Cripe Family on Kiawah Island

It rained all day…gray and dreary. But just before it was time to meet up with the Cripe Family for their family portrait session on Kiawah Island, the rain moved off and the skies cleared up!  🙂

Now living in Indianapolis, James had done his residency in Charleston at the Medical University of South Carolina years ago. So when they decided to take a little vacation, they decided to try Charleston!  The whole family had a great time relaxing on Kiawah Island, where little Caden absolutely fell in love with the ocean. We could hardly keep him out of it!

I had so much fun hanging our with this beautiful family, and capturing these fond memories of their time together. I think we’ll be seeing more of the Cripes in the future!!!

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Guin Family at The Sanctuary

I had so much fun photographing the Guin Family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island again this year. They have easily become one of my favorite repeat-families to work with!!! Everyone’s enthusiasm, encouragement, and positive energy is so refreshing! 🙂

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The Glahn Family at The Sanctuary

With only a few more weeks before school starts back, I’ve been having so much fun photographing all our repeat family beach sessions this summer. Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing a brand new family…and they turned out to be such a delight to work with!!!
 
I met up with the Glahn Family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, where they were enjoying a fun family get-away before their girls go back to school. With McKenna involved in dance, and Ryleigh into gymnastics, you can imagine how hectic this family’s life is back home! It was wonderful to see them decompressing from daily life, and truly enjoying their time together.
 
I couldn’t have asked for a prettier day. And I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful family to spend the evening with! Many thanks to Jimmy & Jen for selecting me to be their photographer. I hope they become one of our many fabulous “boomerangs” as they return each year to create new memories together!!!
 
P.S.  As an added bonus, I got to stop and photograph Comet Neowise again on my way home.  🙂

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PGA Media Day

I had the pleasure of photographing the PGA Championships on Kiawah Island back in 2012…before they ejected me for being where I shouldn’t. Some photographers are so annoying, always trying to be creative and trying to capture something unique. Why can’t they all just shoot the same boring images, from the same exact location as the other 50 photographers out there?!? 😉 Luckily, all is forgiven.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being the official photographer for the 2021 PGA Championships Media Day at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. Julius Mason, Senior Director of Public Awareness for the PGA, hosted the press conference. Special guests included former US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, Director of the PGA Championship, Scott Reid, President of Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Roger Warren, and Charleston Mayor, John Tecklenburg.

After an excellent presentation, panel discussion, and Q&A session, everyone was invited to a wonderful networking luncheon. With gloved hands and hightened security, the Wannamaker Trophy was placed on a beautiful wooden table just outside the lunch area where I had set up a photo station. It was a lot of fun photographing participants and seeing the excitement in their eyes as the pose with this historic hardware!

I’m looking forward to seeing some awesome golf in 20201!!!

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Jeff & Sarah’s Kiawah Island Surprise Proposal

After arriving early, carefully picking out “the spot”, and settling in to wait for Jeff’s surprise proposal to his beautiful girlfriend, Sarah, a group of a dozen middle-aged men in khaki shorts and Hawaiian shirts came walking down to the beach with beers in hand and a cooler in tow. I got REALLY nervous since Jeff had just texted that they were in the parking lot! Luckily, they were great guys and after hearing about the exciting moment that was about to transpire, they happily moved down the beach so as not to obstruct our beautiful backdrop. 🙂

Jeff, his father, and I have been secretly planning for this surprise proposal for a long time! After careful deliberation, we settled on the picturesque beach and grounds of the historic Ocean Course. It was so much fun working with them to pick out the PERFECT location for this very special moment in Jeff & Sarah’s lives.

Arriving right on cue after the group of kind gentleman had moved off, Jeff launched into a touching speech he had prepared for Sarah. I have no idea what was said, but he took his time and did it right. I could tell by the AMAZING reactions from Sarah afterwards!

Following the proposal, we had a great time photographing some fun engagement photos together around this gorgeous area on the far reaches of Kiawah Island. It was really neat getting to know these two. I loved how they couldn’t keep their eyes off each other…and how Sarah couldn’t stop smiling!

The excitement continued as we all zipped over to The Sanctuary for yet another surprise. There, waiting with applause and champagne, were both their families, exchanging hugs and high-fives to the new “celebrity couple”. Moving over to the Grand Staircase, we photographed a wide variety of family portraits, the first moments of Jeff & Sarah being welcomed into each other’s families!

It was truly an honor and a pleasure to be a part of beautiful afternoon in Jeff & Sarah’s lives!  CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Parikshak Family on Kiawah Island

A few days ago, I had the great pleasure of meeting the Parikshak family at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island to photograph their family reunion.

We had a beautiful afternoon with gorgeous light. With half the family coming in from North Carolina, and the other half from Indiana, it was great to see all of them together, renewing family bonds, and building new memories together!

The best part was, the night of the photo shoot was also Rita’s birthday. So after the photo shoot all the kids got to go have cake! Happy Birthday, Rita!!! 🙂

Sweigart Family Senior Portraits

It’s been five or six years since I last photographed the Sweigart Family. But I recognized them instantly…in spite of how much the kids have grown!

Back on Kiawah Island for vacation this summer, we met up at The Sanctuary to update their family portraits. Plus since their middle daughter, Kara, is going to be a senior in high-school, we thought it would be fun to capture some unique senior portraits for her. Being from Pennsylvania, this would give her some beautiful lowcountry scenery in her portfolio of images that none of her friends back home will have! 🙂

We lucked out with a GORGEOUS evening! Everyone was so much fun and so into the shoot! We came away with a wonderful set of photos to memorialize this special time in their family’s life!!!

Gilligan Family at The Sanctuary

I was so bummed last year when the Gilligans called to see if I could photograph their family portraits again, and I wasn’t available. I’d photographed their family the year before, and they were so much fun to work with! So this year when they called, I made sure to find a spot on the schedule for them! 🙂

We met at The Sanctuary, near the villa they had rented for the week. Although it had rained that afternoon, the skies cleared up just in time for us to have some beautiful light at the end of the day.

We had an absolute BLAST, and came away with so many fun memories from our time together!!!

Grandparents and Grandchildren

I had a lovely and unique photo shoot at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island this week!

While they were in town on vacation with the whole family, Debbie and Russell had asked for a very special photo shoot with JUST them and their grandchildren.  Normally these family photo requests include everyone in the family, of course. But I thought it was so special that these two love their grandkids so much that they wanted a private photo shoot of just them and their adorable little people. How cool is THAT?!?

We had an awesome time together. All the kids were fantastic. I could tell their was a very special bond between them!  🙂

Grindall Family at The Sanctuary

I absolutely love the Grindall family! They are such an amazing group of kind and generous human beings. I had so much fun catching up with them last night at our annual family beach shoot on Kiawah Island!!!  We started off in what I call the “Enchanted Forest” near The Sanctuary.  Then finished up on the beautiful beach in front.  We had an absolutely GORGEOUS day!!!  Here are a few of my favorites… 🙂

Earl Klugh’s Kiawah Weekend of Jazz

It was an absolute pleasure to be invited back to photograph Earl Klugh’s Weekend of Jazz at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island again this year. I always enjoy photographing this amazing event with my good friend Michael Cyra.

Besides the great Earl Klugh, other amazing artists on the stage included: Chris Botti, Peabo Bryson, Deniece Williams, Patti Austin, Najee, The Rippingtons, Adam Hawley, Al Turner, David Lee on the Rocks, Joe Alterman, and many more! As always, Richard Todd did a great job as Master of Ceremonies.

I’m already excited and looking forward to next year!!!

Alvarez & Marsal Healthcare Conference at Kiawah Island

Alvarez & Marsal is the consulting firm known for asking tough questions, listening well, digging in and getting their hands dirty. They are fact-driven and action-oriented. A&M uncovers and implement the right solution, at the right time, in the right way. They provides global leadership, problem solving and value creation for companies across industries and around the world.

This week I had the pleasure of photographing their annual conference at Kiawah Island Resort. All the meetings and social functions took place at The Sanctuary, one of the most amazing event spaces in town. One of my favorite keynote speakers was David Feherty, who enjoyed a successful professional golfing career, earning 10 victories, and competed in the 1991 Ryder Cup.

In addition to all the meetings and networking, the event included a few fun activities. The golf outing at the famed Ocean Course was a huge highlight! With Hurricane Michael bearing down on us, a beautiful window of sunlight opened up just long enough for everyone to complete their rounds on these historic greens.

Many thanks to Michelle and Shanna for including me in this amazing event. It truly was an honor to work with their incredible team!