Savannah & Sweet Potato Fries

Jonah has persevered throughout his first Track and Field Season. As a result, he made it all the way to the Regionals in Savannah, Georgia. So this past weekend was about the two of us spending time with each other, supporting Jonah & the team and discovering some of the majestic sites in the historical city of Savannah. We visited several infamous spots including Bonaventure Cemetery, Wormsloe, and the River Walk. For lunch the first day, we stopped by "Huey's" for a bite to eat- great food with a scenic view. I recommend the Blackened Tuna with Sweet Potato Fries.
Later that evening, you can see Jonah indulging himself with Snow Crab at Fiddler's Crab House. He and I ate upstairs where we overlooked the Savannah River and enjoyed listening to some live music. As we were leaving we ran into Brooks Grady who is actually the Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter of Vardry McBee founder of Greenville and her Uncle, Jack Grady is a Verger with Christ Church. Small world!!!!!! All in all, we soaked in everything Savannah had to offer. Splendid time and can't wait to visit again. Click Here to view the slideshow

DJ Jordan Carolina Body Building Supernatural Overall Winner

So many people looked at my previous post about DJ, and couldn't believe he was going into a body building competition. Well, I hope these photos make a believer out of everyone. DJ not only won his weight class, but he actually took the Overall Winner Trophee Home. The Overall pose-off was the highlight of the show. DJ and his opponent was fighting for center stage, and the crowd went crazy. This was an all natural Christian based event. We are all proud of DJ for bringing the trophee back to Greenville. It was 11.45pm before we left, and I knew of a quaint Italian restaurant, but was unsure if they would be open. I was praying they were, because I told all my friends it was the absolute best Italian in the Upstate or SC. Britt dropped me off at the door, I went in and spotted the owner Renato. He was taking a smoke, sitting at an oval table with friends. Low-volumed Italian music found it way past the dim lights and smoked filled room. Ok...this is starting to sound like a Saprano episode, but difinitely describes the atmosphere. Renato is from Italy, and has been in business for 15 years. I tell him that I have 8 exhausted and hungry people outside and asked if he could accomodate. He stares at me and takes one last drag off his cigarette, and in his Italian-English voice says, "C'mon in and I fill ya belly." The restaurant was empty and Renato fixed the most amazing food. Britt said the stars were aligned right and that this was DJ's night....and it was. The food was incredible, and it was like our own private party. Kudos to Renato!!! Not only did he feed our belly's, he liked us so much that he gave us all Renalto umbrella's with Italian colors. Click Here. to view the slideshow. If anyone is in need of hiring a personal trainer, shoot me an email.

Shannon & Chad

Shannon and Chad will be getting married in August and wanted to go downtown for an engagement shoot. We achieved some great looking shots as the sun was lowering itself for the day. Allowing some of the sun into the camera's sensor can allow for some artistic shots. (Too much and prolonged sunlight into the sensor can damage your camera.) I love these shots. First, the shadow of Shannon & Chad cascading on the brick, and the photograph of the sun peaking between them moments before they kiss. Those are a couple of my favorites. I find myself having to work quickly. Because of the recent rise in temperature, I am beginning my engagement shoots much later and trying to fit in as much as possible before the sun sets. Click Here to view the slideshow.

Nicole & Chet

Nicole and Chet are getting married next month in Charleston. Chet is in the military and we found a weekend where he happened to be in town. So we headed down to Anderson for a little fun and shoot at Freedom Weekend Aloft. Nicole has a total aura about her, and it was a pleasure capturing her personality. We unexpectedly found ourselves out late and fireworks filled the night sky. Click Here. to view the slideshow.

Crystal & Jimmy

Crystal and Jimmy have a great love story. They are originally from different parts of Louisiana, but met here in South Carolina when mutual friends brought them together. Funny how the love thing works. Crystal is absolutely fun to be around and works for McCarr Homes and Jimmy is at the Police Academy and is becoming a Police Officer with Greenville County. I decided to take them to Freedom Weekend Aloft for the engagement shoot. I am always shooting in different areas and experimenting with new ideas. Click Here to view the slideshow.

Photo Montages

Unlike the slideshows viewable on the internet, I have been doing custom slideshows for Bride and Grooms for numerous years. I enjoy them very much. Putting together all the photographs from birth to present, is a great way to put the upcoming ceremony in perspective. Over the last few weeks thousands of photographs have entered the studio. Susan & Ambassador David Wilkins have truely blessed me over the years. I was glad to receive the tall order of creating a slideshow for their son James who is getting married in Illinois. James and fiance Marney will be returning and residing in Greenville. I can't wait to take the photographs at the reception here in Greenville. I also want to thank Suzanne & Jeffrey Crane, Lindsey and Hays Reynolds, and to Jake Thompson and his new bride.

Atlanta

I went down to Atlanta with Jason who owns Blue Mtn Photography. Zack Arias, who has moved his studio within Atlanta took some shots of me. Zack will be one of the photographers at the inaugural SEP workshop. He's a great photographer who knows his gear and has toured the country teaching his One Light Workshop. Scott Robert will be the other photographer who resides in California and has a great mix of skills not only shooting, but posing, location, and image processing. We will be announcing something this week. Thanks for the shoot Zack. You and Marc take over A-T-L!!!

Giving

One of my friends Stacey Burger has a son who has been diagnosed with a rare bone disease. Austin, who is 4 years old, is the youngest known person ever to have the disease. There are only two hospitals in the nation which treat it , and his family has been going through a sea of emotions. Through the sleepness nights, Stacey and his family have found refuge at the lake. The doctors actually encourage Austin to swim in hopes of a recovery. Austin is a fighter, one of his hips miraculously healed itself, and because his body is trying to fight off this disease, I went around to some of Stacey's co-workers and friends and without hesitation they donated money for Austin. We were able to compile enough money to get Austin 6 months membership at the YMCA and swimming lessons until August 31. Because swimming is low impact and strengthens Austin's muscles, this gives him a fighting chance and a opportunity to have fun. Austin will be seeing the doctor sometime in August and if he hasn't gotten better he may need to wear a body cast for 2 years. Please say a prayer for Austin. Thanks to everyone who contributed, the Burger Family is very appreciative.

Tanner

Tanner looks like a toddler model and has been blessed with the blonde hair and blue eyes. For Tanner's shoot we went downtown, but summer has arrived and the mid 90 degree weather has arrived. So we decided we would capture some Lifestyle shots at the Gaul household. Lifestyle photography is really gaining ground within the photojournalism community, because it allows kids like Tanner to be themselves. We just let Tanner roam around the house, and his personality found my lens naturally. Click Here. to view the slideshow

Michelin Video Project

Some of you may not know that I started out doing video several years ago. Frequently, both corporate and personal projects come through the office. I have done a few projects for the Michelin Corporate Offices. This latest project involved changing over a Safety Video to Spanish; both visually and with voice over. Working as a team with Mike McCurdy, who owns www.mc2construction.com, and a mutual friend who does English to Spanish voice overs for major corporations we were able to meet a tight deadline in order to get DVD's to a newly opened Mexico Plant. Kudo's to us pro's, and to late evenings with one quick break at Pizza Inn!!!!

Friday Wedding

Susan and Chris were married on Friday May 26, 2006. It was a small wedding with ceremony and reception being held at Events at the Davenport downtown Greer. There are 2.2 million weddings per year, but only 1.1 million are covered by a professional photographer. Although I was only hired for 3 hours for a small wedding, I was able to capture some amazing moments. Click here to view the slideshow.