Albright Family Shoot

Technically yes, I photographed this whole family... but as you'll see, the kids completely stole the show. The bright eyes! The charisma! The promise of delicious fruit snacks! They were a photographer's dream, right down to helping me with the countdown "3-2-1... cheese!" 

Through a cosmic, small-world connection, I connected with Brittany and her husband Randy to photograph Brittany's family as they gathered to celebrate baby Emery's first birthday. She is such a beautiful child. We're talking baby food label beautiful. Just sing the La-la-la-la Elmo Song and she's a giggle machine.

Waterfront Park in downtown Charleston was perfectly pleasant and glowy on this Friday afternoon. Brittany and her family were wonderfully helpful and willing and graceful and patient. I hope to see them again very soon. Happy birthday, Emery!

Paul Family Shoot

You know when a family is so beautiful that you wonder if they might be from a Gattaca-like future? 

Yup. Meet the Paul / Falini / Shadoff family. 
I met them on Isle of Palms for a beach shoot and... it's just not even fair how terrific these people look in photos.
Do I chalk it up to centuries of futuristic genotype profiling and time travel? Of course not. That would be crazy.

(wink)

Newborn Julian

Ok, I'll admit it. 
I used to be one of those people who put babies into two categories. Either your baby looks like a generic human baby or your baby totally looks like an alien. If you managed to have a non-alien baby, it pretty much looked to me like all the other babies in this category. 

But man, was I wrong. Not about the alien thing. That's a real thing. Just about the all other babies looking the same thing.

Marsha and Rob are wonderful parents and just loved participating in the creative process. Julian, for his part, was about as fantastic as a baby could be. He was passed around, licked and nuzzled by the dog, and even put on a giant leaf... and he just kept on chilling. He even smile/laughed for the first time and we caught THAT moment on camera for all time.

I met baby Julian on his 9th day on Earth. At this point I'd like to say for the record that he doesn't look at all like an alien or a raisin or a dried apple. He looks like a perfect, tiny human. Not at all like other babies.
Well done, Marsha and Rob! And Congratulations!

Amy + Brandon

These two. 

If you've been a wedding guest, ever, you probably remember how much fun the wedding was. The band!
The food!
The love!
All the happy people all in one place.
Tears of joy.

But have you ever been to a wedding where you thought, "Well, this one is going to be hard to top?" Welcome to the wedding of Amy and Brandon. She (from the UK) and he (from Canada) met many years ago while working at the same skating rink. Brandon plays hockey (fully aware of the cliché) and Amy is an accomplished figure skater.

Amy and Brandon are so connected and so deeply in love. It's in their eyes every time they look at each other. They are the couple that finishes each others' sentences in a genuinely endearing way. Their families were thrilled about their union. Their friends were beyond excited. It was non-stop contagious elation. Amy's father and stepfather cried when they saw her in her dress for the first time. There was so much pride and love. 

Then throw in the following:
- a forecast for inches of rain, but a full day of sunshine.
- an adorable and charismatic flower girl.
- a ceremony at the end of a dock overlooking the historic Charleston peninsula.
- custom-written vows that drew as many laughs as tears.
- a cake-cutting psych-out involving shots.
- a stunner of a sunset over the USS Yorktown, a National Historic Landmark.

So... yeah. You might say Amy and Brandon's wedding was one to remember.