We had the pleasure of meeting Cristen and Richard, who live in New Zealand, and spending the day with them and their beautiful family and friends.  We started our day out excited to be doing pictures in charming downtown Charleston in some of our favorite spots and then traveling to Boone Hall Plantation for a Cotton Dock wedding ceremony and reception.  We could’ve used a boat to get downtown as there was a downpour that appeared to have no end in sight.   Soon after we arrived and started shooting the skies cleared and it was a perfect day for a southern wedding. All the family members pitched in and helped make the day a special one!

Thank you again Cristen and Rich for allowing us the honor of spending the day with you documenting your wedding day…we are always available to head South of the Equator for an anniversary shoot in Auckland or for a newborn shoot.  Just saying.

It was also a pleasure working with Natalie and her team at Boone Hall- thank you for making our day go smoothly.”

We are back to blogging and editing some of the Spring seasons fun weddings and portrait photoshoots.  Here are some of the previews of things coming soon from our adventures from as far away as Cashiers, North Carolina at High Hampton Inn, Charleston hometown favorites LeGare Waring House and South Beach Miami Florida.  We had fun rubbing shoulders with Bruce Weber’s editorial team prepping for the latest Ralph Lauren shoot and renting cars at South Beach Classics.  How about that Lenny Kravitz penthouse hotel room designed by Lenny Kravitz which can be had for a bargain at $6,000 per night.

In addition to our busy October wedding season, we had an opportunity to shoot an awesome Senior Portrait session with a Class of 2014 Senior.

These sessions are always a lot of fun for us as they are typically more like a fashion shoot, with a little portrait style infused in the photography.  One of the main differences in the way we approach Seniors, is we always do our best to create images that would look good as an album cover or CD.  This can be accomplished by picking interesting locations and also by posing in a way that has a “little attitude”, much like the photographs the kids see in their favorite magazines.

We are also humbled and reminded that our photography was so important in making a dream come true:

“My daughter’s dream has been to have her senior portraits taken in Historic Charleston, SC and Boone Hall plantation. I researched until I found a photographer with the style we were looking for to create her portraits. I was so delighted when I discovered Reese Allen. His photographs looked like they came straight out of a magazine or an art gallery. After traveling over six hours for her session, I am happy to say we could not be more thrilled with the images he captured of her. The experience was absolutely AMAZING! She truly felt special as Reese photographed her in historic Charleston and in her beloved Boone Hall plantation. He created what I like to call one of those rare “Magical Moments.” I will forever be grateful for the wonderful experience, memories and portraits that will last a lifetime. Thanks, Reese Allen, you are the GREATEST!”

Here are a few of our favorite shots from the day.

We have had a lot of fun these past few months photographing a “bunch” of family portraits, engagement sessions and winding down our Spring wedding season.  Our approach to family portraits is to get an idea of the style and preferences, pick a great location and especially with kids, let things happen and be ready for the perfect moment!

When photographing young kids, we realize that most of the time they have just finished their naps and are full of sugar and energy.  As with all of our “little people”, they are always so different and spending a little time before breaking out the big camera is the best way to gain some trust and get the session off to a good start.  We love some of these portraits as they are so authentic and we love hearing this from Mom:

“I have like 150 that I want to frame and put up. Guess I’ll need a bigger house…LOL!  Seriously, all of these pictures are just perfect. They capture our crazy, beautiful, chaotic, fun and happy family just perfectly and we will cherish these forever!”

These family portraits are another reason we love being photographers in Charleston SC.  Hope you enjoy some of these “lifestyle” photographs.

We had a great time meeting Todd, Vera, Vivienne and Ava last weekend on their visit to Charleston.  We braved the 50 degree weather on the beach with 15 mile an hour winds which made it feel like 47!  The beach is beautiful this time of year.

We always keep our eyes open for new and interesting locations for family sessions, but for right now we just can’t get enough of the old antique barn.  Charleston is full of beautiful colors and textures which we use for “out of focus” negative space in our portraits.  The technical term for this element of photography is “bokeh“; the non-technical term is “awesome”!

Briefly, we now shoot primarily on a Nikon D800 which is a 36 megapixel camera and we have an arsenal of professional lenses.  Photography tools are changing daily, but I am finding myself going back to old manual focus lenses, shooting film and 4×5 view cameras. The choice of equipment is one of the many creative decisions made in an effort to create the best portrait possible for our clients; we know that these images will be cherished for a lifetime.  That said, I know these images will print beautifully on our new Canon IPF-8300 large format printer with our signature canvas.  Images shown only on the web cannot show the amazing beauty of a beautifully created and printed portrait.  Please let us know if you have any questions about our signature prints and canvas.  We will keep you posted when we find new papers we love and look forward to showing you the beauty of modern fine-art photographs.

Here’s a few of our favorites from the day…