portraits

Portrait in front of the marsh - Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club

Bridal portraits on the golf course at Pawleys Plantation

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I recently photographed the wedding of April and Zach at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club. They were such a happy and fun couple. You can check out a sneak peek of their wedding on my Facebook page. She had a beautiful canvas print of one of these bridal portraits at the wedding, and it reminded me that I could post some of her pictures now that everyone had seen the dress. It’s a lot of fun taking bridal portraits at Pawleys Plantation. I’ve shot so many weddings there, I know the best spots depending on the time of the …

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Worth every shot - Caledonia Golf & Fish Club

Maternity portraits for my previous wedding couple at Caledonia Golf and Fish Club

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I always love taking portraits for Ornelie and Matt. I did photography for their African themed wedding in Raleigh a few years ago. Next, their one year anniversary portraits at the Conway Riverwalk. Now, early this year, I took their maternity portraits under the beautiful mossy oaks at Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in Pawleys Island. Ornelie and Matt asked me to hold off for a few months on posting pictures of their pregnancy. They mentioned they had a difficult time getting pregnant and they wanted to make an official announcement about it before I posted any pictures. After she …

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Kiss after private horseback ride on the beach - Inlet Point Plantation - Little River

Horseback ride surprise proposal at Inlet Point Plantation Stables in North Myrtle Beach

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This was such a fun idea for a surprise marriage proposal in Myrtle Beach. Geoff contacted me a few weeks before his proposal. He wanted to surprise his girlfriend but he wanted to do it during a horseback ride down the beach. He got in touch with Inlet Point Plantation stables that is up in the North Myrtle Beach / Little River area. They actually have a special sunset horseback riding package that was perfect for what he wanted to do. While I’ve never been to Inlet Point Plantation stables before, I was familiar with the general area. It’s close …

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Family on the foliage covered walkway to the beach - Huntington Beach State Park

Family portraits at Huntington Beach State Park for my previous wedding clients

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I’ve had a really busy summer this year with family beach photography. It’s good to be busy, but I won’t mind when things slow down a little and the kids start returning to school. I don’t get to post family pictures to my blog very often. However, if you follow me on Instagram, I’ve been trying to post 10 quick pictures from many of my recent family sessions. So if you like to keep up with my work, please follow me there! I wanted to post this recent session because they were also my previous wedding clients. In fact, you …

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Brothers laying in the sand - Huntington Beach State Park

Mother with her two sons | Family pictures at Huntington Beach State Park

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This year I’m again encouraging my clients for family pictures to make the trip to the Huntington Beach State Park if possible. Because of a recent hurricane, the dunes are very damaged at the Myrtle Beach State Park and they have roped them off to protect them. Also, in the summer, the Myrtle Beach park is very crowded. Because of the crowds, sometimes the park rangers are unfriendly with us photographers. The Huntington Beach State Park doesn’t have a pier but it has the Atalaya Castle and a beautiful beach with nice dunes. If you are looking to take some …

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I love that bokeh from the sunset through the trees - Mansfield Plantation, Georgetown

Sunset engagement pictures at Mansfield Plantation, Georgetown SC

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My recent couple was looking for a plantation type setting for their engagement pictures with a lot of moss and old oak trees. They got a nice quick response from calling Mansfield Plantation in Georgetown. There was a reasonable $160 charge to do engagement pictures on the plantation grounds so they decided to do the session there. I’ve done many engagement sessions in downtown Georgetown, but I’ve never shot portraits at Mansfield Plantation. I’m always excited to try a new location so I was happy to go, even with the long drive from Myrtle Beach. The location is a bit difficult …

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Little boy laughing at family behind the Atalaya Castle - Huntington Beach State Park

Winter family pictures at the Atalaya Castle

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I thought I would make a quick post about one of my family portraits sessions over the Thanksgiving weekend. With the clients featured below, we didn’t pay to go inside the Atalaya Castle at all, but there are still a lot of nice exterior areas for pictures. The front lawn with the castle in the background is very pretty as well as the patio area in the back. I normally really like the walkway in front of the castle and some other spots, but because of the mosquitoes we had to leave that area quickly. Perhaps it’s something to do …

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Couple holding hands walking down the train track rails - Conway River Walk

Conway River Walk engagement pictures with the flooded Waccamaw River

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Going into these engagement pictures, we knew that the Conway River Walk was completely flooded and inaccessible because of Hurricane Matthew. It was even a foot and a half higher than last year’s record flooding. This couple wanted to do pictures in Conway, so we had to find other locations besides the River Walk to do the portraits. They suggested doing pictures on Oak Street, I wasn’t really familiar with that area, but I always like trying somewhere new. Oak Street in downtown Conway is actually very pretty. They built the street to go right around some of the old …

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Senior portrait closeup of face - Atalaya Castle

Senior portraits at the Atalaya Castle in Huntington Beach State Park

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In the last couple of weeks, I shot two senior portrait sessions at the Atalaya Castle in Huntington State Park Murrells Inlet that I think turned out really well. Both of these clients are really into sports. The first senior girl below is actually being coached to go to the Olympics for the hammer toss, and the second is a softball player. I think both of them would much rather be playing sports than posing for pictures, but I think we got along well and had fun with the pictures. To do senior portraits really well, you have to be …

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Family of 4 in front of a beautiful sunset by the sea oats

Taking family pictures to the next level with all prime lenses like the Nikon 85mm f1.4G

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I’ve used my Nikon 85mm f1.4 prime lens for several years, primarily for weddings and engagement pictures. My other workhorse lens was the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens. This is considered an excellent lens and should be as much as it costs. It focuses very quickly and gives a fantastic range for family pictures. I could shoot the whole group and still get excellent close-up portraits of individuals and kids. The longer I do photography, the pickier I get about wanting a specific look to the pictures. I like that soft Bokeh or out-of-focus background, and there is something special about the …

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