Kids holding up Will You Mary Me signs - Huntington Beach State Park

Surprise proposal during family and maternity portraits

by

This was such a fun recent family photography session that I wanted to make a quick blog post about it. I’ve done many surprise marriage proposal over the years in Myrtle Beach. However, I’ve never done one, that combined maternity portraits and family pictures at the same time! I was actually contacted by the expectant mother to setup just a regular family photography session. About a week before the session, I was called by the father. He had an idea for a surprise proposal at the same time. All of his kids were going to be in on it and …

View post

Couple sitting by the dunes with their dog ring bearer in tie -

Intimate wedding at Cherry Grove Point in North Myrtle Beach

by

I always love when I have a chance to post pictures from a wedding at a new location. I’ve actually done family pictures at the Point in Cherry Grove, but I’ve never shot a wedding ceremony there. This is a unique location in North Myrtle Beach where House Creek meets up with the ocean and there are lots of undulating natural dunes. So many areas of Myrtle Beach have the houses and hotels built so close to the ocean that we don’t get to see natural dunes like this. In the background there you can also see Hog Island and …

View post

Kiss after private horseback ride on the beach - Inlet Point Plantation - Little River

Horseback ride surprise proposal at Inlet Point Plantation Stables in North Myrtle Beach

by

This was such a fun idea for a surprise marriage proposal in Myrtle Beach. Geoff contacted me a few weeks before his proposal. He wanted to surprise his girlfriend but he wanted to do it during a horseback ride down the beach. He got in touch with Inlet Point Plantation stables that is up in the North Myrtle Beach / Little River area. They actually have a special sunset horseback riding package that was perfect for what he wanted to do. While I’ve never been to Inlet Point Plantation stables before, I was familiar with the general area. It’s close …

View post

Just married couple at sunset with an island in the background - Cherry Grove Point - North Myrtle Beach

Quick review of the Nikon Z6 II with my family and engagement portraits in Myrtle Beach

by

I’ve been using Nikon DSLR cameras for about 13 years professionally, and even longer when it was just my hobby. I’m very set in my ways regarding the controls and feel of a classic Nikon camera, and I was very hesitant to make any changes. My main camera bodies have been the D850 and a couple of D750s for a while now. Some of my photography friends told me how much they loved their mirrorless cameras. However, I had a lot of concerns about switching. I will go over some of those below and why I’ve ended up loving the …

View post

Bride and groom with their three leg doggie ring bearer - 21 Main Events at North Beach

Wedding at 21 Main Events with a cute dog ring-bearer and unusual sunset

by

21 Main Events at North Beach is becoming one of my most frequented wedding venues for photography. It’s a great combination of a sheltered courtyard area that keeps the guests out of the sun and wind. As well as a beautiful nearby gazebo and beach area. My wife Lizeth was assisting me as a second photographer at this wedding. She went up with the groomsmen to their suite above the main restaurant and got some great shots of them out on the balcony. I usually like to stay with the bride myself and take pictures of all her details. Such …

View post

Beautiful ceremony by the river - Kimbels at Wachesaw Plantation

Spring wedding at Wachesaw Plantation with a large bridal party, fun dancing, and sparkler exit

by

Annika and Ronnie were one of the many couples in Myrtle Beach that had to move their wedding from its original date because of Covid-19. They even had to change from their original venue to Wachesaw Plantation. Wachesaw Plantation is located a little south of Myrtle Beach in the Murrells Inlet area. This venue change ended up being for the best. The Kimbels in Wachesaw Plantation is one of the best venues in Myrtle Beach for photography. Sunlight filtering through the moss on the bank of the Waccamaw River is one of my favorite backgrounds for pictures. I started out …

View post

Photography of living room with lots of windows - Florence, SC

Real estate photography and 360 walkthrough for a classic house in Florence, SC

by

I’m still pursuing my expansion into doing some real estate photography. I find it fun and relaxing, it’s similar to doing the detail shots and venue pictures at a wedding, which I always enjoy. My main problem is that I’m very particular and take too many pictures. It ends up taking me too much time for the typical prices people are willing to pay for real estate photography. I’m going to have to learn to be faster and more efficient at taking and post processing the pictures. This is the same thing I had to learn for weddings and family …

View post

Family of three after the wedding - Folly Beach - Charleston

Intimate wedding with family at the Tides in Folly Beach, Charleston

by

Nicole and Adam found me through WeddingWire, back before we knew anything about Covid-19. They were having a small wedding ceremony on the beach, with just a few family and friends, on September 10th of 2020. This actually worked out perfectly, since most weddings in 2020 ended up being scaled back from the original plans. They were having a separate larger reception later on in NC. They only had me there to take pictures up until dinner time. I was actually glad to not have to stay late since I had another wedding in Charleston the very next day. This …

View post

Bride touching groom's face in black and white - Grande Dunes - Myrtle Beach

Rainy wedding day at the Grand Dunes Resort Golf Club in Myrtle Beach

by

Like many recent couples, Mary and Inman had to make some last minute changes to their wedding plans because of Covid-19. The were originally supposed to have a big ceremony back in the bride’s home country of Venezuela. This ended up not being possible, with all the current travel restrictions. In just a few weeks time, they planned a whole new wedding in Myrtle Beach! They contacted me just a couple of weeks before the wedding date. Since their date was a Friday in February, I was available and happy to do it. Wedding at the Ocean Drive Church in …

View post

Host an incredibly fast Wordpress website using WordOps on AWS Lightsail CDN

by

This is a really different post from my usual blogging about my photography. I actually did some web development long before I started my photography business, and it really helped me out when I started my business back in 2008. When I built my first site, I just used static html pages and had a separate blog running on Wordpress. A number of years later, I switched my entire site to Wordpress. With some page caching techniques, Wordpress can be just as fast as static web pages. While you can find very cheap web hosting, for example around $5 a …

View post