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.

Charleston Portrait Photographer, Charleston Wedding Photographer, Reese Allen Photography

We had a chance to meet The Arnold’s on their recent trip to Isle of Palms for their annual event and capture some unique Charleston family portraits.  They spend every Thanksgiving here and have a running contest similar to the Iron Chef; which, I was told by the guys that they always win?

We had a lot of fun creating something unique family photography for them-especially after I found out the search words for finding a local photographer were: “quirky portrait photographer”!  I am not sure if it is a good thing, but they liked our style and we had a blast with the final concept.  It also makes me think of adding other keywords or even doing an AdWords campaign with the terms: crazy, nuts, eclectic, etc.?

We are looking forward to having them back in Mount Pleasant for next years family portraits, but this time I think we’ll have to stay for dinner!

Charleston Wedding Photographer, Charleston Portrait Photographer, 2008 Election, Chicago, Grant Park 2008 Election

In 2008 I was fortunate to land an assignment in Chicago shooting a Kimpton Hotel the same week as the election.  I knew months in advance that I was going to have an opportunity to capture unique moments in history-regardless of who won.

As the hotel began filling up with bloggers, writers and news photographers, I tried to call in some favors with friends who shoot for the NY Daily News, Getty Images, etc. to get press credentials to the northern part of Grant Park.  After much effort, I resigned myself to the realty that there would be no ticket to the main event for a wedding photographer!  So I moved to plan B knowing I would be hanging out with all the “commoners” who would be crowded into the other side.

In my fifteen years doing photography, my mantra has been that if someone is standing next to you with a camera shooting the same thing, you’re probably not in the right place.  With this in mind, I was considering setting up a studio lighting station and doing some full length, perfectly lit portraits-but there was no power and schlepping a generator downtown wasn’t feasible.  I decided to go as light as possible. I also had no idea whether I would be able to get into the park looking too professional and without a press pass.

Earlier in the day, I took a taxi to Obama’s precinct in an effort to get something different.  I ended up talking with a polling station worker who captured Obama on her cell phone walking into the voting booth-I guess this is a bit different type of cell phone photography-picture of an actual cell phone?  I kept looking for images throughout Chicago, but everything seem too contrived; usually between moments, I can shoot details or a fun portrait of the ring bearer in order to tell a story of the day.  Some of the daytime portraits were part of the atmosphere in and around the city.

Following much deliberation, I headed out with one small camera bag, my new Nikon D-700 and a handfull of memory cards in order to capture history.  Once inside the park, it was a surreal environment.  Perhaps I looked the part, maybe it was the grey hair or my confident stride, but I gained access inside the roped areas and roamed wherever I wanted to capture these images.

As the night moved on, I studied almost everyone in order to be prepare for the moment the winner was announced.  All the years spent photographing weddings, ceremonies, environmental portraits and composing architecture went into capturing these historic photographs; most of which I have never shown to anyone until now.

Once I returned to the hotel, the atmosphere was energized with those who spend their lives creating news.  All the photographers with credentials informed me they were so far away from the President giving his speech, unable to move from the bleachers and only able to get images on their 400mm zoom lenses-which still weren’t that effective.  Turns out that being denied credentials was one of the best things that could’ve happened!

Some of the additional images included in this gallery have been made within the last four years.  However “mushy” this may sound, although this glimpse of epic moments in history are compelling, I believe the portraits and weddings stories I have captured over the last four years are more meaningful in telling the story of America-one family at a time.  I love what I do!