First ever wedding on the grassy lawn at the Caravelle Resort

I was told this was the first wedding on the lawn behind the Caravelle Resort in Myrtle Beach. The reception later in the evening was at the St. John’s Inn across the street. I have done a wedding there before. I thought the lawn was quite a nice area, there was some shade from the large hotel building, and there were plenty of trees around, blocking things you might not want to see.  This was one of the nicer behind-the-resort-type wedding areas I’ve seen. They said if it worked out, they would try more weddings at this location in the …

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Fun engagement portraits and getting a new lens

I’ve had a lot of really nice engagement portrait sessions this winter.  The weather has been fantastic, I’ve noticed I had more work this winter than last year, probably because of the nice weather.  I don’t have anything scheduled this weekend, but I have a couple of engagement sessions for the next. I’m getting a new portrait lens, the Sigma 85mm f1.4.  You might wonder why I’m not buying the Nikon version of this lens.  I almost exclusively use Nikon. My go-to lenses, the 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8, are fantastic.  Ryan Brenizer, a photographer I trust, reviewed the Sigma …

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Engagement portraits at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC

This is my first time visiting the Magnolia Plantation.  It’s a very nice area. It reminds me a lot of Brookgreen Gardens.  Unlike Brookgreen, we were allowed to go wherever we wanted to do the pictures and spend as much time as well.  I had a lot of fun walking around for an hour or so with the couple and finding places to do shots.  The first time to an area takes a bit of experimenting and exploring around. We had some pretty strong early afternoon sunlight which can be difficult at the beach or in an open area, but …

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