Chris & Mandi’s Secret Proposal at Middleton Place

I feel like a SPY!!!

Chris and I have been in cahoots for several weeks now, planning his really cool surprise wedding proposal to Mandi. Chris is an incredible guy! Everything he’s planned out, down to the finest details, has all been to make Mandi the happiest girl in the world. I think it’s so honorable when a man does that for his future bride!!!

Yesterday, the big day finally arrived! It was Mandi’s birthday. Chris had planned it that way so she wouldn’t suspect he was proposing until the last minute…pretty sneaky! They drove down for a fun weekend get-away to Charleston. The first stop on their list was to visit Middleton Plantation for a relaxing tour of the gorgeous gardens before their dinner reservations.

Before they arrived, I took all the picnic items, and the painted pumpkins, and set them up under the oak tree Chris had selected for “the spot”. With eyes on the target, I was able to follow the Mandi & Chris as they strolled around the grounds, sneaking a few shots as they went. Once they began approaching the picnic area, I got myself hidden and waited for them to come into view

With heart pounding and hands sweating, I gripped the camera and captured a ton of great shots as Chris asked Mandi to be his wife! Photographing all the cute moments of their picnic was a delight. Finally I came out of hiding so that we could create some beautiful engagement photos of them in the gorgeous “Magic Hour” right before sunset!

CONGRATULATIONS Mandi and Chris! May your lives be full of joys too numerous to count!!!

Amanda & Alicia’s Lifestyle Shoot

With all the mayhem leading up to their BEAUTIFUL wedding (which was featured in Borrowed & Blue by the way), Amanda, Alicia, and I didn’t get a chance to photograph their engagement session. So instead, Amanda had this really creative idea to do a post-wedding “lifestyle” shoot in their home! We had SO MUCH FUN hanging out and creating these awesome images of life, love, family, and togetherness!!!

Getting to Know your Nikon

Although I’m actually quite non-denominational, most folks know I’m a Nikon Afficionado. I love all the other brands, and have taught plenty of workshops where I had to even show Canon folks a thing or two on THEIR cameras. But I’ve been a Nikonian ever since my old film days.
Last weekend I had a wonderful group of folks take my “Getting to Know your Nikon” class, sponsored by the Charleston Center for Photography! We had a great time learning menus and technical junk. But to me, a class is no fun if you can’t have a little “play” time! 🙂
My friends, David & April, have four adorable daughters. Mary Catherine just happens to LOVE being in front of the camera…as she should since she’s an absolute natural model! “Mimi”, as we call her, has modeled for me before and is always amazing to work with. So I invited her to come be our model for a short “shout-out” at the end of the class.
For lighting, I built a hexagonal “beauty box” out of 6 remote Speedlights, all firing through umbrella diffusers. I love the catch-light in Mimi’s eyes from this light! We all had so much fun! And of course the class went way over it’s schedule ending. But we were enjoying our time together too much to stop. After all, this is what learning is all about…creating beautiful images!!!
If you missed the class and are interested in joining the next one, let me know. Maybe the next one should be about flash photography?!?
Many thanks to Robbin Knight for letting us use his studio space, to Mahmood Fazal at the Center for Photography for organizing everything, and to April Price for loaning us her beautiful daughter!

Light Bending 411

I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Patty Hallman and the Professional Photographers of South Carolina for inviting me to teach my “Light Bending 411” wireless lighting workshop in Columbia yesterday!  We had about 30 AMAZING photographers there.  I loved working with our three gorgeous models.  Erika is an incredibly elegant creative dancer.  Her young prodigy, Lea, was simply beautiful.  And Megan was such a gorgeous bride.  Last but not least, a special thank you to the crazy group from Charleston that drove up to participate.  It was great to have a few familiar faces in the crowd!!!  More to come soon…

NASA Does Nikon

NASA just ordered 11 new Nikon D3 bodies as well as several 14-24mm f2.8 lenses. The new gear will be used to document the daily life within the program and on the space station. They join the D2x bodies and a plethora of Nikkor lenses and accessories already in use.
Since I primarily use D3 and D2x bodies with a lineup of all Nikkor lenses, I think I’m in good shape. 🙂
All images courtesy of NASA

Lens Lust

OK, so I’ve been suffering from a little bit of “Lens Lust” the last few months. I was searching for a smaller, lighter, telephoto for situations where I didn’t nead the hefty Nikon AFS VR 70-200 f2.8. The new Nikon AFS VR 105mm f2.8 Micro fit the bill EXACTLY! As an added bonus, it’s a highly regarded close-up lens. It features a non-rotating front, Internal Focus (IF), Vibration Reduction (VRII), the fast Silent Wave Focusing Motor (SWM), and focuses from infinity to an astounding life-size (1:1) ratio. Best of all, it boasts a high-resolution/high optical performance with Nano Crystal Coat and Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass elements, which enhance overall image quality by further reducing flare and chromatic aberrations, contributing to improved color, contrast and clarity. This lens recently won the TIPA Award For Best Professional Lens. In a nut shell…this baby is fast, versatile, and sharp…just what the doctor ordered. 🙂

Flash Freeze

I created this image at Erin & Jason’s wedding last week. Everyone was marveling at how dramatic the moon was that night. It didn’t take much prodding to get Erin & Jason to join me for a daring adventure to capture that drama in an image of them! 🙂

Working with a minimalist amount of gear, I had my two Nikon D3’s, each fitted with a Nikon SB-900, plus one remote SB-800 on a Bogen 3333 stand I had used earlier for group photos.
I set the SB-800 off on camera right, zoomed to 70mm to concentrate the beam of light on them. I took the SB-900 off one camera and flipped it to remote mode (I LOVE how quickly you can switch modes on the 900 vs. the 800). This one was placed behind the couple for a rim light. I positioned Erin & Jason so that the street light in the distance was behind her veil. And there’s some landscape lighting on the famous Pineapple Fountain I liked.
To pick up the ambient light of the moon, street lamp, and landscape lighting, I used ISO 1600, f2.8. Even so, I was at 1/30th of a second. I was using the D3 with the 70-200. I had no tripod with me. So you’re probably thinking at that slow a shutter speed, this image is going to be blurry, right? Well, by carefully placing Erin & Jason so that all the ambient light was behind them, the couple was pretty much pitch black at this point. The only light hitting them from the camera side was the off-camera SB-800. This is VERY IMPORTANT! By doing this, I am essentially using the high-speed burst of light from the strobe to FREEZE them in place. At this point, the shutter speed of the camera is only affecting the ambient light, it has nothing to do with the exposure of the main subject. So even hand-holding that long lens at such a slow shutter speed, Erin & Jason are as sharp as a tack!
And that’s how you use Flash Freeze to save your behind when you don’t have a tripod with you! 🙂