We went out to shoot one month old Baby Clifford with his new family the other day. I began by shooting some solo shots of this cutie while his parents got ready, but by the time I was to photograph them together, his mood changed in a big way. He was having a tummy ache and we had to reschedule a shoot when he's in a more pleasant mood. Patience is everything when shooting newborns. I was able to get a few shots before his tummy turned. Wait- did I turn his stomach?

The sky looked threatening when I went out to shoot Holly and Mike's Engagement session. We didn't let it bother us one bit. We shot the session at the north end of Folly Beach. This point on the island offers an awesome view of the old Morris Island Lighthouse. Because of the great view, however, lots of folks pick the spot to get beach portraits done. There must have been 4 different photo-shoots going on at the same time. We didn't let that bother us either. The couple had a great time and Holly called the next day letting us know how much fun they had and how happy she was with the photos. You can still get great photos even if the sky looks like it's about to let loose a storm. I personally like the dramatic clouds on a day like this.

By the way, the lighthouse is undergoing major renovations. They are going to fix the way its leaning over to one side. There was huge scaffolding and a big crane right up along side of the tower. Nothing that a bit of Photoshop couldn't fix to restore the scene to normal! We're looking forward to shooting their wedding in 2008! They are a great couple!

Almost perfect.

That's how I can describe yesterday's shoot. Weather, schedule, people and equipment performance were at the top of the scale! On Saturday we shot Kari and Dustin along with their closest family and friends at Fripp Island, SC. Fripp Island is one of a string of small islands near Beaufort, SC and is a private beach resort community.

We went down a day early so we could spend some time with Dad and Miss Eileen in Bluffton. That's where we would be leaving Kate for the day so we could cover the event.

I actually got a decent night of sleep before at Dad and Miss Eileen's. Katherine calls them E-Pa and E-Ma. We drove up the night before and had dinner at the house. E-Pa and E-Ma grilled some killer cheddar cheese burgers and served them with some southern Mac and Cheese, sauteed onions, grilled eggplant and corn on the cob all washed down with a smooth cabernet.

After dinner I ran a few miles after inventorying all our gear. I like running here at night. It reminds me of my runs in Arizona. The neighborhoods are very new and spread out and there are no streetlights on my run route. At some places it feels like I'm running in space. The asphalt under me disappears and I can look up and see all the stars. And on this night the sky was crystal clear as the fall has decided to come back. Hopefully for good this time. It was crisp and cool. I even had to wear gloves! I was so stoked.

The next morning we woke up and had a filling breakfast. Eggs bacon and bagels. E-pa has never made bacon here and I can honestly say, it was very good. I get happy when I get perfect bacon.

We left Kate in good hands and headed out. We were to meet Kari and her 8 girl bridesmaid team at Charles and Company salon in historic Beaufort. For a large group like this, I thought we'd be there for hours but they got all the girl's hair done, and expertly done, in record time. I couldn't believe how fast and efficient they were. The girls enjoyed mimosas while the waited for each other to get done. Poor Kari was riddled with sand gnat bites on her arms and I had to keep telling her to quit scratching her arms. I get overprotective with my brides sometimes. I didn't want her arms scratched up. Sometimes I fuss at them for not eating on their wedding day. They are so excited and anxious that they lose their appetites, but that leads to low blood sugar later and I don't want them to get sick. When they don't eat, I assign someone to make sure she does. Kari was in great spirits and handled her day well. And she did eat. We followed her and her girls to the Magnolia cafe in Beaufort and grabbed a few shots at their lunch before Tara and I headed over to the huge beach house the wedding was to take place at on Fripp Island, a few miles from Beaufort.

The weather was gorgeous this day and the drive to Fripp Island was so enjoyable. When we got there, Kari's mom was busy ironing some of her family's clothes and she stopped for a bit to greet us and welcome us. She goes by Mama Duck by her family and she along with the women of the family made Tara and I feel part of the family quickly. After a few minutes we all chatted like we've known each other for years. The family knew of us for almost a year but we only met this day. Kari had lots of good things to say about us from our initial meeting and when we spent the day with her and Dustin in Charleston for their engagement photo session. The family made sure we were comfortable and had enough to drink and eat all day. We always bring our own food and drink when we shoot these events but they insisted we grab a plate to eat. And they enforced it throughout the day.

I spent the next couple of hours with Kari and her fun bunch of bridesmaids as they got ready upstairs. Tara shot details around the house and shot the Groom and his men when they got to the house.

The ceremony was a beautiful one right on the beach directly behind the house. The wedding party looked awesome and we had a great time during formals. Kari had a friend of the family handle planning and coordination and her name was Hillary. She had a printed and detailed list of the formal groupings and the process never went more smoothly. I kept joking with her that we were gonna snatch her up and she was going to come with us to all our weddings. She did a phenomenal job.

During times between the big events during the day, I would slip away and download the images onto our laptop and I selected random photos from the day's shoot and made a slideshow. Later I put the laptop out and let the slideshow run for guests to watch. They loved it.

The rest of the evening was spent shooting their reception at the beach house and watching family enjoy themselves with each other. KAri's parents and family were so nice and genuine to us and made us almost forget we were working the event.

After the reception, Kari and Dustin asked us to attend the after-party a few beach houses down the road. After I shot their bubble departure, we packed up the gear and headed over to the after-party for a few drinks and actually spend real social time with everyone. What a great group of people to spend the day with.

We needed to get back to our baby so we left. It was hard to do since the party was still in full swing.

It's difficult leaving our couple after a wedding. We've known them for almost a year from when we had our first meeting. I shoot them at their most intimate during engagement photos and Tara stays in contact with them in the times between. Then they let us in their family circles and expose raw emotion in front of us and let us capture everything. The relationship is short but intimate and it's hard not to get attached to your couple. And all of our couples have been so sweet and kind and Kari and Dustin were no exception.

Congrats to a wonderful couple!

See the Gallery of Images Kari and Dustin Wedding Gallery

This Saturday, we had the opportunity to cover the wedding of Elizabeth and Jason. Summer held it's grip on Charleston and the day was quite warm and balmy. At least it stayed dry and sunny as the forecast called for rain this day.

We worked in partnership with Emmy at Peacock Events of Charleston. Emmy is a fantastic wedding planner and we just love working with her. She'll move into a venue and make it beautiful in no time as well as taking care of all the details so the bride and groom can (try) and relax and enjoy their big day.

We started the day at Elizabeth's parents house in Downtown Charleston for bridal portraits. Makeup was done by Meredeth Ruddle Talk about transformations! When Meredeth does her makeup magic, the results are stunning! Afterward, we headed over to the famed St. Phillips Church for the ceremony. I have never been inside this church and it is fantastic.

The reception went down at the Old Confederate Home on Broad Street and what a venue it was.

The affair was Southern Elegance at it's finest. The couple as well as their parents were a joy to spend the day with and that makes the sometimes grueling job of wedding shooter so much easier. We have been blessed with the finest people to work with to capture their big day.

Lots of fun!

The trip to the park was cancelled because of weather. She waits by the window and hopes the rain stops soon.

Rebecca and Bill came to town to finish off their photos. If you remember, they were the couple whose outdoor wedding was rained out when Tropical Storm Barry barrelled into the Charleston area back in June.

Since they were from out of town, they couldnt make it down for engagement photos which were part of their package. Then the outdoor wedding they had was rained out and we had no shots of them outdoors which is what she wanted.

So we set them up to get shot outdoors on a good day and yesterday the weather was perfect. I walked them all over town and they felt like celebs with tons of tourists oohing and ahh-ing over them and offering best wishes and congratulations even though they had been married for months already. I knew this was going to happen when they walked around town dressed like they were with a photographer closeby so I told them the story was Today was THE day. Our little secret. A tour bus even stopped and watched while I shot them at ST Phillips Church then they all applauded when we were done there. Funny what tourists like to watch.

After, they insisted buying us dinner downtown at one of our favorite restaurants. So we had dinner at Poogan's Porch on Queen Street and after that, had a night cap at Tommy Condon's Irish Pub near the Market. We had a great night out. Bill and I have a lot in common so we have always got along well.

They wanted us to join them for the game the next day. They had two tickets for us to join them to watch the Carolina Panthers play the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. We werent sure if the baby could get in on our tickets so we checked the website and she needed a ticket to get in and it was too late to get a ticket for her the day of.

Bummer! It's been a while since we watched an NFL game. Turned out the home team lost but it woulda been a blast to take Kate to the game. She loves watching live sports events. She's been to hockey, football and baseball games with us and cheers like everyone else.