One of my favorite parts about the summer is taking summer beach portraits at one of the gorgeous beaches here around Charleston. The beach is a perfect, relaxed setting where there’s plenty of room for kids to move and run free. And it’s nearly impossible to keep the kids out of the water by the end of the session, they are just drawn to it!
Here are a few of my recent favorites from the Postell family, whom we photographed one morning at the crack of dawn to avoid the bright sun and oppressive heat. They were troopers for getting up so early!
I have been photographing Nikki since her first birthday and her portrait sessions have become a yearly event I look forward to! The first time I met her, I deemed her the “Happy Baby” as all she did was smile, smile, smile and look adorable. You can see photos from her first birthday here.
Last year, we met up on a hot summer day at Waterfront Park for her photo session. She’d grown into an active little 2 year old and I chased her all around while her mom blew bubbles. It was a lot of fun! Those fun photos are here.
This year, the “Happy Baby” is not a baby anymore, but a happy 3 year old with a birthday party at the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry. Nikki and her friends gathered for a parade through the museum, cake and time to explore the awesome Children’s Museum. It has a pirate ship, a pretend grocery store, a castle, art area and more.
I started photographing “Baby B’s” mom back in March for her maternity portraits, back when I was in my first trimester and was in wonder of what it is like to be pregnant. Soon after little “B” was born, we did his newborn photos and put together a canvas collection, you might remember them from here. And now, it’s already time for his 3-month portraits!
I love seeing how he has plumped up and makes eye contact with camera. His personality is starting to come out and he is still very happy to go with the flow and is quite the model! We took some photos indoors and then braved the high heats for some shots outside as well. I’m looking forward to seeing him again at 6 months!
There’s nothing like being the family photographer! Except in this case, it was for my brother’s in-laws and their side of the family. They were lucky enough to spend a week down at Hilton Head over the 4th and Bryan and I went down for a day of sunning at the beach and hanging out with everyone on vacation.
Considering that my brother and his wife started dating when I was 9 or 10 and I’m now 34, it’s fair to say I’ve known this family for a while!
I have to start by saying that this is the third “Leigh” that I have photographed in the past month! I love it! All “Leighs” are welcome to call me for weddings, portraits, rehearsal dinners, etc. We’ll start a club.
Leigh and Derick had one of the most awesome rehearsal dinner parties that I’ve been to all summer. It was aboard the always fun and very scenic Carolina Girl. If you want fun photos with great lighting, I highly recommend an evening cruise for you and your guests. The boat leaves from Ripley Point and travels down around the Battery and up the Charleston harbor well into North Charleston. It is so cool to go under the Ravenel bridge and see the ports from the water side.
Guests enjoyed their drinks on the top deck and enjoyed the breeze. Dinner was catered by Jim N’ Nick’s and afterward, a pair of shagging instructors taught the guests a few dance moves. Soon enough the boat was rocking to the beat of “I Love Beach Music“.
Congratulations to Leigh and Derrick and thanks so much for having us to photograph your excellent party!
The stunning couple
Guests arrive at Ripley Point
Cruisin’ along the Battery
All smiles
Bryan took this photos of St. Philip’s and Waterfront Park from the boat
I love the 4th of July and all the time spent at the beach over the holiday weekend. So does the Woodall family! Their extended family gathered at Folly Beach for the week of the 4th for lots of swimming, sun and sand. There’s no way to celebrate your whole family getting together like having a family beach portrait session!
We gathered around 7pm, which is a good time for beach photos as the sun’s gone down a bit and you don’t have to worry so much about squinting and melting in the sun. After some family group shots, I had a lot of fun photographing each child individually and trying to capture each of their personalities. Sometimes it’s hard when you have a big group to really spend time with each child and get some great candid moments, but this group was rally fun and playful and these are a few of my faves!
In looking through the photos from Chandler and Matt’s wedding day, one thing I know for sure is that Chandler had the biggest smile on her face the entire time! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone smile so much.
Their wedding day was absolutely flawless and gorgeous from start to finish. Chandler is co-owner of a boutique in Raleigh, NC called Gena Chandler. So as you can imagine, fashion was very important. Chandler’s dress is by Monique Lhuillier and to die for! The bridesmaids were stunning in their strapless cornflower blue dresses. And nothing makes you smile like an adorable flower girl and giggly junior bridesmaids all dressed in white.
Matt and his guys were decked out in tuxes and looked very dapper. They were a great group to photograph and judging from the toasts the night before, they are a tight group of friends.
I was very lucky to have the talented Marni Rothschild Durlach of Marni Rothschild Pictures shooting with Bryan and me for the day. She is an extremely talented photographer and wonderful to work with! Luke Wilson Special Events coordinated the event on the day of the wedding and made sure that everything went to plan.
The flowers were done by Kelly Odom, who is based out of Raleigh, NC. After the cocktail hour on the lawn, guests entered the house and feasted on wonderful food by Fish. The band, Complete Desire on Fire, kicked off the party and put on quite a show through out the night!
It’s not often that we get to photograph a wedding at the Riviera Theater. I absolutely love the art deco decor. Lucky for us, Kim and Tym decided to host their wedding ceremony and reception there!
Jennifer Bearden of Jennifer Bearden Photography was on hand to help Bryan and I photograph their wedding. She is an amazing photographer and was everywhere all the time taking photos throughout the nigh.! There’s nothing like having a great friend to help you shoot a wedding, it’s fun and inspiring!
Everyone got ready at Charleston Place, across the street, and then gathered at the Riviera first for the Ketubah signing. Signing the ketubah is an integral part of the Jewish wedding ceremony. It is a beautifully designed and illustrated contract that “outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride.” Close friends, family and the wedding party are present for the signing and then the wedding ceremony follows.
The ceremony was held on the stage at the Riviera under a chuppa that Lotus Flower decorated with flowers. The cocktail hour followed and then dinner was held in the grand ballroom. Denise Barto helped to coordinate the day of the wedding and tie all of those gorgeous bows on the chairs.
I absolutely loved photographing all the details for Kim and Tym’s wedding, including the stunning art deco meets modern wedding cake by Jim Smeal. They also had the most gorgeous wedding invitations that carried the blue/teal and art deco theme.
After having family in town for most of the week, it felt a little strange for it just to be Bryan and I celebrating the 4th on our own. So we had an easy day doing all the things we like to do…
I snapped photos
Bryan did some climbing and I got to sit back and watch
Dogs dogs dogs!
I love how as the seasons change, the light that comes into the house changes too.
Grilling on the Weber
Diego was very curious of the grill, but it was about 120 degrees over there
