Lora Lynne downtown– Up, down, and all around

Nathan had a fun shoot scheduled with Lora Lynne and her mom downtown in Waterfront Park, and I got to go with him. How could I not go when there’s an adorable baby involved? This was our studio’s second session with Lora Lynne, and we were so amazed at how fast she’s grown. This session was to get a Christmas surprise for her Grandmas. The pair has such great smiles, and here are some of our favorites from the session:

Look at how big I am

The session ended with Nathan showing Lora Lynne a few of her photos on the back of the camera. I think she was pleased.

Christmas Party at Healing Farm

Nathan, the dogs, & I got to volunteer at Healing Farms’ Christmas Party. Healing Farms provides several opportunities to the special needs community and their families. This group has a special place in my heart because my brother has autism.  If you don’t know about Healing Farm or want to find 0ut how you can help,  check out their website: Healing Farm

I helped man the gift/fundraiser table while Nathan photographed the event. Here are just a few of my favorites from the REALLY cold evening:

Something magical happens when you listen to Christmas music in the fresh air on the farm

Instead of chestnuts, we had lots of marshmellows roasting on an open fire

Several people and our dogs got to experience their first hay ride. They loved it!

The live Nativity & Christmas story reading from the Bible completed the wonderful evening

My Link to Facebook

Mell, Val, Steve and I are all really active on facebook.  Look us up sometime!

        

Julie & Blake = one hot couple!

One Sunday evening back in April, I (Valerie) had the pleasure of meeting Julie and her husband Blake downtown for a fun lifestyle portrait shoot! They’ve been married for a few years now, and decided it was time to have new pictures made.

Per special request, I am reaching back into our archives (8 months of shoots ago is a “long time” for us, haha!!!) – and posting a few. Here ya go, Julie!

A few of my favorites from their shoot:

 

Last Wedding Album Design of 2008

(post by Valerie)

That’s right, folks. The 2008 calendar year is coming to a close, and wow what a year it’s been! Can you believe that (Nathan & my weddings combined) our studio has shot 63 weddings this year!!!! And of course we’ve also shot countless sessions of engagements, bridals, family portraits, babies and children.

We LOVE what we do, but boy oh boy have we been busy!

April & Justin’s wedding album!

A couple weeks ago, I posted a few of April & Justin’s wedding pictures. I am proud to share their album design (don’t miss it!) www.charlestonwedding.com/weddings/garris

Also, as promised, I am now posting some of my favorites from April’s bridal session….she seriously had one of my favorite bridal sessions of all of 2008, no doubt!

Darby takes on downtown Charleston

When you’re 18 months old,  your legs are made for walking and running, but sitting still makes you cranky. Rocks are one of your favorite toys, and your photographer has to be ready for your split second adorable poses. Darby was no exception, and Nathan and I had the pleasure of photography her family recently around Waterfront Park in downtown Charleston. Thank you so much for playing outside with us! Here are some of our favorite shots from the shoot:

Darby on the go with her rock

You can't cross the street without holding someone's hand, but you can definitely sit in it with your parents for a fun family shot.

Darby and her family were so fun and willing to try different things like this.

The best way to end a day downtown is laughing and playing in the grass. This is one my favorite shots from the day.

Leah + Rob, downtown Charleston

Talk about a cute couple!   Leah and Rob are getting married this coming April on a family plantation in a little town outside of Greenwood, SC. It’s going to be so neat and unique!

We had a great engagement portrait session! We started in Waterfront Park, and wandered around the Customs House, and a few alleyways on East Bay St.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Jay Clifford concert at the Music Farm!

Last Saturday night, I (Valerie) attended the last show of Jay Clifford’s recent tour, here in Charleston at the good ol’ Music Farm!

The only thing was…the concert didn’t allow ANYONE in with cameras (and my giant Canon 5D isn’t exactly easily hidden in a pocket!) But no worries, Jay knows me and made a special request that I be made an exception to do photography for the band!

Jay’s voice is still as awesome as ever!
http://www.myspace.com/jaycliffordmusic

Owen Beverly opened the show…and was fabulous, as always. I’ve been following Owen’s career since, eeh, about 2001 I think? He’s just got an amazing voice! (Owen Beverly’s myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/owenbeverly - you can check out his music on his myspace. I own his recent CD “Shooting the Bull” and I highly recommend it!)

Owen:

The 2nd opening band was Crowfield. Crowfield is seriously one of this area’s newest up and coming bands. They rock it out up there and are really talented!  This was my 2nd time seeing them perform. (I saw them back in June when they opened for Will Hoge at the Windjammer.) They were great then too, so I was super excited to get to hear them rock again! Crowfield’s myspace: http://www.myspace.com/crowfieldmusic

Crowfield:

The Music Farm is definitely Charleston’s best venue.
It’s like none other! Here are my 2 fav’s that show off the venue:

And from up above, here’s the back part of the venue, including the bar and the merch area. (Also, Kip’s booth in the back! –Karson Photography– It’s always fun running into other Charleston photographers, and Kip is way cool so I had a good time hanging out with him in the back for a bit before the show started!)

Ok, so without further adieu, here are more of my favorite shots from JAY CLIFFORD!

From “upstairs”…

At the very  end, Jay did something really amazing…he came into the audience and sang Cathedrals! There were a lot of tears in the audience. It really was special.

Jay rocks, even without a microphone! I felt really honored to be the one to get to capture this moment!

Beautiful bride!

I just posted Jamie & Jeremy’s wedding album. They had such a terrific wedding! You MUST check out their design here: http://www.charlestonwedding.com/weddings/ciotta/

Jamie is such a stunningly beautiful bride! I thought I’d share a couple of my favorites from her bridal session:

Baby Sophia’s portraits, downtown and in the studio!

First of all – you know how much I love babies!!!! (<–four exclamation marks’ worth, apparently)

It’s such a blessing to have the opportunity to continue a relationship with my once brides-and-grooms who are now parents by taking photos of their children! I shot Laurie & Mark’s wedding at Middleton Plantation back in June of 2007, and now they have precious baby Sophia who is now 7 months old!

We started at Waterfront Park, in downtown Charleston’s historic district and then we went back to the studio for a few more photos of Sophia in her Christmas outfit!

The Grinnell Family!

Sophia loved playing in the leaves!

She is so expressive! Happy girl…

(And she LOVES smiling for her Daddy!)

I sneaked in one of me and Sophia.

And then….we headed back up to North Charleston our studio session!

Doesn’t she look like a Baby Gap ad in this pic?

* * * And this one is my personal favorite! * * *
(Trust me, this shot wasn’t easy b/c she only cried for these 2 seconds the whole shoot so I had to be quick!)