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Ryan Smith Photography

Bridal Portraits

Bridal portraits at the South Carolina State House and Conway Riverwalk

Bridal Portraits - South Carolina State House

I combined two recent bridal portrait sessions into this one post since their weddings were recently over. The first bridal session was at the South Carolina State House in Columbia. It’s always fun to take pictures somewhere I’ve never been. This bride has family that works in the government, so we had special access to go wherever we wanted. The only problem was the terrible weather that day. We had to run through the rain to get to the State House, and all the pictures had to be done inside. The grounds around the area are beautiful, so I wanted to get outside and have the city of Columbia as a background for the pictures. The best we could do for outdoor photos was by the columns under the front porch. Thankfully, there are a lot of great spots inside, and I still think it turned out well.

For the second bride, we went to one of my usual locations on the Conway River Walk. That area is always beautiful, with the old bridge in the background and being able to walk out on the train tracks, as long as the bride is a little adventurous. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes if you want to try this. I think she was delighted with the pictures as well. This has nothing to do with the bridal portraits, but I just got a DJI Phantom Vision drone with which I’ve been having fun. I took it down to the river walk and took some pictures. I’ll include a panorama I took with the drone at the end of this post. I hope you enjoy these. Let me know in the comments below if you do.

Smiling bride holding her bouquet at a wooden desk in a legislative chamber of the South Carolina State House
Bride in the legislative chamber – South Carolina State House
Bride standing between the tall columns on the front porch of the South Carolina State House on a rainy fall day
Bride between the porch columns – South Carolina State House
Bride resting her hand on a granite column base on the front porch of the South Carolina State House
Bride resting a hand on a column – South Carolina State House
Bride by a column on the State House porch with downtown Columbia and fall trees behind her
Bride with downtown Columbia behind her – South Carolina State House
Bride standing in front of an ornate marble wall and doorway inside the South Carolina State House
Bride in the marble lobby – South Carolina State House
Bride seen from behind pushing open tall wooden doors at the South Carolina State House
Bride opening the tall doors – South Carolina State House
Bride standing on the grand staircase with iron railings and brass lamps inside the South Carolina State House
Bride on the grand staircase – South Carolina State House
Bride resting her hand on the carved wooden stair railing inside the South Carolina State House
Bride leaning on the stair railing – South Carolina State House
Bride standing on a black iron spiral staircase inside the South Carolina State House
Bride on the spiral staircase – South Carolina State House
Bride standing by an iron railing in a library lined with law books at the South Carolina State House
Bride in the library – South Carolina State House
Bride smiling with her bouquet, leaning on a railing in the library of the South Carolina State House
Bridal portrait in the library – South Carolina State House
Bride behind an ornate iron and wood railing with shelves of law books at the South Carolina State House
Bride behind the library railing – South Carolina State House
Bride holding her bouquet beside an iron railing with brass lamps behind her at the South Carolina State House
Bride by the lobby railing – South Carolina State House
Full-length portrait of the bride by the iron railing and brass lamps inside the South Carolina State House
Full-length portrait by the lamps – South Carolina State House
Bride glancing to the side by the iron railing and brass lamps inside the South Carolina State House
Bride looking off to the side – South Carolina State House
Bride leaning on a marble column in a long hallway with a patterned floor at the South Carolina State House
Bride against a column in the hallway – South Carolina State House
Bride seen from behind with her arms on the open doors of the South Carolina State House, train on the marble floor
Bride at the open doors – South Carolina State House
Bride posing with three women beside a marble wall and doorway inside the South Carolina State House
Bride posing with three women – South Carolina State House
Bride holding red roses on a white porch near the Conway River Walk
Bride on a white porch – Conway River Walk
Bride leaning on a white porch railing with her red rose bouquet near the Conway River Walk
Bride leaning on the porch railing – Conway River Walk
Bride with hands on her hips on the paved path by a lamp post at the Conway River Walk
Bride on the waterfront path – Conway River Walk
Bride with red roses standing in front of the marina docks at the Conway River Walk
Bride in front of the marina – Conway River Walk
Bride standing by the boat slips with a white building behind her at the Conway River Walk
Bride by the boat slips – Conway River Walk
Women help carry the bride's train as she walks along the path at the Conway River Walk
Carrying the train between spots – Conway River Walk
Bride standing by the boardwalk railing under tall trees at the Conway River Walk
Bride on the boardwalk – Conway River Walk
A woman lifts the bride's dress on the boardwalk by an old wooden building at the Conway River Walk
Fluffing the dress – Conway River Walk
Bride leaning on the boardwalk railing with the arches of the old bridge behind her at the Conway River Walk
Bride with the old bridge behind her – Conway River Walk
Bride seen from behind at the railing, looking out at the river and the old bridge at the Conway River Walk
Bride looking out at the river – Conway River Walk
Bride looking back over her shoulder at the railing with the old bridge behind her at the Conway River Walk
Bride looking back over her shoulder – Conway River Walk
Bride turning to smile with red roses in hand, the old bridge arches behind her, at the Conway River Walk
Bride smiling by the river – Conway River Walk
Bride in a playful pose with her arm out and head tilted by the river railing at the Conway River Walk
Playful pose by the railing – Conway River Walk
Bride glancing back on the long boardwalk beside an old wooden building at the Conway River Walk
Bride walking the boardwalk – Conway River Walk
Wide view of the bride on the long boardwalk beside an old weathered building at the Conway River Walk
Bride on the long boardwalk – Conway River Walk
Bride resting her hand on the weathered wooden wall along the boardwalk at the Conway River Walk
Bride against the weathered wall – Conway River Walk
Smiling bride holding red roses and leaning against the old wooden wall at the Conway River Walk
Bride leaning on the old wood wall – Conway River Walk
Bride with a hand on her hip at the river railing with the bridge in the background at the Conway River Walk
Hand on hip by the river – Conway River Walk
Bride with her arms spread along the boardwalk railing and the bridge behind her at the Conway River Walk
Bride leaning back on the railing – Conway River Walk
Bride looking back over her shoulder on the train tracks near the Conway River Walk
Bride on the train tracks – Conway River Walk
Bride standing on the path under the tall concrete arches of the old bridge at the Conway River Walk
Bride under the bridge arches – Conway River Walk
Bride holding red roses under the arched underside of the old bridge at the Conway River Walk
Portrait under the arches – Conway River Walk
Bride glancing to the side with her red roses on the grass at the Conway River Walk
Bride looking to the side – Conway River Walk
Bride holding her veil out wide at sunset with boats behind her at the Conway River Walk marina
Spreading the veil at sunset – Conway River Walk
Drone panorama of the Waccamaw River and downtown Conway at sunset
Panorama I shot with my drone of the Conway Riverwalk. Click image to see it larger.
Bride by bedroom fireplace - Rosewood Manor, Marion

Bridal Portraits

Beautiful bridal portraits at Rosewood Manor in Marion, SC

This was my first time doing photography at the Rosewood Manor Bed & Breakfast in Marion, SC. I understand this is a popular bridal portraits location, in fact there was another bride finishing up…

Bride with veil flowing behind her Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club

Bridal Portraits

Bridal portraits at Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club

I was just completing the wedding album for Sarah and Jeff, the bride and groom from a beautiful wedding this past October 27th. I remembered that I never posted pictures from Sarah’s bridal portrait…