romantic

Dip back for a kiss with streetlights in the background and lit by my studio lights - Conway Riverwalk

One year anniversary and bridal portraits at the Conway Riverwalk

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It seems like I’ve had a lot of weddings and photo sessions recently at the Conway Riverwalk. It’s a beautiful alternative location for pictures if you want to get away from the beach. This couple got married about a year ago back in their hometown, but due to weather and other circumstances they weren’t happy with the pictures from their wedding. So while they were on their anniversary vacation in Myrtle Beach, the bride wanted to put back on her wedding dress and take some bridal portraits, as well as some romantic pictures with her husband. As I mentioned in …

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Looking at each other under the moss Caledonia Golf and Fish Club

Engagement pictures at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island

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I had a fun winter engagement session at Pawleys Island’s Caledonia Golf & Fish Club this past weekend. This is a beautiful former site of a southern rice plantation located along the Waccamaw River. The best feature here is the entrance roadway. It’s surrounded by centuries old live oak trees with their moss covered branches overhanging the roadway. I’ve noticed for engagement pictures in Myrtle Beach. Couples are usually looking for either beach pictures or for an area with a lot of large trees where the sunlight can filter through the moss. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club certainly fulfills that …

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Kiss in front of the lights at sunset 21 Main Events at North Beach

Intimate wedding in the courtyard at 21 Main Events at North Beach

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This was my first time photographing a wedding ceremony in the beautiful courtyard at 21 Main Events at North Beach. This restaurant is located near the North Beach Plantation towers in North Myrtle Beach. This was a small and intimate wedding ceremony without a bridal party. The bride didn’t want a lot getting ready pictures so I just arrived shortly before the ceremony time. I still had time to get some pretty shots of the location such as a panorama of the courtyard area and pictures of the elegant ballroom decorations. The ceremony was held shortly before sunset time and …

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Splashing in the ocean - Huntington Beach State Park

Engagement portraits at the Garden City Pier and Atalaya Castle

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These engagement portraits were for a fun couple getting married very soon in August.  I always prefer doing engagement portraits for a couple before I photograph their wedding, that is why I offer a discounted engagement session for wedding clients.  It’s a nice way to get to know each other and make sure that they like my style and I know what they like as well. The Garden City Pier is special to this couple so they wanted to do some of their engagement portraits at the pier. I told them it was going to be crowded and difficult to do …

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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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Kiss under the Oak Trees on the golf course 35mm f/2 - Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club

Wedding portraits on the golf course at Pawleys Plantation

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I’ve had a very busy October this year with weddings. In fact, I had three weddings in two weeks at one of my favorite locations, Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club. The wedding I’m featuring below was a small relaxed one. This gave me more time for taking pictures with the bride and groom after the ceremony. Normally I would just do pictures of the couple around the clubhouse, but the bride wanted to take a golf cart and do some pictures out on the golf course itself. The course winds through the salt marsh area of Pawleys Island and …

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Kiss by the flowers in the Palmetto Garden - Brookgreen Gardens

Surprise marriage proposal in Brookgreen Gardens

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I had a lot of fun photographing a recent surprise marriage proposal in Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet. April is a great time of the year for taking pictures in Brookgreen. The springtime flowers are blooming and they also have extended hours until 8pm. Normally the gardens close at 5pm so it would be impossible to get the beautiful light from the sunset filtering through the trees. This man did a great job with keeping the proposal to his girlfriend a surprise. He met his uncle in the bathroom at the entrance to the gardens to get the ring from …

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She said yes - Myrtle Beach State Park

Surprise engagement proposal on a beautiful winter evening in Myrtle Beach

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I always love the Myrtle Beach State Park at sunset in the winter. This time of the year the sky just seems clearer and the water is more blue. I don’t know if it’s perhaps the lower humidity or just the difference in the angle of the sunset. We had one of those perfect winter evenings for a surprise engagement proposal with this young couple. His girlfriend thought we were just doing pictures of the two of them for Valentine’s Day. From what she said later in the evening, she thought it would be a long while until he could …

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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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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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