It has been such a joy for me to capture Brendan’s surprise proposal to Nina (https://chrisandcami.com/brendans-surprises-nina-with-a-proposal/), photograph their beautiful wedding (https://chrisandcami.com/nina-brendan-at-holy-trinity-greek-orthodox-church/), and now preserve this truly miraculous time in their journey as they prepare to bring a new life into this amazing world.
CONGRATULATIONS Nina & Brendan! You two are going to be the most amazing parents ever!!! 🙂
I had so much fun photographing Alex & Anastasia’s beautiful Greek wedding several years ago: https://chrisandcami.com/anastasia-alex-are-married-at-the-greek-orthodox-church/. So I was SUPER excited when Anastasia called to ask if I would photograph their first family portraits!
Adorable Elora came into their lives just over 7 months ago. She is the sweetest girl with the most captivating smile. We literally had other families and tourists walking by that would stop to watch and grin (and even jump in to make goofy faces and silly baby sounds)…all because of Elora’s incredible cuteness!!!
Strolling around the colorful Rainbow Row, the cobblestone streets by Waterfront Park, and the old historic alleys gave us tons of great backdrops.
It was so much fun catching up with Alex & Anastasia…and getting to know their beautiful daughter! They are going to be the most amazing parents ever!!! And I can’t wait to watch Elora grow up to be another wonderful human like her parents.
I’ve had so much fun communicating with The Cohens to plan the perfect family portrait session for them.
Marilyn and Steve love their kids to pieces, and are so excited to have this wonderful reunion with them on Kiawah Island. But honestly, I think they are even more excited to have some special bonding time with their adorable grandson! 🙂
We met up at The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, near where they are staying for Spring Break. It was a beautiful evening. Little Ryan was adorable. We all had a BLAST!!! And we were rewarded with a gorgeous sunset!
I absolutely LOVE photographing repeat family sessions each year. It’s so much fun to watch the kids grow, see them come out of their shell, and experience their personalities blossoming!
Last night I met up with the Murray family once again at a beach house on Isle of Palms. I couldn’t believe how tall Parker had gotten in just one year!!! I also got to meet Anne’s sister and their family, which was awesome. It’s always fun to see families vacationing together and see the grandparents glowing with love for their grandkids!
We had a beautiful evening with gorgeous light to work with. Everyone had a great time as we captured a variety of fond memories together!
Maaany years ago in another lifetime, one of our bestest friends at High-Purity Standards was an adorable young lady named Andrea. Although we don’t see her as much anymore, we’ve never lost touch with the fond memories of our time together. So it was SUPER excited when Cody told me he’d gotten our name from Andrea! 🙂
Cody was calling to schedule a maternity portrait session for his beautiful wife, Sarah! She had broken her foot recently. They weren’t sure how it would work. But they really wanted to capture this special time in their lives! We picked Hampton Park as a beautiful backdrop with easy access to get Sarah around in a wheelchair since she still wasn’t allowed to put weight on her foot.
It turned out to be a GORGEOUS day!!! Sarah was absolutely stunning in her flowing hunter-green maternity gown, which really brought out her beautiful green eyes. Cody was awesome and clearly so proud to be a first-time Dad. I can just tell these two are going to be the most incredible parents to this wonderful child when it arrives next month. 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS Sarah & Cody! We wish you all the happiness in the world as you begin your new family together.
I owe a HUGE thank you to Pam at First Citizens Bank for referring us to Leslie & Colton!
Leslie works at First Citizens. So after Colton proposed to her and she started looking for a photographer, Pam gave her our information. I am SO GLAD she did because these two are an AMAZING couple!!!
We met up at the famous pineapple fountain in Waterfront Park. Wandering through the French Quarter, up to Rainbow Row, and back down the cobblestone streets of Adgers Wharf gave us so many beautiful backdrops to work with. Our grand finale on the dock overlooking Charleston Harbor and the iconic Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge coincided with the last glow of daylight. It was a PERFECT day with two beautiful human beings! I’m so honored that I got to meet and work with these two!!!
Leslie & Colton, we wish all the happiness in the world as you begin this new journey together…
After a wet and dreary couple days, it sure was great to have beautiful early morning sunlight for my photo session this Friday!
Tenet Physician Resources coordinated with me to set up at the Dodds Durst House to photograph a new team member for the East Cooper Medical Center. Rachel was a lot of fun to work with! She’s from Tennessee and joins the team as a nurse practitioner. She loves the doctor she’s working for. And the staff has made her feel right at home.
Using the warm early morning rays as a hair light, I augmented the natural sunlight with 4 speedlights. I attached a CTO gel on one Flashpoint, and placed it behind Rachel as a rim light to help even out the sun. The other three were mounted inside a Neewer octobox and placed on the opposite side from the sun to act as fill light and create a nice catch-light in the eyes. All images were shot on the new Nikon Z9 with 70-200 f2.8 VRII lens (using the FTZII adapter). Camera and lighting supports were provided by Manfrotto. ISO 250, f4.0, 1/160 sec.
CONGRATULATIONS to Rachel on joining a fantastic team!!!
Remember a little while back when I shared Hunter & Sydney’s AMAZING surprise proposal?!? https://chrisandcami.com/hunter-sydneys-surprise-proposal-at-white-point-garden/.
Well, Hunter got is papers and was deployed to a submarine based on the west coast. He’s been hard at work, preserving our freedom and serving his country with honor! Now his ship is returning to port and it’s time for Sydney to join him.
Before Sydney and her mom embark on a big cross-country trip to get her moved to California, they wanted to get one last family portrait session together! We met at The Citadel Beach Club on Isle of Palms on a beautiful blue-sky day. Everyone looked amazing! We had so much fun capturing a variety of shots of Sydney and her sisters, the family together, and of course their adorable grandson, Tanner!
Sydney, we wish you all the best for a safe journey and a joyful reunion with your best friend and the love of your life, Hunter!
We live in interesting times!!!
Photography certainly has evolved over the 40 years since I first got “hooked” with my Dad’s Pentax K1000. I photographed all through high-school as the senior yearbook photographer with that camera and a Rikoh KR-5, switching to the Pentax Program Plus and ME Super in college. I upgraded to medium format Mamiya 645 when I turned pro after college. When auto-focus technology arrived, I converted to Nikon N8008, N90, and F100. Things got really interesting when digital hit the scene. I was an early adopter with the D100, progressing to the D2x, D3, D4, D5, and many other variations in between. Most recently, the big change has been switching to mirrorless. I’m currently working with the Z9 and loving it!
But what’s really cool is how cameras and computers have become so integrated! Last week I had a fantastic time photographing a greenscreen event in New Orleans for one of our favorite clients, the US Grains Council! Similar to how the weatherman shows you the maps on TV, I used a green background that the computer would later drop out and replace with a digital background. With my D5 tethered to one laptop, Lightroom would instantly import the image. Then a special program from the awesome team at Photo Party Upload would watch that “hot folder” and pop the image up in an intuitive kiosk app. If the first laptop was still being used by the previous guest in the booth, I had a second laptop set up with the same kiosk app running on it for the next person to use. After getting their picture made, guests would go to one of the kiosks to choose which background image they wanted, and use the touchscreen to pinch and zoom their photo, placing themselves in the “scene” wherever they wanted. Finally, they could instantly share the final image on social media, or simply email it to themselves.
It was so much fun watching everyone get creative and have fun with the system! 40 years ago, if you had told me I’d be doing this king of “magic” with today’s technology, I would have told you you were crazy!!! 🙂
I got a call over a month ago from Jamey who was interested in booking a family photo session…with a twist! Jamey and her family were going to be vacationing on Isle of Palms. She wanted me to photograph their family portraits on the beach. At the same time, her oldest son, Lucas, was going to be proposing to his longtime girlfriend. She wanted to know if that could even be done, and how we might work it out so that Callie didn’t suspect anything. After sharing some ideas with Jamie, and talking it over with Lucas, a doubly-devious plan was hatched! 🙂
Lucas invited Callie to join his family on their beach vacation. Jamie booked the family portrait session with me, and told everyone (including Callie) what day and time they were all expected to be dressed and ready for photos. Arriving for the shoot that afternoon, I rang the bell at their beautiful beach house, and went inside to meet everyone. As introductions were being made, Jamey explained that she wasn’t ready yet and to go ahead and start with a few couple’s photo of Lucas & Callie. Callie & Lucas had just bought a house together, and had talked about getting a few photos of them made during the family session that they could hang in their new home. So this all seemed totally natural to Callie.
After photographing a nice variety of couple’s shots for them, I suggested some casual candids of them holding hands and walking down the beach. We picked a spot where they would turn around. This was Lucas’ cue. He and I had pre-arranged which side he would walk on, which way he would turn, and how to drop to one knee at the turning point to completely catch Callie off guard.
It worked like MAGIC!!! Lucas did a fabulous job of hitting his mark. Callie was completely surprised by the whole thing! And I just fired away, catching every moment of the excitement! After she said “YES”, Callie & Lucas came back down the beach towards me. At this point, Luca’s parents and his younger brother, who were all hiding back at the boardwalk, came running out to join them and congratulate them!
We still had plenty of light left to photograph a variety of family portraits. And we capped off the session with some gorgeous shots of Lucas & Callie (with a sparkly new diamond on her finger) in the dramatic setting sun. BUT WAIT!!! The surprise wasn’t over yet!
After we got back to the beach house, Lucas told Callie she should go ahead and call her parents to let them know the good news. Little did Callie know, her parents had secretly arrived in town the day before. While I was out photographing the “couples photos”, Jamey called them to say the coast was clear. They then snuck into the house while we were doing the family photos, and hid upstairs. When Callie face-timed her Mom, she answered and pretended she didn’t have a clue. Thinking her parents were miles away in Georgia, Callie excitedly began sharing the “big news” of how Lucas had asked her to marry him. While she was mid-sentence, Callie’s parents magically appeared on the staircase coming down towards her!!! The look of utter disbelief on her face was simply priceless!
What an AMAZING honor it was to capture Lucas’ Surprise Proposal to Callie!!! Congratulations to Jamey and Lucas for pulling off a massive DOUBLE surprise! And CONGRATULATIONS to Callie & Lucas!!! They are an absolutely adorable couple! We wish them all the happiness in the world as they begin this new journey together…
The Commodity Classic is America’s largest farmer-led, farmer-focused agricultural & educational experience! It’s a massive 3-day event where farmers gather every year to find the answers, solutions, and information they need to gain greater clarity and vision for their farm’s success.
This weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing the 2022 conference and trade-show for the US Grains Council. They are an amazing organization, focused on developing markets for American corn, barley, and sorghum…enabling trade…and improving lives. The 3-day program was held at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. With over 7,000 attendees, it was a huge success!!!
(All images captured with Nikon Z9, Nikkor 24-70 f2.8 S, and Lexar XQD cards.)
Prior to the deliver of my Z9 from NPS, I had a chance to borrow my friend Gary’s for an event. It was a chilly evening, with extremely low-light conditions. So I figured it would be the PERFECT test for this new flagship camera from Nikon!
The event was held at the beautiful yet rustic Hart Meadows Ranch on John’s Island. I arrived early to get a couple shots with the drone as the sun set over the horizon. I had about 30 minutes of twilight after that to get some establishing shots during “blue hour” before guests arrived. It was a new moon. So after that it was completely dark except for the string lights, up-lighting, and bonfires dotted around the property.
I slung my tried-and-true D5 on one hip, and Gary’s Z9 on the other. That way I could do a real-world comparison between the two models, switching back and forth as needed. I carried the 14-24 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, and 105 f2.8 Micro. These were all Nikkor F-mount lenses to keep things consistent, using the FTZ adapter to mount them on the Z9.
It was a fantastic evening! The Z9 was AMAZING. For example, the shots of Tiera Kennedy, who is an incredibly talented up-and-coming country artist from Nashville, were shot at ISO 8000!!! Yet the files look incredibly sharp and noise-free. When there was enough light, the new Eye-detect Auto Focus was pretty awesome. However, it did struggle to acquire focus in pitch black conditions where I had to use flash. I don’t know why mirrorless cameras don’t “see” the Infrared Auto Focus Assist beam from our flashes! Can anyone answer this? That is my ONLY wish for the Z9 is that it could see that AF Assist beam when things are pitch black. Maybe I needed to switch to a different auto-focus mode. But I usually ended up just pulling out the trusty D5 for those conditions.
Other than that, the Z9 performed flawlessly! I didn’t want to give it back to Gary that night on my way home. HA!!! And I’m excited to finally have received mine from NPS last week. 🙂
