Earl Klugh’s Kiawah Weekend of Jazz

It was an absolute pleasure to be invited back to photograph Earl Klugh’s Weekend of Jazz at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island again this year. I always enjoy photographing this amazing event with my good friend Michael Cyra.

Besides the great Earl Klugh, other amazing artists on the stage included: Chris Botti, Peabo Bryson, Deniece Williams, Patti Austin, Najee, The Rippingtons, Adam Hawley, Al Turner, David Lee on the Rocks, Joe Alterman, and many more! As always, Richard Todd did a great job as Master of Ceremonies.

I’m already excited and looking forward to next year!!!

Alvarez & Marsal Healthcare Conference at Kiawah Island

Alvarez & Marsal is the consulting firm known for asking tough questions, listening well, digging in and getting their hands dirty. They are fact-driven and action-oriented. A&M uncovers and implement the right solution, at the right time, in the right way. They provides global leadership, problem solving and value creation for companies across industries and around the world.

This week I had the pleasure of photographing their annual conference at Kiawah Island Resort. All the meetings and social functions took place at The Sanctuary, one of the most amazing event spaces in town. One of my favorite keynote speakers was David Feherty, who enjoyed a successful professional golfing career, earning 10 victories, and competed in the 1991 Ryder Cup.

In addition to all the meetings and networking, the event included a few fun activities. The golf outing at the famed Ocean Course was a huge highlight! With Hurricane Michael bearing down on us, a beautiful window of sunlight opened up just long enough for everyone to complete their rounds on these historic greens.

Many thanks to Michelle and Shanna for including me in this amazing event. It truly was an honor to work with their incredible team!

Bursky Family on Kiawah Island

I haven’t had so much fun with a gaggle of girls between 2 and 4 years old in AGES!!!  🙂

Celebrating their 40th Anniversary with a vacation to Kiawah Island, last night I had the pleasure of photographing the Bursky Family. From the magical late afternoon light, to the beautiful beaming faces of their adorable grand-daughters, everything was absolutely perfect!  As a bonus, a dainty deer and her playful doe were waiting to welcome me when I arrived in the neighborhood.

CONGRATULATIONS Jane and Andy! May you have many many more!!!

Evans Family on Kiawah Island

A milestone I look forward to at the end of every summer, is the annual SUNRISE PHOTO SHOOT with the delightful Evans Family!!!

We always get together at the end of summer break for a fun family portrait session before they head back north for the kids to start the new school year. They are one of the handful of families we work with who are brave enough to get up before dawn for their portraits.

I know it’s tough for Geraldine & Steve to get their teens out of bed that early. But it’s always such a rewarding experience, and a fun bonding time as we make new memories together!!! 🙂

Sanders Family on Kiawah Island

In spite of breaking her foot the first day of vacation, Barbara was a real trooper when it came time for their family photos! I met them at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island where they were vacationing for the week. We had a GORGEOUS evening with beautiful light, mild temperatures, and calm winds. I truly enjoyed getting to know this wonderful family, and capturing these delightful memories for them!!!

The Riccardi & Canonica Families on Kiawah Island

I was so honored when Tracey contacted us to photograph an updated family portrait for them before the kids went back to school. This year, her cousin Doreen and her family decided to join in on all the fun!

I met up with them at their beautiful home on Kiawah Island. With a storm brewing in the distance, the temperatures were nice and cool. Plus it provided for a really dramatic backdrop with interesting colors and cloud formations out over the ocean.

We had an awesome time and came away with some wonderful family memories!

Lauman Family on Kiawah Island

Photographing Jen & Bobby’s beautiful wedding 10 years ago was the highlight of my year! I absolutely fell in love with these two. They were even featured in a magazine: https://chrisandcami.com/jezebel-magazine-2/!!!

Fast forward to yesterday, and the same emotions flooded back as I had the joy of photographing their beautiful growing family. With two adorable boys, and joined by excited grandparents, we all met up at the picturesque Ocean Park on Kiawah Island.

I had so much fun catching up with their busy lives. What an honor it is to still be a part of their lives after all these years!

John’s Retirement Roast on Kiawah Island

I haven’t laughed so hard, nor choked back so many tears, as I did at John’s wonderful Retirement Roast this weekend!

As a full-time professional event photographer in Charleston, I am so privileged to be invited into the most touching, most beautiful, most powerful, and most important occasions in people’s lives. Denise put on an AMAZING retirement party for her husband. All his closest friends and colleagues made the trek out to the Kiawah Island Club at River Course to celebrate this man, his integrity, his leadership, and his impact on their lives.

CONGRATULATIONS John on all your accomplishments!!!

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.

Earl Klugh Weekend of Jazz on Kiawah Island

GRAMMY-winning guitarist Earl Klugh’s renowned Weekend of Jazz is returning to Kiawah Island once again this coming fall!

Since 2004, Earl Klugh has been bringing the world’s greatest artists together with jazz enthusiasts for his one-of-a-kind weekend getaways. You can only enjoy Earl Klugh’s exclusive Weekend of Jazz events at two Five-Star, Five-Diamond properties; The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, and The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island.

Backing up my good friend and AMAZING photographer, Michael Cyra, it’s been a true honor to photograph what I call the “Earl Klugh Experience” on Kiawah Island for the past several years! Here are a few of my favorite highlights from 2015…

Gaydosz Family on Kiawah Island

I’ve been photographing the warm and loving Gaydosz Family for many years now. Many thanks to Maria for organizing these fun shoots!
 
Each year the family grows and expand. It’s so much fun watching the children as their personalities develop and they truly come into their own! This year we missed big brother Steve and his family, with a prior commitment. But I look forward to seeing them ALL back together again next year for more fun times!!! 🙂

Surprise Sunrise Proposal on Kiawah Island

Just before I left for Romania I got a call from Corbin, who was secretly planning to propose to his girlfriend.  They are from Augusta, but were moving to Charleston that weekend.  He’d already convinced her that they should make their first morning in town a special one by watching the sunrise together and going to breakfast afterwards.  He even bought her a special beach dress to wear and made arrangements with The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island.  He’d seen my pictures of  Allison & Damon’s Proposal (https://chrisandcami.com/blog/2010/07/07/allison-says-yes-to-damon-on-kiawah-island/) and really wanted me to be there to capture theirs. 

Well, 5:00 A.M. came awfully early as I dragged myself out of bed to drive out to Kiawah.  But to experience such a beautiful moment between two people in love, within the stillness and calm of a deserted beach before dawn, and accentuated with the glorious rising of the sun…well, I have chills just writing about it.  Needless to say, the comfort of my bed didn’t hold a stick to the gravity of such a moment!  I felt truly blessed to be there.

After shooting his proposal incognito, Corbin brought Sarah over to meet me.  We laughed and I shared some of the pictures from the back of the camera with them.  Then as the sun rose into place, I shot a few “true” Engagement Portraits for them.  We had such a great time together.  Corbin & Sarah were so much fun to work with…even letting me talk them into getting a little wet.  J  CONGRATULATIONS to you both!