Dan Rather reports on Congo

Dan Rather goes into the Congo (where I was born and my parents were missionaries for decades) to find out what the people in a small village are receiving in exchange for allowing companies to extract their natural resources. Turns out, the mining companies don't want to allow our cameras anywhere...

Maria Sharapova

I just found out Maria Sharapova is using one of my images from last year's tournament to announce her return to this year's Family Circle Cup!!! I love it: http://www.mariasharapova.com/defaultflash.sps.

Julia & Erik's Destination Wedding in St. Thomas

Here are a few of our shots from Erik & Julia's beautiful destination wedding in St. Thomas, USVI. I haven't had time to do any editing yet. So these are completely un-touched, strait out of the camera.

The last two were taken during their Trash-the-Dress shoot the morning after the wedding. Erik & Julia were AWESOME to work with, incredibly attractive, so much fun, and completely willing to do all the CRAZY things I asked them to do. :-)

Many thanks to Lorie and the rest of the AMAZING staff at Bolongo Bay Resort. We'll get the rest of the images edited and put a preview slideshow online as soon as possible. In the meantime, CONGRATULATIONS to Erik & Julia...enjoy your honeymoon!!!

Destination Weddings

Cami & I LOVE to travel. So being invited to fun places to photograph fun weddings is like that old Wrigley's commercial...double-mint fun!!!

We just returned from photographing Julie & Erik's AMAZING destination wedding on St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Several of you have asked me what gear I pack for these out-of-town shoots. With new TSA regulations and airline carry-on restrictions, it has definitely become more difficult to get all your priceless equipment there in one piece.

I NEVER check my camera gear! I use one of Tamrac's airline approved rolling backpacks. And I narrow down my kit to the most essential gear so that it fits. This is my carry-on. If flying domestic, I'm also allowed one personal item...so I bring our smaller 14" laptop. Cami usually carries a backpack with our toothbrushes, reading material, and what we'll wear on assignment. So if our bags get lost, we have everything we need to do the job! If it's a really big job, she'll carry a second smaller camera bag with D300 and additional lenses, chargers, etc. as her personal item.

From my gearbox, here's what I selected to carry on the plane: a pair of D3 bodies and what I consider to be the "Holy Trinity of Lenses", the Nikkor 14-24 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, & 70-200 f2.8. I also included 5 - SB800 strobes, a Canon 500D Close-Up Diopter (more compact than my favorite macro lens), 10.5 mm fisheye, radio poppers, batteries, and cleaning supplies.

My light-kit, consisting of 3 - Bogen 3333 light stands & 2 - 43" Westcott umbrellas, packed in my long thin Bogen case, was my checked bag. Our suitcase was Cami's checked bag. That's it!

Photoshop Magic

Here's a problem I encounter all the time! I photograph a number of corporate team photos. But it's an ever-evolving process...people leave the company, new employees are hired, etc. Here's a team photo I took for one of my favorite clients, Caldwell Commercial, last year.

Larry just joined the team this year. Instead of dragging everyone back down there, I met up with him at the same spot I had taken the team photo. I brought along the previous team photo on my iPhone so I could position him and light him as close as possible to the original group shot.

Finally, he gets merged in with the others. MAGIC! :-) The key is, by paying attention to details and photographing Larry's image with the same variables as the one I'm trying to fit him in to...the Photoshop work is a piece of cake!

Julie & Howie's Wedding at The Citadel Beach House

I can't believe it's been EXACTLY one year since Howie & Julie first filled out that contact form inquiring about our photography services for their wedding! A few months later I got to photograph their AMAZING e-session on Seabrook. It feels like this all happened just a few weeks ago! Where does time go?!? :-)

I originally met Julie & Howie at a Johnson & Wales Alumni Event that I was photographing. We hit it off right away because we have a lot in common...we love dogs, the great outdoors, and hanging out with friends ALMOST as much as they do. Their cool website reads:

"It’s no wonder Julie and Howie fit together so well. They will often take off for a weekend with their dog Riley for mountain biking, hiking or camping on one of the many islands around Charleston. They enjoy taking friends out on the boat to experience the amazing sunsets that only Charleston can offer! And if Howie has any reason at all to fry a turkey, you can rest assured -- he will! Truly two kids at heart, these two love to have a good time with good company!"

I had an UNFORGETTABLE time photographing Julie & Howie's wedding. My favorite parts were Riley's role as the ring bearer, the dramatic beach shoot, and the surprise fireworks display at the very end. After the slideshow, Click Here to see rest of the wedding photos. CONGRATULATIONS you guys!!!

Claudette Bell

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing the AMAZING low country artist, Claudette Bell. Those are her beautiful paintings behind the lamp and above the mantel. Her husband, Bill, has commissioned me to do several shoots for his company. So it was neat to see their beautiful home and get to meet his lovely wife. Visit her website at http://www.claudettebell.com/ or stop by Spencer's Art Gallery and the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery where her fine work is featured.