Summer is not the ideal time for taking family portraits, but sometimes you just have to fit it into the schedule, and this is the only time that works. Even at 7pm, the sun is still high in the sky and the temperatures are close to 90 degrees in Charleston, never mind the humidity. All of that said, this family did great. The kids were engaged and cooperative, and Mom and Dad never lost their sense of humor.
The marsh was not my intended subject matter. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you planned them, quite often in fact. I had decided to drive down to Edisto to do some long exposure photography at low tide, but conditions were less than ideal. Too many biting bugs, too few clouds, too many people, etc. I was determined to justify the (high) cost of gas plus my time so I needed to come away with something, anything! These were my despondent thoughts as I trudged back from the beach in the heat to the car across the stretch of marsh. As I stopped to swat yet another bug and set my camera bag down for a moment, I grabbed a couple of sweeping shots as a last ditch attempt to redeem the afternoon. Actually these two I like, and I did learn something from them too, ways to improve the technique. So, it is what it is. Can’t win ’em all. Kinda like golf.
This event was held at the Hanahan Amphitheater last weekend. A bunch of Christian rock groups from mostly Southeastern states entertained the public from 11am in the morning to 11pm that evening. Folks had also set up booths and tents offering merchandise and counseling/prayer, and there were also fun activities for the kids. Great family friendly stuff and everyone had a good time.
Sometimes, when the tide is slack and there is no breath of wind, the water so perfectly mirrors the sky that it’s hard to figure what is sky and what is water, what is physically before you and what is a mirror image. This was just one of those evenings.
Seven year old Torah stopped by the studio to get some photos taken the other day. Just love this spunky kid.
I photographed Sarah when she was pregnant with Jenna about 10 years ago. This lovely young lady is now nine years old. One of the things I most enjoy about portrait photography is the challenge of communicating personality and emotion. These images show so clearly the affection between these two. Thanks Sarah for choosing me through the years to document this journey.
It was a pleasure to have these two sisters in the studio the other day for some updated headshots. Gosh, I love what I do!
After spending some days in the Brevard area of North Carolina, I wandered back over the state line into upstate South Carolina where I stayed at a wonderful B&B in Salem called Sunrise Farm. Such fun to walk out of the door before sunrise and capture the light as it rakes across the pastures and signals the dawn of another day. Of course many farm people wouldn’t understand why this would be a big deal, but for a city girl, it’s a treat. Here are a few images from early this morning. These last few days of fall in the mountains have been amazing, but tomorrow it’s back to Charleston and the low country, home.
Last Saturday morning has got to have been one of 2021’s photographic highlights. We had scheduled an early morning trip out on the water off Wadmalaw Island to photograph shore birds and shrimp trawler activity. This was nothing new, but rarely do conditions come together to offer the best weather, light winds, gentle tides, and great subject activity, the subjects being the birds and shrimp trawlers. It was hard to pick a few images to showcase here, because we came back with hundreds of keepers. The thrill of a successful morning more than makes up for the many early rises and time spent drifting on the water in less than perfect conditions, having spent hard earned cash for pitiful results. This is the challenge of photography. The outcome is never a given, but this was a treat. Thanks to photographer, naturalist, and boat captain extraordinaire Eric Horan. You can find information about his lowcountry tours here: https://horanphoto.com/lowcountry-photo-tours-adventures
This past weekend, a friend and I took a brief respite from the Charleston humidity and spent a couple days in Tryon, NC. We had mapped out a couple of waterfalls we planned to visit while in the area, both just over the state line in South Carolina. The first one, Wildcat Falls on the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway (SC 11) is very accessible from the roadside and consists of a lower and upper falls. I converted the lower falls photo into black and white IR. The next stop was Twin Falls in Sunset, SC and what a surprise that was! I was astonished to see how much water was cascading over the top. There were more like 4 or 5 falls because of increased volume due I guess to summer storms in the area. Beautiful sight.
