Here’s a little behind-the-scenes peek at the setup I used for photographing headshots in a client’s office today.
The assignment included a Nikon D5, Nikkor 70-200 f2.8, 4 Nikon SB-5000 speedlights, 2 Manfrotto light stands, 2 Westcott umbrellas, and a Lenove laptop tethered to the camera with Adobe Lightroom.
They were a great group and I had a wonderful time working with them!!!
Episode dos of the Moto Photo Mexico Adventure series is out! This one is all about the farkles and fittings that have helped transform Trinity, my Honda CB500X, into the perfect bike for this amazing trip!!! 🙂
For the holidays, Cami and I were able to get together with two of my three brothers and their families. We drove up to Dan and Linda’s house in Hiawassee, GA. A day later, my brother Eric and his family from Ohio also joined us there.
We had a great time catching up with everyone, playing games, watching old reruns of Star Wars episodes, and going on fun hikes. It was a fun few days of rejuvenating old family bonds.
The only regret was that our brother, Brian, and his family couldn’t be there. But we were able to Facetime with Brian and my parents while he was visiting them in California!
Earlier this week I had the honor of photographing the AMAZING team at Victoria Capital Management.
Diane and the rest of the firm had just been featured in Charleston Magazine. And they wanted to commemorate another successful year together by updating their head-shots and team photos. Congratulations to everyone!
If you’re looking for a great financial planner to work with, check them out at www.vcm.us.com. They are the nicest people you could ever hope to work with!
Last year several friends and I started planning an epic motorcycle adventure. We were to fly to Morocco, rent Honda XR250 enduro bikes, and explore that amazing country for two weeks. When those plans fell through, I shifted my sights to a NEW journey! We’re calling it the Moto Photo Mexico Adventure!!!
I say “We” because I’m so excited to be partnering with my good friend, amazing photographer, and incredible video editor, Jason from Docent Prodigy. Although Jason isn’t able to ride with me on this trip, he’s going to be working with me to produce daily moto vlogs of my epic journey, which we’ll be sharing on YouTube. He’s a fun guy with an amazing gift! Working together on this is going to be amazing. But I’m even more excited for our NEXT collaboration, when he will be able to join me out on the road!!!
In addition to Jason joining me in the post-production department, I am so grateful to his lovely wife, Erica, for letting “boys be boys”, and to my beautiful bride, Cami, for all her love and support. Cami will be holding down the fort and keeping up with our clients while I’m away. We couldn’t do it without you two!!!
As most of you know, I’m no stranger to living and traveling abroad. Having lived most of my formative years in a remote mission station in The Democratic Republic of Congo, AFRICA, I’m well accustomed to roughing it, and indeed feel quite at home in the third world. In fact, I seem to get an itch every few years to return to that simpler way of life that exists outside the realm of American commercialism, politics, and overindulgence. For example, in 2012 I went backpacking solo across Belize and Guatemala for two weeks, riding the “chicken buses” along with the locals, discovering incredible wildlife, and exploring the amazing Mayan ruins along the way.
Saying I’m super excited about this new Moto Photo Mexico trip would be an understatement. A ton of planning and preparation has gone into it. I have so many incredible friends who either live in Mexico, live along the route I’ll be taking through the southern US states, or have ridden their motorcycles in Mexico. Everyone has been so selfless with their guidance, and so generous with their hospitality. Many of them have even invited me to stay with them along the way. Others have connected me with their relatives and friends in towns I’ll be visiting. It has truly been wonderful to see this outpouring of help, encouragement, and support! (Speaking of which, if you live along the route I have planned in the map, and would like to reach out, I’d be delighted to connect with you!)
The ultimate final destination, and one of the biggest goals of this journey, is to finally see the millions of monarch butterflies that return to Mexico each winter from their long migration up through the United States. It’s been a bucket-list item for me for quite some time! I’ll be arriving at the pinnacle of this mass migration. I’m so excited!!! There are of course so many other incredible sights I’m looking forward to seeing and photographing. From the Cave of Swallows (which is the largest pit-cave in the world), to the spectacular waterfalls along the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains…from the old historic mining towns, to the glorious architecture of the Spanish colonial cities…it’s all going to be amazing!
However, I am most looking forward to meeting the incredible PEOPLE of Mexico! Everyone I’ve told about my journey (at least everyone who has never lived outside the U.S.), has stared at me like I’m NUTS!!! Their comments range from “why on earth would you go down there” to “are you bringing a gun”. Seriously?!? I personally believe there are two sides to every country…the political side, and the people side. What we see in the news here in America is all about the political side of things. How would you like to be judged as an individual by what people in other countries see on their news station every night? School shootings, police brutality, the social media ramblings of our leaders…you get my point? We forget that the “people” of every country, of every tribe, of every place on earth are no different than we are. “People” all around the planet have the same hopes and dreams we do. All they want in life is be healthy, to be happy, to fall in love, to raise a family, to have a good job, to enjoy life, and be a good neighbor.
My hope is that this video series will be fun, will be entertaining, will be educational, but more importantly, will show that people everywhere are full of goodness and kindness. I hope you’ll Subscribe to the channel and follow along. It’s going to be a WILD RIDE!!! And I’d love to share it with you. 🙂
In my younger days, I played on a tennis team at the Maybank Tennis Center with my good friend Jeff. His wife, Toni, is the tennis pro out there. Their son, Ryan, played on the pro tour for a little while. And their daughter, Kristen, now plays out of Maybank.
It was so great catching up with all of them (minus Ryan who lives in the upstate), during their family Christmas photo session at Hampton Park. This was also our first time meeting Kristen’s wonderful husband, Tony, and their beautiful daughter, Charlotte!
We were blessed with a gorgeous sunny day, and had so much fun capturing these beautiful memories for our friends. We love you guys! 🙂
It’s been a year or so since I photographed updated headshots and team photos for the Nautilus company in Mt. Pleasant. It was great seeing everyone again, and photographing the new members of their team!
After photographing all the headshots and group photos, I also captured some aerial drone images of their office and the surrounding views. They are located near Shem Creek, which is a beautiful part of Mt. Pleasant. With no wind, clear skies, and beautiful light, the aerial photos turned out great!
Everyone at Nautilus is always fantastic to work with. I’m already looking forward to our next shoot!!!
I had so much fun photographing the Veneman Family at Hampton Park this weekend! We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. Beautiful light and a beautiful family ALWAYS makes for a great combination!!! 🙂
Returning to photograph Earl Klugh’s 10th Annual Kiawah Weekend of Jazz was an honor and a pleasure! Being surrounded by such incredible music all weekend always lifts my spirits. And being able to capture dramatic images of such legends as Earl Klugh, Gladys Knight, Boney James, Christian McBride, and Kandace Springs gives me goosebumps every time I think about it!
When you have a client with a unique vision, a bucket full of holiday cheer, and a really great sense of humor, you just have to roll with it!!! 🙂
Captured with Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70, 4 SB-5000 Speedlights, 4 SB-800 Speedlights, Manfrotto tripod and light stands, Wesctott 60″ umbrellas, and Sony XQD cards.
When Shawn & Julie got engaged, everyone knew it was coming. They were just too perfect together for it NOT to happen! Cami and I were even more excited when they asked us to do the honor of photographing this special day for my nephew and his fiance!!!
Their wedding was held in Phoenix, a city that we’ve grown to love. When the big day arrived, Shawn & Julie got ready at the picturesque Talking Stick Resort, where they also shared a First Look before heading over to the wedding venue. The ceremony was held at this really cool rustic location called Desert Foothills Resort. It was an absolute dream location for photography, with an old wooden barn, beautifully decorated, and surrounded by wild cacti.
We had so much fun meeting Shawn & Julie’s friends and family who all came out to help them celebrate! Many thanks to Shawn’s brother, Tyler, who officiated the ceremony, to Anne and her family for all their hard work putting together the gorgeous decorations, to Dan & Linda for keeping everything running smoothly, to Lisa at the venue for all her help with planning, to Julian at Heidi’s Events and Catering, to DJ Eli for rockin’ the night away, and to Cami for all her help with navigating and being my lighting assistant!
CONGRATULATIONS Julie & Shawn! We wish you all be best as you begin your new journey together!!!
