Documenting a wedding reception with candid photography

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What is the most important part of a wedding for a photographer? What might come to mind is the ceremony, or first kiss, or pictures of the couple after the wedding, even the special dances.  So when I put up a blog post, photography of these things is what I’m usually concentrating on.  But really, what I spend probably half or more of my time at a wedding doing, is just keeping a close eye on the couple and trying to document the event.  I want to catch the emotions and the natural expressions of everyone there.  But at the …

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High contrast black and white under the pier

Secret pictures of an engagement proposal again!

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I recently had another chance to do pictures of a wedding proposal along with engagement pictures after. This client saw my last blog post and wanted to do something similar, so I guess people do sometimes read my blog. Something cool about being a photographer is you can count all your camera gadgets as a business expense, which, if you are like me, is where a lot of money goes anyway. I mentioned before that I recently got a small Olympus OM-D mirrorless micro four-thirds camera, mainly to take hiking and for fun, but I’ve been able to incorporate it …

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Couple smiling at each other in front of the pier

Secret pictures of marriage proposal and engagement portraits after

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I got to do something fun last week, trying to do marriage proposal pictures without being noticed. The man’s family, including his daughter, were hiding by the dunes while we waited for him and his girlfriend to arrive at the beach. There are always a lot of photographers down at the state park, so it was pretty easy to blend in. I don’t think his girlfriend noticed me until after he proposed, so I thought I did a good job. Then they just took engagement pictures on the beach together. It was a lot of fun and easy to get …

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Beautiful engagement portrait girl looking up at guy backlit by sunset - Myrtle Beach State Park

Two couples doing sunset engagement pictures at the Myrtle Beach State Park

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I recently had some nice-looking and fun couples for engagement pictures at Myrtle Beach State Park. I’ve wanted to put up a new blog post for a while, but I don’t have time right now to post many pictures. I just made a quick post from two of my sessions below. This time of the year, I like how the sun hits the sea oats in this one place at the State Park. Some spots in the winter look cool but don’t work in the summer because of the sun’s direction and vice versa. I never thought about in the …

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Cutting wedding cake with military saber

Military groom at the Grande Dunes Ocean Club in Myrtle Beach

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I had another lovely wedding at the Grande Dunes Ocean Club in Myrtle Beach. This is one of the locations I seem to photograph weddings at frequently. I think it helps that I’m on the Grande Dunes’ preferred vendor list. The light is always pretty in the room where the bride is getting ready, and the bridal party was a fun group that was up to doing some silly pictures. The only more difficult thing about the wedding was it was pretty early in the day, and the sun was really strong on the terrace.  If possible, I would recommend …

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Wedding party pictures after the ceremony -

Wedding ceremony at the Holliday Cottage gates in Brookgreen Gardens with a large bridal party

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I met with some clients today who are having an upcoming wedding at the Brookgreen Gardens Holliday Cottage area. I’ve done many weddings at this location, so I was showing them my most recent one as an example, even though it was from last summer of 2012. I realized that I never posted about this wedding on my blog. I think it was just my busy time of the year and many weddings miss out on a storyboard. However, with this one, in particular, I realized I needed to put a post about it. I especially loved the picture of …

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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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Fun series of shots of groomsmen jumping

First ever wedding on the Barefoot Resort Love Course with a bit of Dr. Who

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This was the first-ever wedding held at this spot on the Barefoot Resort and Golf Love Course. It was held at a nice spot where they have the recreated ruins of an old plantation home along holes 3-7. The mother and father of the groom were long-time members of Barefoot resort, so they were given the special opportunity to do a wedding at this spot. I’ve done many weddings backing up to golf courses, but never one where there were no golfers to watch out for. This was special because the entire course was closed down for us. We had the location …

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HDR of a wedding ceremony on the compass pad at the Marina Inn - Grande Dunes

Wedding of mother with four fun kids at the Marina Inn with reception at Joe’s Crab Shack

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This was a fun recent wedding at the Grande Dunes Marina Inn, with a reception at Joe’s Crab Shack at Broadway at the Beach. I didn’t ask, but I would imagine this was a second wedding for both the bride and groom. Those are always fun because when it’s the second time, it’s usually more about just having fun with the family.  Especially when they have great kids with good personalities.  Instead of my most important pictures being about the couple, it’s usually more about the family and having fun with the kids. I’ve never been to Joe’s Crab Shack …

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Fun large family with colorful outfits doing portraits at the Myrtle Beach State Park

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I keep having some great families for pictures recently. It’s so nice when everyone in the family is in a really good mood and ready to have fun with the pictures. The family I’m highlighting was a larger group I took to Myrtle Beach State Park.  When photographing a large group, I usually don’t go to the oak trees but just take them down to a more secluded area of the park on the far side of the pier. This was a cloudy, not very nice-looking evening. When the sky is overcast like this, you get clean, less harsh lighting …

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