Toni & Billy expand the Summerville Flowership

It was such a joy to reconnect with our old friends Toni and Billy this week!

We’ve known Toni for a very long time…since way back when she and Cami worked at the same company. And we’ve known Billy since we photographed their wedding. It was great to see them again and photograph some new marketing photos for their beautiful business at the Summerville Flower Shop! Toni and Billy recently expanded and moved to this gorgeous new location. We love it!!!

Toni is an incredibly gifted florest. We are so happy that you found your true calling my friend! If anyone needs a great florist…we highly recommend contacting Toni and her team @SummervilleFlowerShop!!!

NASCAR 350, Powered by Ethanol

Sometimes I have to pinch myself. It truly is hard to believe I get picked to photograph some of the cool assignments I get!!!

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of photographing the NASCAR Iowa Corn 350, Powered by Ethanol, at the Iowa Speedway on Rusty Wallace Drive outside Des Moines. I was shooting for the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA), which is the title sponser of the race. The best part about that is I get carte blanch to go just about anywhere I want and photograph every aspects of the day. I bounce around from the VIP tent to the Club suite, from Midway with all the vendor trucks to the infield with all the team garages, and of course the race itself from inside and outside the track. I cover the pre-race festivities like VIP presentations, pace-car rides, pre-race concert, behind-the-scenes appearances, driver introductions, and more. I’m one of only 2 photographers that gets to cover the most famous words in the racing world…”Gentlemena, start your engines”. Then we literally RUN off the track and out of harm’s way. Once the race starts, I’m constantly moving around, looking for unique angles and interesting subjects. And of course after the race is over, I get to cover all the celebrations at the end!

The Iowa Speedway where the race is held is a 7/8-mile oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa…approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Des Moines. The track was designed with influence by Rusty Wallace, who patterned it after Richmond Raceway, a short track where Wallace saw a lot of success during his racing days. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered Recreational Vehicle viewing area along the backstretch. The track hosts the NTT IndyCar Series and NASCAR events.

This year’s Iowa Corn 350 was held on August 3, 2025, at Iowa Speedway, contesting over 350 laps around the D-shaped oval. It was the 23rd race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. William Byron won the race. Chase Briscoe finished 2nd, and Brad Keselowski finished 3rd. Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five, and Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top ten.

Many thanks to the amazing team at ICGA for all their hard work planning and organizing this incredible event. It was such an honor capturing all the energy and excitement of the day for them!!!

The Cape on Kiawah Island for Trident Construction

Today was a beautiful fall day to be outside in the sunshine, photographing landscapes on Kiawah Island. But it wasn’t THAT kind of landscape photography!

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of photographing The Cape, a beautiful new condo complex on Kiawah Island, for Trident Construction. At the time, building was still under way. I was there primarily to photograph the interiors and amenities that had been completed in building 600. But there was still a ton of construction debris everywhere. And the landscaping hadn’t had a chance to fill in yet. So on this trip, the client asked me to focus on getting some exterior “beauty shots” now that construction is complete and the landscaping is looking lush. Fall flowers were in bloom, birds and butterflies were everywhere, and the sweetgrass was on full display!

Many thanks to Gracie and the team at Trident Construction for all their help on this project!!!

Kaitlin’s Bridal Portraits in Downtown Charleston

Kaitlin & Stevie were married in a lovely ceremony at Founder’s Hall this past weekend. You may recall I had the honor of photographing their awesome engagement shoot at the Lagare Waring House several months ago: https://chrisandcami.com/kaitlin-stevies-engagement-at-the-lagare-waring-house/. I am FINALLY able to share with you the fabulous bridal portraits of Kaitlin that we photographed in downtown Charleston, which have been under wraps until Stevie was able to see his beautiful bride in her gorgeous gown on their special day!!!

Rosen Hagood Charleston Office

Last week I had the pleasure of going back to Rosen Hagood law firm to photograph headshots for new attorneys that have joined the team. Their marketing group prefers I photograph everyone as a 3/4-lengh portrait, giving their graphic artists options for using the images in marketing material….while still being able to zoom in and crop headshots out of these photos for the website. This is one of the many reasons I love shooting with the Nikon Z9. The high-resolution 45MP sensor on Nikon’s flagship camera gives my clients PLENTY of pixels to play with so that they can kill two birds with one stone!

(Nikon Z9, Nikkor Z 70-100 f2.8, Godox/Flashpoint AD200 flash, Manfrotto supports, Westcott 60″ umbrellas)

Seamon Whiteside Columbia Office

Seamon Whiteside is expanding! I’ve photographed headshots, team photos, marketing shots, and of course a ton of their engineering projects throughout North and South Carolina. I’ve done photos at their offices in Mt. Pleasant, Greenville, Charlotte, Spartanburg…and now they are opening a new one in Columbia!

It was my pleasure to meet up with the founding members of the new Columbia office at The Horseshoe on the University of South Carolina Campus (USC). We strolled around, found some nice backdrops, captured a variety of headshots, and photographed some team photos. Plus one of the guys from the Charlotte office joined us to get his headshot taken as well!

Many thanks to Brittany for helping organize everyone’s schedules to make this happen…

High-Key Headshots for Bridge Commercial

I photograph high-key headshots for a lot of firms in Charleston. That clean, modern, all-white background just seems to be a popular choice for many companies. Plus it’s also an easy background to knock out in Photoshop if your marketing team wants to change the background to something else. I know the Rosen Hagood law firm does that with all the high-key portraits I shoot for them.

Periodically, companies will switch up their marketing or change their web-design, and ask me for a different background to go with their new “look”. But I’ve been working with Bridge Commercial for probably over a decade and they just continue to love the simple and elegant look of the high-key background. What’s not to like?!?

The key to lighting a high-key portrait is the background light. If you don’t light the background separately from the subject, even the whitest background will still come out looking dull. That’s because of the inverse square law of light. As you can see in my setup, I’ve got two speedlights on the left-side stand as my main light, which is Group A. I’ve got one speedlight on the right-side stand as my fill light, which is Group B. The power ratios in both groups are about the same. But having one speedlight instead of two naturally gives me half the amount of light, providing a pleasing ratio between the highlights and the shadows on my subject. Finally, I’ve got one speedlight on the stand behind the subject, aimed at the center of the background. The ratio on this light is double the others because I want the background to be nice and bright.

(Nikon Z9, Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8, Godox/Flashpoint transmitter and speedlights, Manfrotto supports, Westcott 60″ umbrellas, and a twist-flex white background)

Headshtots for Premier Physical Therapy

It was a real pleasure to meet and photograph Darien for Premier Physical Therapy. She was super sweet and fun to work with. Her heritage is from Honduras. So I got to practice a little Spanish, which was awesome. Jill is the owner of Premier Physical Therapy. I’ve been photographing headshots and marketing photos for her and her team for a very long time. And I have to say, she always seems to find the nicest people to join her staff!!!

Spartanburg Trails and other Commercial Development Projects

After photographing headshots and marketing photos for the Seamon Whiteside team in Spartanburg, I had the pleasure of capturing a number of their engineering projects for them around town. From all the new trails they’ve added to the city’s vast rails-to-trails Daniel Morgan Trail System, to multifamily apartment complexes, from healthcare centers to municipal buildings, from commercial restoration projects to multi-use facilities…it was really neat to see all the rejuvination they are bringing to Spartanburg. Plus it was a great way to get to know this beautiful South Carolina City that, which up until this point I had known very little about!

Seamon Whiteside – Spartanburg Team

It’s been my pleasure to work with the Seamon Whiteside engineering firm over many years. Last week I had the pleasure of photographing their team at the Spartanburg office!!!  I really enjoyed exploring this beautiful South Carolina town.

Eva’s Bat Mizvah Reception at the Segra Club at Riley Park

After Eva’s heartfelt Bat Mitzvah ceremony at KKBE Synagogue, we all reconnected at the Segra Club at Riley Park, which is a really cool event venue at The Joe baseball stadium. Perched above Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, enclosed by glass walls with unparalleled views of the Ashley River marsh and the home field of the Charleston RiverDogs, this was the perfect location to celebrate such a special day for Eva and her family!

Arriving early to capture some detail and drone shots, I then met up with Eva and her family for a few family portraits before guests arrived. Victoria, the event manager at Segra Club, gave us exclusive access to the field and the dugout for some really cool shots! Returning to the event space, beautifully decorated by Sha Sha at Loluma, it was so much fun to see the excitement on everyone’s faces as they began arriving. Soon the place was packed with an air of excitement, love, and friendship!

After a warm introduction and welcome by Eva’s parents, the Segra Club’s kitchen opened up some incredibly tasty food stations. Betsey from Pop the Bubbly Events did an awesome job keeping everyone organized and on-schedule. And Josh from Charleston Event Pros cranked the tunes and kept the party rockin’ all night long! My favorite part came when he turned up “Hava Nagilah”, kicking off the traditional circle dance, before Eva and her family were hoisted up into the air one by one on a chair. The Hora is a symbolic tradition that celebrates the Bat Mitzvah, expressing everyone’s joy and support for Eva!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Eva!!! This evening truly was an amazing celebration of your life, and the beautiful young woman you have become…

Eva’s Bat Mizvah at KKBE Synagogue

I had the absolute pleasure of capturing Eva’s bat mitzvah at the beautiful KKBE Synagogue in downtown Charleston this weekend. From the moment I arrived, the vibrant energy and joyful spirit of the celebration were contagious.

I met up with Eva and her family early that morning to capture a few family portraits and individual shots of Eva. She was beautifully dressed in a lovely blue floral pattern. Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue has a gorgeous old historic campus with great backdrops for photography. KKBE is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located on Hassel Street. Having founded the congregation in 1749, it is known as the first Reform synagogue located in the United States.

After family portraits, everyone went inside to prepare for the ceremony. Eva was radiant, and her smile lit up the entire sanctuary as she read from the Torah, marking an important milestone in her spiritual journey. The synagogue’s stunning architecture provided a gorgeous backdrop for heartfelt photos of this special day, capturing both intimate moments and lively celebrations. It was clear that Eva and Rabbi Alexander had a close connection. Several touching moments between student and rabbi, as well as between Eva and her parents, brought me close to tears. But when Eva and her little sister embraced after Nora helped her big sis cover the Torah, I lost it! There is nothing so touching as the love between two sisters.

Following the ceremony, we headed to the fellowship hall for a Kiddush lunch, where the atmosphere was full of love, laughter, and excitement. Guests gathered around tables laden with delicious traditional foods, sharing stories and creating memories. I loved documenting the candid interactions and joyful expressions that truly showcased the significance of this occasion for Eva and her family. It’s always a privilege to be part of such meaningful events.  And I’m grateful to have been able to preserve these precious memories for this wonderful family. Moments like these remind me why I love my job—celebrating faith, family, and community through my lens.

Later that evening, we all met for a fun reception at the Segra Club above The Joe! But that’s a story for another post…