Children 
Engaged
Families 
Weddings
Posted on March 5, 2012
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Happy Monday!
I am cross-posting today, so I just put a new set of images (my middle child posing for me) onto my Facebook page. Check it out!
http://www.facebook.com/sallywattsphoto
I am so pleased with how my work schedule is coming along for 2012.
I have some wonderful weddings lined up and room for only a few more on the calendar.
Totally looking forward to the Charleston beach portrait season.
Definitely want to shoot more film.
I’ve taken a workshop and watched a few free three-day online classes and I am so excited to implement all that I’ve learned.
And even after all that good news, I still want more.
So why not just put it out there?
1) I want a family to hire me to do a completely candid lifestyle session. A fly on the wall, on a random Tuesday. I want dogs whining to come in and dinner coming out of the oven (or out of a pizza box-it’s all good!), and a meltdown because we can’t find the blue sippie cup and clean little freshly bathed toes and bedtime stories and night lights.
All of it.
(I keep talking about wanting to capture real life, but, duh, I’d still shoot in the most attractive direction and make sure I don’t capture clutter in the background of the images.) :)
2) I want to do a John Hughes movies themed couple or engagement session. Sitting on a table, kissing over a cake, or slouching outside a high school gym, cavorting in a library or walking across a football field with raised fist. Fedora and a clarinet. Sunglasses in the back of a cab. Laying around in the front seat of a convertible Rolls. (Yea, I’m sure I’ll have no problem finding one of those.) Not an absolute re-creation, because Lord, couldn’t that end up cheesy? But inspired by, let’s say.
3) I want a back yard wedding. Your parents’ back yard, yours, a friend’s…wherever. I want to shoot a wedding with a truly homemade feel, not necessarily only in terms of the details (although homemade decor is great too!), but with regards to the space and vibe.
4) I want to shoot someone in the water. I love those dreamy, lovely, atmospheric shots where a compelling woman in a flowy dress wades around in a lake or ocean. (I’m thinking it would have to be a woman. Dude hair is not nearly as pretty/floaty.)
5) I’d love to do some more boudoir. I don’t advertise it on my site, but I do shoot it from time to time, and I do it in a really nice, tasteful, flattering way, if I do say so myself. If you are interested in a boudoir shoot, email me and I’ll send along some (pre-approved by past clients, of course) samples of my work.
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So there you have it.
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Posted on February 20, 2012
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Good afternoon!
First things first, I am so pleased to announce that Karmen and Nazar’s wonderful wedding was featured on The Wedding Row Friday!
Here’s the link: http://theweddingrow.com/karmen-nazar-the-wentworth-mansion/
I loved their wedding so much. Not only because they were really fun and awesome, and got married at the Wentworth Mansion, which is one of my favorite venues, but because Karmen was a DIY bride who really personalized her wedding and a lot of the details. I feel like her wedding had such an individual flair.
And secondly, it was my son’s birthday yesterday! He’s 9.
This kid is so funny and articulate and smart and quirky and BIG! He was born 9 weeks early, and we thought he might be small, but no. He’s tall. Long. Lanky. Solid. We can wear the same shoes. Last summer we bought him a new pair of Rainbow flip flops and I co-opted them.
He likes that messy, skater-y, floppity, Lowcountry hair. Me, I’m more a fan of tidy, preppy, suburban hair. But I try to meet him in the middle.
C.R. has overcome several health issues over his 9 years, and I really admire his ability to own who he is and keep on keepin’ on.
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Posted on February 14, 2012
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Posted on February 8, 2012
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Jessie and Sean’s wedding was such a laid-back blast.
Every wedding I’ve ever photographed or attended has had some sort of issue or mini-crisis. Someone’s stuck in traffic, someone doesn’t get along, or the singer belts out the first sentence of the wrong song (ahem-that may have been my own wedding), or a member of the wedding party started drinking straight Scotch at 8:47 am…
Etc.
These little things are expected, and once a little time has passed, often become some of the most charming and retold memories of the big day.
Jessie and Sean, though, will have to settle for telling their grandchildren that their wedding was Easy Like Sunday Morning.
Because as far as I know, it was.
Staff snuck into the back of the first look images. 
The dance floor was especially rockin’. The DJ told me it was the first time he’d played “Moves Like Jagger” at a wedding, to see how it went over. Like every other song, it got an enthusiastic response.
It *was* pretty chilly, but a smart girl always makes do in a pinch.
And then they were off, and their beloved guests threw rice. No, I’m totally kidding. Of course they threw sunflower seeds!
Posted on January 30, 2012
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A frame for a chilly morning. We lucked out with 70 degree weather on this mid-December day.
Posted on January 19, 2012
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I have several weddings and sessions that I need to blog in their entirety. For more frequent image uploads, please check my facebook page as well. The link is up there ^. Thanks!
In the meantime, I am loving this set of shots; the way the birdseed is suspended in mid-air in the first frame…
Impact!
Posted on January 9, 2012
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Didn’t Jessie have the greatest dress ever? Seriously, the best. It had this casual luxurious vibe that suited her so well and was so different. And it had *pockets*!
The dress is Amsale, from White on Daniel Island.
Jessie’s necklace and earrings were worn in honor of her grandmother.
This was the first bridal session I’ve ever done. All my other couples have opted for an engagement session instead, so I was really excited about being able to focus on the girl in the white dress. After we experimented with traditional poses and looks, we had some fun with it.
Posted on January 2, 2012
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An image for Monday morning.
Piggyback bride.
Posted on December 16, 2011
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Now up: Getting hitched and a party!
Michael Smallwood, looking quite at home backstage. In addition to being an actor, playwright and director, he’s also a talented writer/reviewer for the Charleston City Paper. Archive search his name; it’s good stuff.
The flower girl threw ticket stubs from a popcorn container. Adorable.
They were married by College of Charleston theater professor Joy Vandervort-Cobb.
Handfasting.
Yay!
Several of their engagement images were enlarged and made into movie posters. I love the way this one turned out. They decided to get married as they were walking out of the theater after seeing Away We Go .
Such an eminently quotable, iconic movie. (“Lloyd, Lloyd all null and void!”)
Just beautiful.
Enter Ronald.
I just love this. Shortly after this, my husband and assistant found Michael’s grandmother in the lounge, with her feet kicked up, watching BBC news. He joined her for a few minutes before I busted him.
It’s that time! On to the afterparty. I was so impressed with their wedding party and friends. They all buzzed around and had the whole reception venue cleaned and packed away in maybe 10-15 minutes. Maybe it’s all that practice switching up sets and clothing between acts.
Posted on December 6, 2011
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It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights-
I don’t usually split weddings into multiple posts. But Jillian and Michael’s wedding at the Emmett Robinson Theater was such a shootfest; seriously, backstage alone was a separate quirky, random world just begging to be documented. I prefer short-ish blog posts with an emphasis on the people. But there’s so much I want to share about this wedding, so this is part one:
I love this. It reminds me of the slumber party scene in Grease.
One of the girls saw me unwrapping these and thought they were mine. Nope- I wish I could shoot a wedding in non-sensible shoes! Jillian was the one rocking the purple fabulousness.
“No, I really am a D. Look at my bra-it’s in the bag over there.”
