State Parks

Weddings at the state parks around Myrtle Beach including the Atalaya Castle.

Bride looking into the eyes of the groom behind the castle - Atalaya Castle - Huntington Beach State Park

Rainy summer wedding day at the Atalaya Castle in Huntington Beach State Park

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It’s great to be getting back into wedding season in the Myrtle Beach area. I was a little worried that work would be very slow this year. This summer has been jam-packed with family beach pictures and even small weddings. It seems like most of my weddings, for the rest of the year, will take place with just some social distancing modifications. Some have had to reduce the number of guests, and some have moved the receptions outside to comply with venue requirements. So far, all my weddings have taken place without any issues. For Rylan and Sarah’s wedding, the …

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Fun with sparklers and steel wool - Springmaid Beach

Having fun with long exposure, flash, steel wool and getting started with the Myrtle Beach season

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With the beautiful spring weather in Myrtle Beach, it’s the time of the year my photography business starts really picking up. Of course that also means lots of pollen and traffic at the beach, but you have to take the good with the bad. I thought I would do a quick blog post highlighting my first spring engagement session and some long exposure light painting fun I had this winter. My photography friend Hannah Ruth and I wanted to experiment with some long exposure light painting shots using wedding sparklers. Painting with the light from sparklers can be as simple as putting your camera …

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Couple about to kiss leaning against the pier at state park

Engagement pictures at the Myrtle Beach State Park after the flooding

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I’m sure everyone has heard about the severe flooding we had in SC about a month ago. Myrtle Beach wasn’t hit as hard as some areas, but we still had flooding in many locations. You might have heard me complain that in Myrtle Beach state park, they are incredibly particular about photographers getting anywhere near the dunes. They don’t have to worry about it anymore because many of the dunes’ front slopes are completely gone. The dunes are now just cliffs with the roots of sea oats sticking out of the sides. The water must have been so high that …

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Guy getting a really big hug after surprise proposal - Myrtle Beach State Park

Surprise engagement proposal with the whole family at the Myrtle Beach State Park

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I’ve been doing a lot of surprise marriage proposals recently. I think it’s because I’ve blogged about it several times, and clients must be seeing my posts. Whatever the reason, I always enjoy doing these, so I hope I keep getting more. I believe this engagement proposal was a real surprise. She was under the impression we were doing portraits of the whole family. I took pictures of the five different couples, including parents and grandparents, up by the oak trees and then by the dunes. When it was the about-to-be-engaged couple’s turn for pictures, he picked up the ring box the family had …

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Dipping girl back in front of the ocean

Cold and windy day for engagement pictures at the Myrtle Beach State Park

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There are always a couple of winter months when no one wants portraits done outdoors or on the beach. During those months, I always have some things to do, like wedding album layouts and catching up with clients about orders from the previous year, but it’s nice to be getting busy taking fresh pictures again. I seem to be getting an early start this year with some engagement sessions and even a wedding this coming weekend. I’m highlighting the engagement session this time for a couple with an upcoming wedding I’m photographing this summer. It was a freezing and windy …

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Putting on the engagement ring in front of the pier

Engagement pictures with an emotional marriage proposal on the beach

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I had another fun couple that hired me for their engagement pictures and a marriage proposal on the beach. This one was a bit different than my last couple of proposals because his girlfriend knew that he was going to propose. This made it a bit easier for me because I didn’t have to try and be sneaky with my pictures of the proposal.  I also got to set the position of the couple up a little bit so there wouldn’t be people in the background.  We started doing my typical style engagement pictures around the oak trees and sea …

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Couple touching noses with the background of the Myrtle Beach State Park

Engagement pictures for a couple and their dog on a cloudy day at the Myrtle Beach State Park

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I had another nice couple for engagement portraits at the Myrtle Beach State Park this past week. I’ve got their wedding coming up later this year. This couple brought along their baby for the moment, their little dog. I can’t remember what it was exactly. I know it was a poodle mix of some kind. I have two poodles myself. They are very sweet dogs as long as they are used to being around people. My dogs love it when clients come by to discuss a wedding, I tell them people are coming, and they will wait by the window. You have to …

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Another fun couple doing engagement pictures at the Myrtle Beach State Park

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I met this couple for the first time on Friday to discuss photographing their upcoming wedding. While they were in the area, we decided to do some last-minute engagement pictures on Monday at the state park in Myrtle Beach. I’ve said it a lot of times before, but doing engagement pictures is the best way to get to know a couple and for them to get to know you as the photographer. If they like what you do during the engagement portraits, they will also like you at the wedding. Pictures of the couple after the wedding are pretty much …

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Bridal Portraits - Atalaya Castle

Beautiful evening for bridal portraits at Atalaya Castle in Murrells Inlet, SC

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I worked with a pretty bride the other evening doing bridal portraits at Atalaya Castle in Huntington State Park. The evening was great except for being a bit cold. Because of the 5:00 pm closing time of the Atalaya Castle, we had to stay outside the castle to catch the sunset. The poor bride almost froze to death by the end of the session, but I think it will be worth it to her when she sees the pictures. She did a pretty good job of not looking cold, at least as long as you don’t zoom in on the …

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Cute couple with big smiles doing engagement pictures at the State Park in Myrtle Beach

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I made a giant storyboard for this couple’s recent engagement pictures at the Myrtle Beach State Park. They looked great in so many pictures I just kept making selections. The way I create a blog post, when I’m going through the images in Lightroom, I put a flag on every picture that I think might be good for my blog. The nice thing about Lightroom, there are star ratings, color ratings, and flags. So you can have multiple different ways of marking images for different uses. I use star ratings (use keyboard keys 1-5) to pick the pictures that will …

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