Archive for June, 2010

Brittney & Dusty

June 30, 2010

Brittney and Dusty are new to the Charleston area and wanted to celebrate their their move and engagement with an engagement portrait session! They will be getting married in Jackson, Mississippi in December, and so we took advantage of Charleston’s long sultry days for some summer portraits.

We hit a few spots around town and then headed out to the beach with their puppy “Tate”. He’s an English creme golden retriever (have you ever heard of one of those?!) and was full of all that fun puppy energy.

These two were so much fun to photograph. When they stopped at home to pick up Tate on the way to the beach, they did a little wardrobe change, which I always think is a fun thing to do in your engagement session. It adds a little variety and a change of mood to the photos.

I wish I were photographing their wedding as I’d love to see them all dressed up in their wedding attire!

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Family Beach Portraits

June 29, 2010

I always find it interesting how people from out of town find me to do their children’s beach portraits. Most of the time, it is through Google or somehow via the internet for out-of-towners. I never know what people are going to look like or what their personalities will be before we meet for the photo shoot, so there’s always a moment of anticipation for me at the last minute.

When the extended Mehta family showed up, I was thrilled. Each of these kids had very distinct personalities and were incredibly comfortable in front of the camera. They didn’t even let the heat get them down! I could have photographed them all day long.

Their family is originally from Gujarat, India and I have a soft spot for all things India. I have traveled there twice and have always been amazed at the warmth and color and strength among the people. Here are a few of my favorites from their session!

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perfect10This post is for all of you engaged couples out there looking for a miracle! Y102.5 is giving away a “Perfect 10 Wedding” to be held on 10/10/10!

You can check out their website with all the details on how to enter: http://www.y1025.com/pages/perfect10wedding/

Check out all the cool stuff you will win!

SEEKING INDIGO WELLNESS CENTER/URBAN OASIS-

FOR THE COUPLE:
Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber rest and relaxation Session
Migun Bed  30 min.Session
Detoxify, de-stress, and rejuvenate the mind and body in the Far Infrared sauna 30 min Session
Restorative  yoga
Includes lunch at the Sprout grab and go cafe for both inside seeking indigo

SPIRITLINE CRUISE – The most unique and unforgettable wedding venue in Charleston. A day to share with up to 125 friends and family aboard a luxury-cruising yacht gliding along unmatched views of the world-famous Charleston Harbor. The winning couple will have Spirit Line Cruises and the Charleston Harbor as their backdrop for “The Perfect 10 Wedding”.

CRICKET & KYLE CATERING -Cricket & Kyle’s will customize a menu for the winning Bride and 125 guests!    We will also provide tables, chairs, linens, and china.

CHARLESTON FLORIST –  Charleston Florist will proudly provide the winning Bride & Groom with personal flowers for the bridal bouquet, groom, 2 attendants per party, mother/father/grandmother/grandfather corsages, and 10 center pieces!

LEIGH WEBBER PHOTOGRAPHY- 3-hours of Wedding Photography, Online viewing and ordering of wedding images and
$150 print or album credit

BRIDALS BY JODI -  The Perfect 10 Wedding, we will be providing the winning bride a beautiful wedding gown, valued at $1,800!

PALMETTO BREEZE – 2 hour harbor cruise around scenic Charleston Harbor for up to 100 guests. Built for comfort and speed the Palmetto Breeze also comes complete two bathrooms, covered cushioned seating, stereo and bar!

COASTAL CUPBOARD COOKING STORE – They will host a cooking class for 10 people to demonstrate products and tools, sample food offerings, and give you a taste of delicious foods that help you become the gourmet chef of your own home.

CAROLINA CAKES & MORE – The winning couple will have the opportunity to sit down with the artists at Carolina Cakes to customize a four-tier wedding cake!  Any flavor, any color!  If they can imagine it…Carolina Cakes & More can create it!

MILLS HOUSE HOTEL – The ‘Perfect 10′ Bride will be provided the perfect bridal luncheon by the Barbados Room for twelve!

STUART LAURENCE – A Stuart Laurence Salon will treat you and your two bridesmaids to a day a beauty with hair and makeup

CAROLINA EYE CANDY – The winning bride will be provided a full set of “Mascara Lashes” Eyelash extensions

ALOFT HOTEL- The lucky couple will receive a gift certificate towards a one night stay at the Aloft Hotel in North Charleston.  This urban influenced, modern hotel is in the heart of North Charleston near shopping, dining, and entertainment!  The winning couple may use the one night stay themselves on any future date, or give it as a gift to family or friends!

Continuing from yesterday’s post, today we feature the fabulous wedding reception of Leigh and Andrew!  After the ceremony at Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church, the guests headed to Alhambra Hall for the cocktail hour while the wedding party and I boarded the trolley for a little photo shoot.

Andrew and Leigh made photography a priority in their wedding, and it really shows! Instead of a quick 15-30 minutes at the church to take 1,000,001 variations of family shots that all look the same, we instead did a handful of very important family photos and then took the wedding party to a new location for the fun stuff! What also helps you to get great wedding day photos is a willingness to participate. And not only were these two willing, but so was their entire wedding party! They ran, jumped, braved the heat and did it all while having fun.

The cocktail hour was in full swing when we all arrived and “The Washingtons”, a pair of a capella singers, were performing their Gullah songs for the guests. The wedding party headed down towards the water for a champagne toast before entering the reception for their first dance. Mandy Davis, the event planner, was on hand to coordinate the day and keep everyone on track.

Lowcountry Eats had an outdoor tapas bar set up, complete with stools and everything. It was in the perfect spot to watch the sun set over the water. Inside, The Fabulous Kays got the party started and had people dancing throughout the night. Scroll down to see the massive Clemson alumni photo we got!

Andrew & Leigh along the Charleston Harbour

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These two are big fans of the water and every photo shoot we did (engagement shoot, bridal portrait and wedding) included a dock and the water!

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We’re talking action here!

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Ahhh! Such a classic shot.

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Bryan Deel got this shot of Leigh and her bridesmaids. I love a bride who isn’t afraid to get her dress on the grass!

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The light was perfect outside during the reception. I could have photographed the guests all day.

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A little sunset smooch by the water. It was high tide and a perfect night for Leigh and Andrew.

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Go Tigers! (Can you believe there were this many of them there?!)

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The Fabulous Kays

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Fishing for his bride

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At the end of the night, Andrew and Leigh left under a shower of bird seed and sped off in a Charleston Black Cab.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. de Holl!!!

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Chance

June 24, 2010

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Leigh and Andrew may have gotten married on the hottest day of the year so far, but it didn’t stop them from enjoying their day to the fullest! I hardly even heard the groomsmen complain about the heat, even in their tuxes, which means they must be great friends. And really, that’s what this wedding was all about. Leigh and Andrew have a huge collection of close friends and family who totally support their marriage and wanted to come and celebrate their wedding with them.

The ceremony was held at Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church. The girls got ready there, drinking champagne garnished with edible hibiscus flowers. Leigh’s new puppy, Tilly, even came for a visit and a quick photo shoot! (I am a sucker for dogs.) This is one of my favorite churches for group photos as it is a classic white wooden church with a great porch and steps for arranging large wedding parties.

After the ceremony, guests headed off to Alhambra Hall for the cocktail hour and I rode with the wedding party on their trolley to the gorgeous backyard of a friend of theirs. I suppose this is one of the advantages of getting married in your hometown, you have insider access to excellent locations for photos that most people wouldn’t have. I have to give the wedding party credit for being so into all the photos we got to do. They were totally into the photo session, granted they had their Fireflies!

Banner Radin of Banner Photography was one hand to help photograph with Bryan Deel and me for the entire day and we couldn’t have done it with out here! (Thank goodness for great friends who help out this pregnant wedding photographer!) She is an excellent wedding photographer and has been photographing weddings since before it became the thing to do!

Here are a few photos from the first half of the day, up through the ceremony. Tomorrow’s blog post will feature the reception, so stay tuned!

Andrew has Leigh’s grandmother’s necklace reset and gave it to her as a wedding gift.

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The engagement ring

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Leigh’s bridesmaids help her into her dress

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This bridesmaid’s bouquet, and all the flowers, were done by Mandy Davis. The bridesmaids dresses are by a local Charleston boutique, Lula Kate.

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Guests arrive to Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church for the ceremony.

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The bridal bouquet!

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The church was packed for their ceremony!

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I love this shot that Bryan Deel got right after the ceremony of Leigh and Andrew escaping for a moment!

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The wedding party in front of this perfect Southern white wooden church!

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And we’re off to the wedding party photo session in the Old Village of Mount Pleasant!

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From the moment I met Chandler, I was looking forward to photographing her bridal portrait, and of course her wedding. She is co-owner of Gena Chandler, an upscale boutique in Raleigh and has incredible style. I, on the other hand, am not known for my fashion savvy, but I always appreciate getting to photograph people who are!

We started off doing a few classic studio style photographs at her mom’s request and then headed to the William Aiken House and downtown Charleston for more fashion style shots. Part of the fun of shooting at the William Aiken House is that I know where a lot of great spots are there for portraits. And part of the challenge is to come up with something new and different each time. No two brides are the same everyone deserves their own tailored look in the photographs, just as we develop our own tailored look in our fashion styles.

Enjoy these photos of the gorgeous Chandler while I get the wedding photos ready to blog!

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I am a little bit behind, but I’ve been meaning to blog these photos of the delicious little bites that Canape created for a Spoleto SCENE party last week. Cindy created these tiny little works of art that were the  hors d’oeuvres.

On the menu:

Peach and tomato gazpacho, peach salsa and a basil chicken sausage skewer

Cornmeal shrimp, champagne vinegar slaw, roasted corn sauce

Prosciutto, peach and gorgonzola cigarettes (phyllo), dipped in balsamic glaze

Summer ratatouille cups with goat cheese mousse

Popcorn with bacon and smoked paprkia

Do those combinations make you drool or what? Yum! Canape caters for events, weddings, dinner parties and luncheons and she teaches classes! I highly recommend her for your next event.

Summer ratatouille cups with goat cheese mousse

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Cornmeal shrimp, champagne vinegar slaw, roasted corn sauce

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Prosciutto, peach and gorgonzola cigarettes (phyllo), dipped in balsamic glaze

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Amber & Lee Get Married!

June 16, 2010

June has been full of weddings and there was no better way to kick off the month than by photographing Amber and Lee’s wedding! Amber is a teacher and a little over a week after school let out, she was getting hitched. That’s a great way to start off your summer I imagine!

I was very lucky to have the very talented Banner Radin helping to photograph Amber & Lee’s wedding this day as well as my regular second shooter, Bryan Deel. Banner is quite the intrepid photographer and is not afraid to do what it takes to get a great shot. We all had fun working with her!

Amber and her bridesmaids got ready at the Francis Marion Hotel before heading over to the Bethel United Methodist Church right down the street for the ceremony.

The Bethel United Methodist Church has recently been renovated and it’s a gorgeous church to be married in.  They have pulled up the red carpet and the aisle is now made of gleaming wood floors.

The reception was held in the Carolina Ballroom at the Francis Marion Hotel. Amber’s mom did all of the arrangements and bouquets for the day and they looked amazing. There were lots of kids at the reception and everyone was out on the dance floor! The band, New South Players, had people dancing the entire night.

Lee and Amber left under a shower of rose petals and hopped into a rickshaw for their big getaway.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Moody!!

Amber and her sassy self!

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It’s all the little details that bring the whole wedding together.

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The bouquets and arrangements were done by Amber’s mom, Jan Sweigart.

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The bridesmaids all looked glamorous in their black dresses for their formal shots at the Francis Marion Hotel.

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Lee braved the heat wave and let us get some shots of the guys outside.

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The ushers and groomsmen in the calm before the storm.

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The late afternoon light filtered in the stained glass and lit up Amber and Lee as they took their vows.

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Mr. & Mrs. Moody!

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After a mini downtown photo shoot of these two, we arrived at the Francis Marion to let the party begin!

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The cake is by Publix and it was absolutely delicious!!!

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The “New South Players” really did have everyone going nuts on the dance floor!

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These two left under a pouring of flower petals and jumped into their rickshaw for a grand getaway!

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The Francis Marion Hotel by night.

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Kristin and Ryan are getting married at Kiawah in October and were in Charleston this past weekend for one last whirlwind weekend of planning. We met up on a blazing hot afternoon and they seemed happy not to be getting married during this heat wave, but were up for doing their engagement session in downtown Charleston. They were troopers and didn’t complain a bit about the heat, even after a wardrobe change that put Ryan in jeans.

Here are some of my favorite shots. Enjoy!

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