
Posted on September 10, 2014
I met up with adorable Anna and Ian against this year at Folly Beach.
It’s funny. I always notice how much children have grown when I photograph them multiple times, but the difference between almost two year old twins and almost three year old twins is amazing. They were talking! And walking around like they owned the place! Crazy.
As we were making our way to the Morris Island Lighthouse overlook, we noticed smoke coming from the forested area between the lane and the beach.
Really, quite a lot of smoke. And popping noises.
Fascinating and a smidge frightening, but they were dressed and we were halfway there, so no turning back.
After we played on the beach for about 45 minutes, all the while hearing sirens and seeing the smoke steadily crawl the sky like a charcoal predator, we walked back and encountered the fire truck and and other bystanders.
Apparently someone drove onto the beach, started doing doughnuts in the sand, and flipped up onto the dunes, catching his engine on fire. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Thankfully, no one was hurt. But it’s a photo shoot none of us will soon forget.
Thanks, FBFD!


Posted on April 23, 2014
Proud grandparents are the best! I photographed Carolyn’s family when her sons, daughter in law, and granddaughter were in town to visit. It was important for her to have time with her first grandchild documented. I love the colors this family wore. Add green grass, a lovely sunset, and a beach ball, and we had the perfect photo session.


Posted on March 20, 2014
I met up with the King crew over the holidays so that they could get a Charleston family portrait while everyone was in town.
We’d put a lot of thought into this session. Wardrobe opinions, plans to change to a beach location after we took some photos downtown, etc.
Approximately 11 minutes into our session, the sky opened up. Linda, who’s a television producer and knows about getting things done, said “sometimes you just need to punt.”
We didn’t get the golden beach frolic-y light we originally wanted, but we got to watch model trains go around a mountain. And hey-that’s a win!


Posted on February 20, 2014
C.R. turned 11 yesterday. He’s a football-loving, Minecrafting, guitar-strumming, didgeridoo-learning, reading-all-the-time all American boy.
(Did I mention the Minecrafting? Lots of Minecraft.)
And last week he received an award for a 100% on his South Carolina PASS standardized test writing section. I’m proud of that! A perfect score on a written essay is pretty awesome.


Posted on January 27, 2014
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Molly’s vision for her family session was to capture them having fun and being themselves. And we did! I love the light, colors, humor and energy here.


Posted on January 23, 2014
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I’m always so proud to show off how friendly and polite Charlestonians are to out-of-towners.
When I’m meeting Brits, though, it’s a toss-up. There’s a witty good-naturedness to the English that wins me over every time.
The wonderful Potter family gathered in Charleston from Chicago and England for a wonderful vacation and a photo session to document the gang.


Posted on November 21, 2013
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I met the adorable and vivacious Fornshell family this past spring with a group of their friends.
The group of 4 families opted to do four back to back mini sessions of each family, as well as get a few whole group shots. It was not only an affordable way to commemorate your gang on vacation, but, more importantly, works out well with the kids’ attention spans. It was unseasonably chilly, but I hope they had a great time anyway.


Posted on November 6, 2013
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Today I’m featuring another family session from the archives.
The Butlers had portraits made before a deployment.
Little guy Adam had one of the most joyous smiles I’ve ever seen!


Posted on October 30, 2013
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Today I’m back in the archives, from our unseasonably chilly 2013 spring.
Of course, Melissa, who is glowingly expectant in these images, now has two children.
They’ve booked another family session this winter, and I can’t wait to meet the baby!


Posted on October 29, 2013
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Last week, I saw a man at the gas station. 60’s-ish, neat and pressed, kind face, classically confident walk. He was adding air to his tires, and the hose kept retracting as he pulled it around the vehicle. Not wanting to lose the hose or have it rub against his nice SUV, he was doing this stop/start, twisty, yanky, crab shimmy to get correctly positioned. He then took an exaggerated side step, the kind preschoolers take when pretending they’re a toy soldier or the Jolly Green Giant, and stepped on one end of the hose to keep it stationary.
I wished so badly that I had my camera to document him, and an invitation to do so.
I love to watch people. The funny, sweet, preciously awkward things. The bonds, reactions and traditions. That’s why I love photographing families.
Don’t get me wrong. I have a family. I *know* what was involved in preparing for your photo shoot, and it’s not all hugs and coordinating colors and smiles. Someone was running late, a shoe went missing, hair frizzed at the last minute, kids fought in the car on the way over. And a 30% chance of rain. It’s *messy*.
But despite all that nonsense, it’s the deliberateness of the gesture. The showing up to say “this is us, and we are worthy of documenting and preserving, today, together, just as we are, so have at it” is what pulls us through every time.
I intended to do one blog post and include an image from all the Charleston family portraits I did this year. But I couldn’t pull it off. They each have their own wonderful stories to tell. So I’m going to try to blog one family a day for the next few weeks until I’ve caught up.
Today, the Fedders clan!
This was in honor of the late patriarch of the family, who had a collection of crazy Cosby sweaters he would wear to parties. I love that they chose to honor him this way, and lugged a tub full of sweaters along on summer vacation. Awesome.
Ice cream and cookie rewards back at the house after a wonderful photo session:
