cool weather. The light that day was fantastic. And their girls were as ADORABLE as ever!!!

I just love it when families are as fun to work with as The Scotts! Beth had some excellent suggestions for backgrounds. And the girls even invented some of their own poses!!! 🙂 Many thanks to all of them for another awesome photo session together!

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Headshots for Commonwealth Financial

I’ve enjoyed working with Britt and the his fantastic team at Commonwealth Financial for many years. This morning I had so much fun visiting them and photographing some updated headshots of the newest team members. Many thanks to Heather for coordinating everyone’s schedule for the photo shoot!

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Fisher Family at Hampton Park

It’s been a few years since I photographed the Fisher Family. But we go WAAAY back together!!! So I was super excited when they called to schedule a new family session together. 🙂

Meeting at Hampton Park turned out to be the perfect location. With “grandma” Belle being 14 years old, it was hard for their Yellow Lab to get around. This park has nice level walking trails that were perfect for her red wagon.  Plus their little Yorkie, Freckles, could keep up in spite of her short little legs.  However, my favorite part about this historic park is the wonderful cornucopia of beautiful backdrops to choose from!

Holly is an award winning marketing expert and genius copywriter. She’s AMAZING!!! Check her out at https://fisher-creative.com/. As a fellow creative, we work well together, bouncing ideas and inspiration off one another. Clint is the dashing rugged outdoorsman of the family who keeps everyone focused and on track. Kate is the sweetest soul and the glue that binds their world together.

I loved all their creative input and and we came away with a ton of gorgeous images of their family! But more importantly, we had a BLAST hanging out and catching up!!! I can’t wait to see what’s on the horizon for this amazing team of beautiful human beings.  🙂

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McCue Family at Palmetto Island County Park

I had so much fun photographing the McCue Family at Palmetto Island County Park this weekend!

We couldn’t have picked a better day. The temperatures were nice and cool. And the sun was beautiful and bright. The location Aimee selected was fantastic as well. With oak trees draped in Spanish moss, stately palmetto pines, woodland walking trails, and an awesome boardwalk leading into the marsh, we had tons of picturesque scenes to choose from.

Many thanks to Aimee & Chad and their adorable kids for being such a pleasure to work with!!!

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Heather & Rick’s Folly Beach Wedding

What a joy it was to witness the outpouring of love at Heather & Rick’s wedding last weekend!!!

Heather & Rick had originally planned for a big wedding in Virginia with all their family and friends gathered around them. Unfortunately with the pandemic still a threat, they felt it was important to cancel those plans. Instead they decided to get married in an intimate service in front of an adorable beach house they had rented on Folly Beach. 🙂

The weather that morning wasn’t looking good. But minutes after I had arrived, the rain broke and we seized the opportunity at hand. Heather & Rick must be living right, because the skies stayed dry JUST long enough for us to have the ceremony and capture some beautiful beach photos of this amazing couple!

CONGRATULATIONS Heather & Rick! We wish you all the best as you begin your new journey together…

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Moore Family Sunrise Shoot on Kiawah Island

As you all know, Cami and I love dogs!

So when the Moore Family asked us to photograph their family reunion on Kiawah Island, including all three of their family dogs, how could we say “no”?!? Izzy, the Havanese puppy, Otis, the Yorkie/Silkie rescue, and Milo, the Golden Doodle, were an absolute BLAST!!! 🙂

Of course the entire family was fabulous as well. Diane did an amazing job of coordinating and organizing everyone.  But the real star of the show was Julian! This adorable 9 year old is the latest addition to the family, and has clearly stolen the hearts of everyone who catches a glimpse of that adorable smile!!!

We met at Sunrise near The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. With clear skies, a few clouds for the rising sun to light up, and a balmy 70-degrees, it was an absolutely perfect morning. I can’t thank the Moore Family enough for being such a kind, generous, and fun group to work with!!!

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Chapman Family on Kiawah Island

Is this not the most adorable family ever?!?

I had so much fun with the Chapman Family during their stay on Kiawah Island this week. We met at The Sanctuary on the most perfect evening imaginable. Calm winds, beautiful sunlight, low humidity, and 75-degrees…who could ask for anything more?

Well to top off the perfect conditions, I had the perfect family to work with. Shannon and Josh were the nicest couple in the world. And their girls were absolutely delightful!!!

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Colored Powder Photography

One of my good friends and artistic inspirations is Reid Strauss. She is an absolute visionary, always full of the coolest and most creative ideas!!!

A couple days ago we gathered her adorable daughters together (or did we drag them kicking and screaming…I can’t remember which?). In any event, they somehow got volunteered to be our victims as we headed out to Folly Beach for a super fun photo shoot!

Reid had ordered some organic biodegradable colored powder for us to play with.  Made out of corn starch and natural dies, it was completely water soluble and wouldn’t harm the environment. When we started, the girls had no problem pelting each other with the fine grains…but when it was their turn, not so much! Just kidding!!!  They were in fact quite enthusiastic and so much fun to work with, which I appreciated. Once they saw how cool the shots were coming out, the competition was ON!!!

It was an overcast gray day. But this was supposed to be all about COLOR!!!  Gray just wouldn’t do. So I switched my Nikon D5 to tungsten white balance, which of course added an electric blue tone to the sky. Then I covered two of my Nikon SB-5000 Speedlights with orange CTO gels, which are thin colored filters for flashes.  For protection, each flash was placed in a zip-loc bag. Using one flash as my main light, and the other as a rim light, I was able to give the skin tones a nice “sunset glow” to them, which contrasted beautifully with the electric blue sky.  I used the compact and lightweight Nikkor 24-120 f4 VR lens so that I could keep my distance and move quickly. From that point on, it was just a matter of getting everyone’s timing down as they hurled fists full of colored powder at each other!!!

Many thanks to Reid, Sydney, Jacqueline, and Trinity for such a fun evening!!!

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The Firestone Family on Kiawah Island

If there was ever “the perfect” family portrait session, this was it! The lighting was perfect. The weather was perfect (cool and dry after a hot and rainy summer). And the family was perfect!!!

I couldn’t have asked for a nicer, kinder, “funer” (I can make words up, right?), and more beautiful family to work with! Ian and Kim have been vacationing on Kiawah for many years now. They love it down here. In fact, Ian even contemplated a job transfer to the lowcountry so they could live here!  It hasn’t happened yet…but they still come down to visit every chance they get.

We met up at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island about an hour before sunset. The warm summer sun was just entering golden hour.  A few clouds hung like jewels decorating the clear blue sky. And the air was cool and calm.

I had so much fun getting to know this beautiful family. Their two boys were simultaneously super sweet, yet full of pep and energy!  We laughed and played games, and came away with so many wonderful memories. Many thanks to The Firestones for being such a pleasure to work with!!!

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