Children 
Engaged
Families 
Weddings
Posted on April 15, 2013
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So Sabrina and Jason are fabulous. I actually booked their wedding through Sabrina’s wonderful mother, so I didn’t get a chance to meet or talk to them until their wedding day this past fall. However, I could tell right off the bat that they had this great, witty, shared sardonic sense of humor. I’m all about that.
They had a destination wedding in Charleston, with the ceremony at St. Johannes Lutheran Church and then another Indian ceremony at the reception. It was gorgeous, and I was so honored to have the opportunity to be there.
Getting ready at Stella Nova salon in Mount Pleasant:
Lots of family flew over from India, and they all stayed in a wonderful beachfront home on Isle of Palms. Hurricane Irene tried to derail the festivities, but we all just went with the flow.
The whole family blessed the bride before they left for the ceremony.
My second shooter for the day, Bridgit, slowed down her shutter to capture all the graceful whirlwind movement prior to departing for the church.
It started clearing up almost immediately after this. Yay!
St. Johannes Lutheran Church
On to the Mills House!
The bride’s sisters organized a surprise flash mob. Every guest was sent a video of lyrics and dance moves to the Muppets tune, “Life’s a Happy Song”.
So much fun to see all those smiles and reactions!
Posted on March 26, 2013
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I love this image from last Sunday’s Boone Hall engagement session. So dreamy!
Head over to my Facebook page to see a few additional images from this session, as well as some cute family sessions I’ve shot over the past few weeks. I’m also still newly enthralled with Instagram, and I’m enjoying learning more about shooting in a new medium.
If you want to check out some fabulous inspiration from some of the most talented names in the photography field, check out the new SWPB Pinterest Boards. Now is the perfect time to follow along and see how these collectively curated boards unfold.
Speaking of Pinterest, we’re sort of on speaking terms again. During the fall wedding and portrait rush, we had to part ways. There was just no time for that fabulously addictive yet time-sucking nonsense. Now, though, I sneak in occasionally. I try to Pin Responsibly. It’s what the Surgeon General would want.
Anyway, as stated on my bio page, I think my Pinterest boards are a great and fairly comprehensive way to get a sense of my personality and style, especially for destination wedding couples who want to see if we’re a good fit.
So imagine my surprise when I got home from a wedding a few weeks ago to a facetious Facebook message from a friend that said, “Those are some beautiful dolphins on Pinterest, Sally!”
Huh?
I logged on to find that my 7 year old daughter had been assiduously pinning to my boards in my absence, so to someone perusing Pinterest at the time, my activity looked something like this:
Dolphin
Dolphin
Sea World Dolphin
Tacky airbrushed dolphin under the sunset scene
Fantasy island and dolphin scenario with glitter
Mermaid
Mermaids
Even tackier airbrushed dolphin
Seriously, this one leaped right off of a Myrtle Beach t-shirt
Mermaid
I need to look into making her cute little self a private board. Really, no one over the age of 12 needs to be subjected to that.
Let’s erase those images with another dreamy one, shall we?
Posted on February 14, 2013
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
I know, I know…
So cheesy and commercialized.
But you know what? I still love it.
February around here is pretty gray. And brown. Brown and gray. And though I’m a naturally optimistic and cheerful person any month of the year, I will always take a day off from dismal in favor of bright, happy colors, lighthearted things, and chocolate.
I was up early this morning, making these cute little strawberry hearts for my 3 year old’s class. So easy!
I listened to Phoenix while I worked, which for the past few years has been one of my go-to bands for staying peppy during housework or editing.
Here’s a quick recipe tip: these are great dipped into chocolate fondue. Just put good chocolate (I like to use a combination of Ghiradelli chocolate chips), heavy cream (you can also get away with half and half) and a splash of optional liqueur into a crock pot on low, stirring often. You can also use a double broiler if you have one, or a sauce pan nested into a larger pot of simmering water.
Hm. Now that I’ve typed that out, I might pick up ingredients and surprise my husband later on.
Except that he doesn’t like strawberries. That’s OK. He can dip a banana.
If only I had a Huntzler 571 to facilitate fruit preparation…
(If you haven’t seen the spoof reviews of this banana slicer on Amazon, it’s an absolute must. It’s hilarious, but the part that makes me the happiest is that people everywhere are jumping on board and having so much fun with it. I love a good random mega-collaboration. Proof that the country at large hasn’t completely lost our sense of humor.)
I haven’t been allowing myself too much time on Pinterest these days, but I do have a small Valentine’s Day board, filled with pretty things.
Enjoy!
And, finally, here are the girls, from little quick impromptu shoots we did last week:
(Templates from the Florabella Collection.)
I hope you all have a great day!
Posted on December 31, 2012
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Taking a brief work break to actually blog something!
(Just a reminder, I have been updating my Facebook page, so head on over there to see recent work from this fall.
I am also whipping up a 2012 review post, so stay tuned!)
So.
Saturday night, I assisted my lovely friend Leigh Webber with shooting a lovely Wild Dunes wedding.
As I was grabbing the rest of my gear on the way out, I noticed all the flowers being tossed, and I asked if I may have two of the bridesmaids’ bouquets for my girls.
Yesterday I encouraged them to have fun with their “real, live wedding flowers” and they really ran with it!
They crack me up.
You’ll notice that May shaved off part of her eyebrow in the tub. Yeah. Note to self: never leave my razor accessible again, and be relieved it wasn’t worse!
Checking the royal phone
Royal leftover Christmas junk food break.
They dubbed themselves Queen Clarissa and Princess LaRose. They also knighted their brother and made him royal ukelele player.
Posted on October 25, 2012
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What’s that phrase? Hopping like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs?
Something like that.
Anyway, I’m in the middle of my busy wedding season and loving it!
I’m using every spare work-related minute I have for editing. (And, obviously, shooting, answering emails, paying taxes, all that good stuff.)
So, for the next couple of weeks I’ll probably be using my Facebook page as a blog of sorts, so head on over there to see images I’ve shot lately. You’ll be glad you did. People have been rockin’ it in front of my lens lately.
https://www.facebook.com/sallywattsphoto
Happy fall y’all!
Posted on October 15, 2012
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Lovely Kellie, shortly before her wedding. This property was made for portraits. It’s amazing.
Much more from this wedding to come soon! I’m editing now, and will probably add images to my Facebook here and there. Check them out at
https://www.facebook.com/sallywattsphoto
Happy Monday!
Posted on September 4, 2012
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I love this time of year, when school starts and everyone posts pics of their kids, with new shoes and cheesy grins (or pouts), heading off to school.
I got that obligatory shot too, but I also thought it would be fun to document one last summer family outing the night before school started.
Being a pirate. She likes to (mistakenly) growl “Arrrrrgh, Ladies…” instead of mateys.
Boppin’ to Gotye. She’s as shameless about singing along to piped-in music in public places as I am.
It was around 7:30, and this little pumpkin is a strict 8-8 sleeper; has been since birth. She winds down on cue. She was very tired.
Posted on July 12, 2012
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So this is our second installment of the blog circle.
This month, the assignment was to shoot at f8.
F8 is considered sort of an old skool aperture. I can’t remember the last time I shot over 5.6, unless I was trying to take in as much of a scene’s depth as possible, like with a landscape or sunset or something.
But these days we can get way too dependent on shallow depth of field. It’s a good challenge, and good practice, to be able to shoot a different way. Besides, in photography, old skool is generally good. See: the film resurgence, and having respect for our forebears who were focusing with a manual split screen and hanging out in the darkroom.
(Do not see: Glamour Shots at the mall. Some trends are best off dead and buried forever.)
I wandered into the (freshly rained-upon; hooray!) yard this morning to complete this assignment. Our back yard is giant. The downside is that it takes forever to mow and maintain. The upside is that, in its own organic way, it’s a whole little world back there. Kind of cool.
Took a few minutes to defog the lens. It’s *humid* out there, y’all!
Also, he’s thrilled about the wet grass. See how thrilled?
Hubby’s burn barrel. Apparently it offers an atavistic sense of accomplishment; the burning.
Miller, aka Millie, the Millinator, Milli Vanilli.
Last summer I’d do a load of laundry every morning first thing and then baby girl and I would hang it out. (We have a privacy fence, so you couldn’t see it from the road.) It made me feel all environmentally virtuous and at one with nature and all that, until I read that I was only saving like $50 a year or something like that. Then, one of my climbing rose bushes got a little aggressive and the thorns tore one my my favorite dresses, and that was the end of my short-lived career as laundress of the land.
I planted seeds in a little plot and I don’t remember what vegetable it was. Every year I do this. Every single year. I never learn. I know what’s in my container garden, but the plot’s always a mystery. Last year we got okra and a few watermelons. The year before, beans. I have no idea what this is.
And now, head to the opposite side of the world to see the fabulous Xanthe’s take on the theme. http://xanthe.com.au/f8-is-great/
Posted on June 8, 2012
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So a group of online photographer friends around the country and the world decided it would be fun to create our own blog circle.
I’ve seen several examples around the ‘net and I love seeing personal life through all different sorts of perspectives and styles. I want to be able to view not only what people are doing in their homes, but how they choose to depict it. (OK, that sounds stalkerish, but you know what I mean.)
This month, our assignment is a square crop. There are several of us participating while we get it off the ground, and then we’ll add more participants each month.
(Confession: I didn’t actually measure out a square crop. I eyeballed it.)
(Confession II: There may be some wonky links this first day/month. I mean, we’re not neurophysicists, here, people.)
This is May, this morning, still in her pajamas.
She’s not feeling awesome.
This is freelensed.
This is Tallulah. She’s not feeling very well either, in the Cone of Shame. She lost a skirmish with the neighbor’s cat.
Mantle. As far as I know it feels fine. I snapped this last night for no reason, and just threw it in here today. The bowl under the candle is full of Starbucks coffee grounds. I was hoping the candle heat would infuse and waft the coffee aroma, but I’m not sure it works. (Even though Pinterest assured me that it would!)
I got the carved wood blocks for like $4 at a garage sale and I adore them. My daughter Jane did the zebra in art last year. I love him.
For the next stop in the circle, please go to Atlanta wedding photographer Zachary Long :
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Posted on June 7, 2012
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May is 3, and can be accordingly quirky. We’ve been growing her bangs out for-what-8 months?
They were just tucking behind her ear, but she doesn’t like to wear it that way. She’s also not big on the whole thing where we brush it, wash it, style it, make it not look like a rat’s nest.
Rather than deal with daily negotiations and painful rubber bands and howling, fat-fist-shaking recriminations, and after a lot of wishy washy thought (seriously, it’s ridiculous, how long I contemplated the bangs-or-no-bangs thing) I granted her request for “Dora hair.”
And I think she rocks it.
(C.R. and I got summer cuts too but I haven’t taken pictures yet. Plus my hair pretty much looks the same no matter what.)
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Before
(After helping herself to my makeup bag. Asking for permission= feh.)
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After
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