Wingfield Family Shoot

When I was little I had this small basket of toys next to the tub for bath time. There was a rubber Glo Worm toy from a Happy Meal, a Batman action figure, tub crayons and a small plastic boat. Perhaps some Dino Riders. I had a washcloth that was open like an oven mitt and occasionally Mr. Bubble bubble bath.

I treasured bath time.

We all have these little treasured moments throughout the day: the last kiss goodnight before sleep, the first cup of coffee in the morning, the moment your child sees you when you pick them up from school or come home from work, the first quiet moments with your spouse after the kids have fallen asleep. As a photographer, I am obsessed with these moments. A particular expression or gesture or bit of eye contact conveying things unsaid are the genuine moments that illustrate our relationships. Capturing those and allowing them to tell a story is my bread and butter. I adore it.

Which brings me to family documentary photography. What is it? Rather than sit for a portrait at the beach or in a brightly lit studio, you invite a photographer into your life for a short time to capture your family being themselves. Doing homework, eating dinner, playing basketball in the driveway, jumping on the bed, making each other laugh, practicing piano, walking the dog, playing make believe, doing chores… and bath time.

The Wingfield family invited me to capture a typical evening in their home, and I was honored to have the opportunity. The two beautiful girls put on quite a show and even June the dog seemed extra photogenic for the occasion. To inquire about family documentary sessions click here.

Berries for Babies

Champney's Blueberry Farm in Ravenel, SC held its 4th annual "Berries for Babies" event today, in which 50% of all U-Pick sales went to neonatal nurseries at MUSC Children's Hospital. There was a heat advisory in effect, with the "feels like" temperature hitting 108 degrees throughout the morning and afternoon. MUSC was on hand to show off a new pediatric ambulance and helicopter. Luckily, there were plenty of cold drinks and icy, sugar-syrup-based snacks on hand as well. Since moving to Charleston, Rebecca and I have made blueberry picking a yearly tradition.

Maybe next year it will be slightly cooler.

Amy + Brandon

These two. 

If you've been a wedding guest, ever, you probably remember how much fun the wedding was. The band!
The food!
The love!
All the happy people all in one place.
Tears of joy.

But have you ever been to a wedding where you thought, "Well, this one is going to be hard to top?" Welcome to the wedding of Amy and Brandon. She (from the UK) and he (from Canada) met many years ago while working at the same skating rink. Brandon plays hockey (fully aware of the cliché) and Amy is an accomplished figure skater.

Amy and Brandon are so connected and so deeply in love. It's in their eyes every time they look at each other. They are the couple that finishes each others' sentences in a genuinely endearing way. Their families were thrilled about their union. Their friends were beyond excited. It was non-stop contagious elation. Amy's father and stepfather cried when they saw her in her dress for the first time. There was so much pride and love. 

Then throw in the following:
- a forecast for inches of rain, but a full day of sunshine.
- an adorable and charismatic flower girl.
- a ceremony at the end of a dock overlooking the historic Charleston peninsula.
- custom-written vows that drew as many laughs as tears.
- a cake-cutting psych-out involving shots.
- a stunner of a sunset over the USS Yorktown, a National Historic Landmark.

So... yeah. You might say Amy and Brandon's wedding was one to remember.

Jen + Kevin

When the weather cooperates in early April in Charleston, SC, it really cooperates. Sunny and warm with a slight breeze, and cool and comfortable at night... it's a great recipe for a perfect wedding!

At a beautiful ceremony at Founder's Hall at Charles Towne Landing, Jen and Kevin tied the knot! I was second-shooting this event with a friend and got to focus on thoughtful little design details and wide portraits and group shots. Jen and Kevin included some beautiful cultural touches into their ceremony, and the reception was pure Charleston: lowcountry food, great music, and late-night revelry. 

Mother's Day

if there are any heavens my mother will (all by herself) have
one. It will not be a pansy heaven nor
a fragile heaven of lilies-of-the-valley but
it will be a heaven of blackred roses

my father will be (deep like a rose
tall like a rose) 

standing near my

(swaying over her
silent) 
with eyes which are really petals and see

nothing with the face of a poet really which
is a flower and not a face with
hands
which whisper
This is my beloved my

(suddenly in sunlight

he will bow, 

& the whole garden will bow) 


- e. e. cummings

Earth Day

“Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.”

-Cormac McCarthy, The Road