On my way to photograph a huge conference in Orlando, I stopped to photograph some wildlife at the Orlando Wetlands. It was a beautiful evening, and the roseate spoonbill chicks were just popping their heads up out of the nests!
(All images shot with a Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 400mm f4.5, occasionally adding the Nikkor Z 1.4xTC for a little extra reach.)
It’s hard to believe it has been 8 years since I started photographing the Cyrus Family!!!
Each year, this beautiful family vacations on Kiawah Island, taking a break from their daily grind in Greenville to spend a week at the beach, making memories together. It has been such an honor for me to capture these memories for them year after year. Watching Mason and Emma grow into these amazing, happy, and healthy kids has truly been a joy!!!
This year we met at The Sanctuary Hotel. Between the butterfly garden, the enchanted forest, the spectacular architecture, and the gorgeous beach…this location truly offers a huge variety of great backdrops! It was a fantastic evening. And we all had so much fun together!!!
(Nikon Z9, Nikkor Z 24-120 f4S, Godox AD200 off-camera flash, and Manfrotto supports)
Every time I push my Nikon Z9 to the limit, I think…that’s as far as it can go. But then it SURPRISES ME!!!
This weekend I joined my brother and his family, to celebrate their oldest daughter graduating from Beavercreek High-school near Dayton, OH. The school is so big that they used The Nutter Center, which is a Wright State University facility, for their graduation.
Knowing it would be a huge venue, with relatively tight security, I brought my trusty Nikkor Z 400 f4.5 lens. This gave me the reach I wanted! However, at f4.5, I had to crank the ISO up to freeze the action. Many of these shots, including the ones of her crossing the stage, were shot at ISO 16,000. You read that right…SIXTEEN THOUSAND!!!
While the out-of-camera images were a little noisy, they still preserved an amzaing amount of detail and dynamic range. So that after running them through Lightroom’s AI Noise Reduction, they looked INCREDIBLE!!! While pixel-peeping on the computer, they look like they were shot on ISO 400. The technology in these cameras, and in the editing workflow we have these days, truly is remarkeable.
CONGRATULATIONS to Katie on graduating with high marks! She truly is an amazing, inteligent, and talented young lady.
Last week I had the pleasure of photographing Park Bend and several surrounding properties. This multi-building retail/office/flex project is strategically located across from Costco Wholesale within the Carolina Park Master-Planned community. It was designed by LFK Architects, built by Harbor Contracting, and is managed by the Grove Property Fund.
Grove Property Fund is a diversified private real estate company. Ed Navarro, the fund’s manager, has over 30 years of experience in real estate investment. The Fund’s property portfolio includes retail, mixed use, flex, industrial, office and land. I’ve included shots of the cleared land where the next phase of the Carolina Park expansion will take place.
Many thanks to Jenny at Gritty Gal Marketing for all her help coordinating this assignment!!!
It was a pleasure welcoming Attorney Ashley to the team at HSB Law today! She was on her 3rd day of orientation. And part of the process was getting her official headshot taken for the company website!
I set up a high-key backdrop lit with a single speedlight. I added a 60″ Westcott umbrella with 2 speedlights as my main light. And I balanced that with a 60″ Westcott umbrella with 1 speedlight on the other side of the camera as fill. Last but not least, I added a strip reflector under her chin to lift the shadows and help the eyes pop. I shot with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8 II.
Ashley was wonderful to work with, and the images came out great!!!
This was a fun project!!!
I recently started working with Harbor Contracting. I mean, I’ve known their marketing agent, Jenny at Gritty Gal Marketing for a loooong time. I photographed her beautiful wedding to Nate 13 years ago!!! It has been so much fun re-connecting with her, and teaming up together on these projects.
This most recent assignment was to cover 3 new commercial buildings they just completed along Slack Tide Drive on Johns Island. I know what you’re thining…Johns Island is getting over developed already. But this little patch is just off Maybank Highway and didn’t have much of an impact on the native flora and fauna, which is nice. Harbor Contracting did an amazing job! Each building is similar, but unique…with courtyards and walkways tying all of them together. The attention to detail and careful aesthetics was top notch!
I photographed the project with a Nikon Z9, Nikkor Z 14-30 f4, Nikkor Z 24-120 f4, and DJI Mavic 3 Pro. This versatile kit allows me to cover every angle for a variety of different shots!
I had the pleasure of photographing the Presidents Club Awards Banquet for Key Risk Insurance, held at the beautiful Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island. Set along the coast, the resort provided a relaxed yet upscale atmosphere that was perfect for celebrating the company’s top performers.
The evening brought together an outstanding group of professionals for a well-deserved celebration of excellence and achievement. From the moment guests arrived, there was a sense of excitement and appreciation in the air. Events like this are always a joy to photograph, as they strike a great balance between polished presentations and genuine, candid moments shared among colleagues.
Throughout the night, I focused on documenting a variety of moments. During cocktail hour, I set up a Portrait Station where each couple could get beautiful portraits in their elegant gowns and snappy suits! From there, we all moved into the ballroom, which looked fabulous! From candids during dinner, to the award presentations and speeches, to the in-between interactions that truly tell the story of the event…I had such a great time! Capturing those authentic connections is always one of my favorite parts of photographing corporate gatherings like this.
A big part of what made the evening run so smoothly was the incredible planning by Experience Holy City. Lee and her team are always fantastic to work with, and their attention to detail ensured that every aspect of the event came together seamlessly.
It’s always an honor to be trusted to document such meaningful celebrations, and I truly enjoyed working with the Key Risk Insurance team. The Presidents Club banquet was a wonderful evening from start to finish, and I look forward to the opportunity to work together again in the future.
Shot with Nikon Z9 (x2), Nikkor Z 24-70 f2.8 II, Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8 II, Godox V480 (x2), Godox AD200 (x2), Godox V860II (4), Manfrotto stands and supports.
“At SW+ we view ourselves as a partner in site design; working by our Clients’ side, with their goals in mind. This means we strive to fully understand their vision, approach their project with passion, continuously collaborate, produce quality plans, and engage in the construction process to help see the vision through.”
It was an absolute pleasure to photograph last night’s celebration, commemorating the 10-year milestond of the Summerville office! The reception was held at the beautiful pavilion in Ashley River Park. This was a project that SW+ worked hard on. So it was fitting that this reception was held under the gorgeous architectural designs of one of their projects.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Summerville office, and to the entire Seamon Whiteside team! SW+ celebrated their 40th Anniversary as a company last year!!!
To cover the event, I used a Nikon Z9 (x2), Nikkor Z 24-70 f2.8, Nikkor Z 70-180 f2.8, DJI Mavic 3 Pro. This setup allows me to work quickly, producing an incredible variety of extemely high quality images from such intimate events.
It never ceases to amaze me what cool and interesting places my camera gets me into!
Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of photographing a very non-descript building in a back lot off a remote cul-de-sac in North Charleston. Turns out this will be the new North Charleston Police Evidence Building!!! Yup…try getting into this facility in a few months once it is up and operational. I bet security will be like entering Fort Knox! Things were still very much under construction on the inside. But it was really cool to see all the movable shelving displays they were installing. There were separate secure rooms for things like firearms, drugs, DNA, and fingerprints. Just imagine what stories these four walls will be able to tell in 50 years!
Many thanks to Trident Construction for trusting me with another important assignment. Everything was shot with Nikon Z9, Nikkor Z 14-30 f4, and Nikkor 24-120 f4.
There’s something really special about reconnecting with old friends through photography, and this session at Hampton Park in downtown Charleston was one of those moments I’ll always appreciate. I first met Samantha years ago on a mission trip to Tanzania, and we’ve stayed close ever since. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of photographing some meaningful milestones for her, including her beautiful destination wedding in Arkansas.
Now a full-time veterinarian living in Maine with her husband, Samantha made a trip back to Charleston this week to reunite with two of her closest friends. Tiffany and Shanlee were both bridesmaids in Samantha’s wedding, so there was plenty of history and laughter to go around. The two sisters flew in from Arkansas, and the three of them created what felt like a reverse bachelorette party—just a relaxed, joy-filled time to reconnect and celebrate their friendship while exploring historic Charleston.
I’m grateful she asked me to commemorate this occasion for them with a fun photo shoot. I photographed the session using dual Nikon Z9 bodies, paired with the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 II and 70-200mm f/2.8 II lenses. A Godox AD200 in a medium octabox helped shape the natural light beautifully. It was a perfect afternoon, making memories with an incredible group of friends!
I had the pleasure of photographing the Academy of Engineers Awards Banquet held at The Citadel, one of Charleston’s most iconic and historic campuses. The event took place at the beautiful Holliday Alumni Center, providing an elegant setting that perfectly matched the prestige of the occasion.
The evening brought together an impressive group of engineers, leaders, and distinguished guests to celebrate outstanding achievements within the field. From the moment guests arrived, there was a strong sense of pride and camaraderie in the room. It’s always rewarding to document events like this, where meaningful recognition and genuine connections are at the forefront.
Throughout the banquet, I focused on capturing a mix of candid interactions, formal group photos, award presentations, and the overall atmosphere of the evening. The formal setting, combined with the energy of the attendees, created a great balance of polished moments and authentic expressions.
For this event, I worked with a dual-camera setup to ensure complete coverage. I used a Nikon Z9 paired with the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 II for versatility, while a Nikon Zf with the Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 II allowed me to capture tighter, more intimate moments from a distance. This combination gave me the flexibility to move seamlessly between wide scene-setting shots and close-up storytelling images.
Lighting was key in bringing the room to life. I used six Godox off-camera flashes strategically placed around the space to create consistent, flattering light on the stage and throughout the venue. These remote flashes were controlled from the Godox V480 flashes on each camera, and helped give the images more depth and dimension than would otherwise be possible with only using on-camera flash.
It was an honor to document such a meaningful evening, and I always enjoy working in a setting as timeless as The Citadel.
