Natalie is a bright, beautiful, and bubbly young lady!
It’s hard to believe that Scott & Sheri’s little girl is all grown up. Where does the time go!?! But we had a BLAST this weekend, photographing some wonderful Senior Portraits for this amazing girl with a big heart and a bright personality!
CONGRATULATIONS Natalie! We wish you all the joy in the world as you complete your senior year of high-school, and embark on whatever wonderful journey lies ahead!!!
Last weekend I had an awesome invitation to photograph the popular CrossFit Charleston box in Mt. Pleasant. New owners, Holly and Clint, have done an INCREDIBLE job with the place!
The workouts are tough, but scalable to anyone’s level of fitness. They have every bit of technology and equipment one needs for peak performance. But the best part is the comradery among all the participants. Everyone was so encouraging of one another…helping to motivate each other…and partnering together for extra teamwork on certain exercises.
CONGRATULATIONS Holly & Clint! You are changing lives and making Mt. Pleasant a healthier place to live!!!
Reid is one of my FAVORITE “creative collaborators” in Charleston!!! She is so artistic and has such a great sense of humor!
One day while out exploring on my motorcycle, I found this amazing old church ruins with a decaying piano in the middle of the sanctuary. I pitched the idea of a fun fashion shoot to Reid. She loved it! Wrangling her three beautiful daughters, Sydney, Jackie, and Trinity to model for us, the game was on. They brought their beautiful pet boa constrictors, great props like the vase of old dead roses, and some outlandish outfits from places like Goodwill and who-knows-where!
We had an absolute BLAST and came away with a fun collection of images. Many thanks to Reid and our three gorgeous models!!!
Having photographed her older sister’s newborn session a couple years ago, it was a distinct honor to be able to finally meet little Lucy, and photograph HER newborn portraits this week! 🙂 CONGRATULATIONS Claire & Doug. She is absolutely beautiful!!!
It’s been 5 years since I last had the honor of photographing the Rogers Family. My oh my have Lucas & Tessa grown!!!
We met up for a fun family session at Hampton Park. It was a beautiful afternoon with gorgeous light and perfect temperatures. We had SO MUCH FUN!!!
I’m thrilled to be able to share some of my favorite shots from my time this adorable family. 🙂
I woke up this morning before the alarm…butterflies in my stomach…excitement in my veins. It wasn’t for me. The anticipation of being a part of Matt’s Surprise Proposal to his beautiful girlfriend, Ally, had my adrenaline pumping before my feet hit the floor. It’s hard to believe that 9 years of dating had finally led these two soulmates to this perfect moment!
Matt and I have been secretly corresponding for weeks…planning out every detail of this AMAZING day! We selected a gorgeous avenue of oaks at the picturesque Magnolia Plantation & Gardens. Arriving early, I got all set up and settled into my hiding spot. A small group of tourists walked by and, hesitant at first, asked me why I was hiding in the bushes. After I explained my situation, the men wandered off slightly bemused, while the ladies burst into smiles and giggles, chattering among themselves as they strolled on: “isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard of?!?”
Matt and Ally arrived right on cue! The first shot of them walking towards “the spot” cracks me up. You can see Matt’s brain is on high alert as he scans the brush to get a bead on my location. But more importantly, I LOVE ALLY’S REACTION when Matt dropped to his knee and asked her to be his wife!!! 🙂
After she said “Yes”, the three of us enjoyed a wonderful stroll around the plantation, stopping to photograph authentic Engagement Photos along the way. It was a beautiful morning with perfect fall temperatures and gorgeous southern light. We had a BLAST!!!
CONGRATULATIONS Ally & Matt! You guys are a very special couple. I am truly honored to be forever linked to this beautiful day in your lives!!!
I love photographing on overcast days. The light is soft, the colors are saturated, and the subjects don’t squint as much. But sometimes the images come out a little flat and lack impact…kinda just blah. Fortunately, I have a great little tip to keep all the benefits of the soft natural light, but add a little extra POP back into the image.
Here’s a little technique I call “Speedlight Sunset”. My preferred setup is to work with 2 or 3 speedlights mounted together on my home-made triple-threat flash bracket. Having multiple flashes ganged together provides me with extra power, directionality, and versatility when needed. But you can definitely do this with just one speedlight as well.
Instead of using your wireless off-camera flash as a fill or main light, place it far back behind your subject in the corner of the frame. For best effect, I try to have it shining through a background element like some low-hanging leaves or a clump of Spanish moss. This serves to obscure the true source of the light, and also defuse the quality of the light so that it looks more like the real thing. For best effect, you should also add a CTO gel over the flash. Also known as Color Temperature Orange, this piece of plastic changes the color of the light source to a deep warm tone, like that of a setting sun.
I prefer to trigger my wireless off-camera flashes with radio waves. Nikon’s built in Creative Lighting System is free and will do the job up to a certain distance as long as the Master flash and the Remote flash can see each other. But to place your flash further distances away, or hide it behind leaves and trees, you’ll need a radio triggering system. I sometimes use RadioPoppers to trigger my older Nikon SB-800 flashes. PocketWizard is another great solution that’s out there. But with the new Nikon D5 (as in this case) and Nikon D500 cameras, I can remotely trigger my Nikon SB-5000 flashes via the built-in AWL (Advanced Wireless Technology). I just plug in the WR-R10 Remote Controller, and away we go!
Many thanks to Kelli and Tom for being so much fun to work with on their beautiful maternity shoot. Check out more of their images and see more samples of this Speedlight Sunset at: https://chrisandcami.com/kelli-tom-at-hampton-park/.
I hope this helps open up some ideas and possibilities for taking your images to the next level. Speedlights are small, light, and portable. But they can make a HUGE difference in the quality and creativity of your images!
