Bales Family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island

I love an adventurous family!!! In spite of the afternoon thunderstorms, the radar indicated there “might” be a break in the showers just long enough for us to get our family beach session in. So I called Tammy and she said “LET’S GO FOR IT!!!” 🙂

I met up with the Bales’ clan at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. With ages ranging from 15-21, and potentially serious relationships blossoming, who knows when the next time everyone will be together again? Some will be heading off to college? Others might be starting their own families soon? Maybe one of them decides to travel Europe next summer? You just never know at this age. So it was particularly rewarding to be a part of this wonderful evening, with the proud grandparents surrounded by their lovely daughters, their handome sons-in-law, and all their amazing grandchildren!

The weather was touch-and-go, with dark clouds all around us, and dim lighting conditions to work with. But strategic use of higher iso settings on my Z9, combined with careful use of an off-camera Flashpoint eVolve 200 flash, brought out the gorgeous colors of their outfits, and lit up their beautiful smiles. The photos actually turned out extra dramatic as a result! The best part was, the rains stayed away long enough for us to complete our session. I’m so glad we took Tammy’s advice to go for it!!!

Garman Family Beach Portraits on Kiawah Island

What a SMALL WORLD!!!

Last evening I had the pleasure of photographing beach portraits for the Garman family while they were vacationing on Kiawah Island. The amazing part is they are from Troy, OH…which is where Cami is from!!! In fact, Cami’s family lived on Dorset Rd…which is where one of the Garman daughters and her family lives! I met Cami while she lived in Troy. We were married in Troy. And one of her brothers still lives in Troy. What a cool coincidence to meet up with this beautiful family from “back home”!

The afternoon showers swept through Kiawah earlier that afternoon, cooling things off a bit for us. Plus the beautiful clouds and nice soft light left behind from the storm made for a lovely evening to be on the beach. We could still see the distant lightning lighting up the sky across the ocean as the rain clouds drifted away.

Many thanks to Moxie and her family for bringing back fond memories of Troy for me!!!

Eva’s Bat Mitzvah Portraits

In a few short months, I’ll have the honor of photographing Eva’s bat mitzvah!!!

Bat mitzvah is Hebrew for “daughter of commandment.” When a Jewish girl turns 12, she has all the rights and obligations of a Jewish adult, including the commandments of the Torah. From that date forward, she takes her place in the Jewish community. This milestone in her life, called a bat mitzvah, is often celebrated with creative projects, meaningful gatherings, a special ceremony and of course a joyous celebration afterwards!

To help commemorate this special chapter in Eva’s life, her beautiful family joined her for a fun photo session at Hampton Park. She’ll be able to use these photos in her announcement cards for her celebration later this year. But more importantly, the whole family will have these wonderful memories preserved for all eternity, as Eva grows from this amazing girl she is today into the even more incredible woman she will become!!!

Brandy & Dan’s Hampton Park Engagement Photos

WOW!!! What an amazing sight greeted me at Hampton Park when I arrived for Brandy & Dan’s engagement session. The rains had just passed through Charleston, the sun was out, and a gorgeaous rainbow stretched across the sky!

Brandy & Dan arrived shortly thereafter. And we had an AMAZING time exploring the park, getting to know each other, and creating beautiful images together. As we returned to our cars, we realized there was a great chance for a brilliant sunset. So we zipped over to Brittlebank Park to capture a few dramatic silhouettes against that colorful sky!

CONTRATULATIONS Brandy & Dan! I can’t wait to be there for you guys on your wedding day!!!

Muro Family at Wild Dunes Beach

I’ve been photographing the Muro Family at their annual vacations to Charleston for many years. But each year it seems there’s always someone missing. Whether a family member was studying abroad, traveling, or just sick…it we always seem to be missing someone. But this year, we actually had EVERYONE TOGETHER!!!

It was so much fun catching up with the Muro family. They always treat me like family. And photographing their beach portrait session is always a highlight of my summer!!!

Center for Birds of Prey – Why Use Off-Camera Flash?!?

I frequently get asked: “Why do you use flash for outdoor portraits?” There are a ton of variables that I evaluate before starting a photo shoot. But paramount to them all is the QUALITY of the lighting. Whenever possible, I seek out beautiful natural light. For outdoor portraits, “open shade” is one of my favorites to work with. For indoor portraits, I look for soft “window light” to work with. But when the location is surrounded by trees, creating a gloomy greenish-blue color cast to the light, I pull out the flashes. If I don’t have beautiful natural light to work with, I create my own with speedlights!

That’s what happened in this photo session at the Charleston Center for Birds of Prey. In the first test-shot, you can see how muddy and unflattering the natural light is. Because we were in a clearing surrounded by trees, the only available light is coming from directly above Angelina, creating those sunken “racoon eyes” and a hotspot on her nose. So I mounted a Flashpoint eVolve 200 Pro in a large softbox on a Manfrotto light-stand, and placed it about 30-decgrees off to her left (the camera’s right). This gave me a fantastic directional main light, which created a soft contour to her face, cleaned up the skin color, and produced a nice catch-light in the eyes. Then I mounted a Flashpoint Zoom LiOn II on another Manfrotto light-stand, and covered it with a CTO (Color Temperature Orange) gel, which mimicks the color-balance of the late-afternoon setting sun. This speedlight was positioned behind the subject, aimed at the back of her hair, in a cross-light pattern opposite the main light. The result is a warm rim-light, which gave a golden glow to her beautiful hair, and helped separate her from the background.

Now that I had the lighting the way I wanted it, I mounted the Nikon Zf with the 70-200 f2.8 Z lens and a Flashpoint wireless trigger on a Manfrotto tripod…and the rest is magic!!!

The nice part about using this lighting setup is that it’s consistant and repeatable! Next time I show up to photograph a new staff member, whether it’s an overcast day or a bright sunny day, it doesn’t matter…the light hitting my subject will always be the same.

Savannah’s Graduation Photos at Clemson University

We’ve been photographing Kristin’s family photos since her girls were knee high to a grasshopper! It’s incredibly hard to believe these giggling little girls are all grown up!!!

Last week Savannah graduated Summa Cum Laude from Clemson University. She had just returned from a semester abroad, studying in Australia. So she had an AMAZING tan! 🙂 It was such a pleasure exploring her campus and capturing a variety of portraits to commemorate her time at Clemson. I know she’s going to miss it, and all the friends she’s made there. But we are super excited for whatever the next chapter in life brings Savannah’s way…

Headshots for State Farm

Kevin’s father-in-law, Troy, was a well-known State Farm agent in Charleston. After Kevin joined the family, he followed in Troy’s footsteps, opening his own very successful State Farm office in Bluffton. Fast forward to today, and I had the pleasure of photographing Kevin’s son, also named Troy, who has joined his father’s firm. It was almost surreal to see “little” Troy all grown up after knowing his parents from before he was even born!!! While I was there, I had the pleasure of photographing a couple other fun staff members as well.

If you’re looking for a new insurance agent, I HIGHLY recommend Kevin: https://www.statefarm.com/agent/us/sc/bluffton/kevin-sevier-g738v1ys000. He has the nicest staff. And he treats his clients like family!

Premier Physical Therapy

Getting 7 staff members to smile, look at the camera, and keep their eyes open for a new staff photo is hard enough. Adding 4 dogs to the mix makes it NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE!!! But we pulled it off! 🙂

CONGRATULATIONS to Jill and her team at Premier Physical Therapy for another successful year…

Grant’s Senior Portraits at The Citadel

A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of photographing Senior Portratis for Grant’s two older brothers. They were twins! And they also graduated from The Citadel. I felt incredibly honored that Grant’s parents were so pleased with his older brother’s portraits, that they remembered me and called to book me for Grant’s portraits too!

It was a beautiful afternoon for our shoot. Grant had a great sense of humor, was super friendly, but clearly had leadership and organizational traits as well. He had some excellent ideas of shots he wanted, which were meaningful to him. And we worked quickly to be able to squeeze in 3 outfits into what would have normally been a 1 outfit session!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Grant! Whatever military project you land on after graduation is going to be lucky to have you.

College of Charleston Multicultural Graduation Ceremony

As a TCK (Third Culture Kid) myself, it was particularly enjoyable for me to be a part of the C of C Multicultural Student Union Senior Night this week! Because I was born in the Congo (DRC) and spent my formative years there, I was invited to join the MSU program when I got to Spring Arbor University. Transitioning back to America and college life was tough. The friendship and support I experienced with the MSU program at my school was extremely helpful in getting me through that process.

CONGRATULATIONS to all these College of Charleston students in achieving their dreams at the Multicultural Graduation Ceremony!!!

MAM 2025 with Hootie & The Blowfish – Charity Concert

What started out as a small get together to raise money for charity in 1994, has evolved into one of the top Celebrity Pro-Ams in the country. Thanks to the commitment of Hootie & the Blowfish, the MAM has generated millions of dollars for children’s educational programs and the South Carolina junior golf program. Darius, Dean, Mark and Soni remain true to their philanthropic roots in hosting this one-of-a-kind event.

After a short break from the golf tournament, it was time to head to the House of Blues for the main event! During the Charity Concert, Hootie & The Blowfish reunites to sing some of their most popular songs. Plus a whole host of their friends in the music business, legends in their own rights, come out to perform a few of their biggest hits. The place is always PACKED for this sold out event!!!