Random things during the busy summer and the wedding documentary gallery

I’ve been meaning to put up a new blog post for a while.  Myrtle Beach is just in it’s busiest time right now, and I’m always backed up with work, which is a good thing but it makes it hard to do extra things like posting to the blog.  It also doesn’t help I got strep throat and now that I’m off my antibiotic it seems to be coming back, and I almost never get sick. So instead of trying to concentrate on one subject I decided to just put up a few random pictures I’ve really liked over the past month.

One new thing you will notice on the website, I’ve put up a new gallery called wedding documentary.  The idea for this is to put up more candid pictures that I might not put in a gallery otherwise.  I always have lots of pictures I really like, but I just don’t think they are suitable to put in as my main examples of my work.  The idea for this gallery is a place for these more raw, less perfect and touched up images.  I’m going to try to stick to pictures that are truly candid and unexpected, or sometimes perhaps a really silly picture even if the client knows I’m taking it that wouldn’t make it into the gallery otherwise.

I’ve also been experimenting with the new Nik Software Color Efex Pro 3 software.  I used the bleach bypass filter for the first image below, it’s a cool effect.  I’ve just got to get used to working this software into some images in my workflow and figuring out what I like.  Below I’m going to put some examples that are in the new wedding documentary gallery, as well as just a few other random shots I liked.  As always if you enjoy some of these pictures please click the like button below.

Groomsmen waiting on the second floor - Ocean Club - Grande Dunes

Groomsmen waiting on the second floor - Ocean Club - Grande Dunes

Bridal party in the sunset - Ocean Club - Grande Dunes

Bridal party in the sunset - Ocean Club - Grande Dunes

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Another wedding at the Grande Dunes Ocean Club – Myrtle Beach

I like going back to a location multiple times, it’s just so much more relaxed going to an area I already know.  This was my second wedding in the actual Ocean Club, that is at the very north end of Myrtle Beach. I’ve had a number of weddings in the Grande Dunes that had their ceremony on the beach behind the club as well.  I don’t know how the pricing compares, but overall the Grande Dunes really is about the nicest place for a wedding and reception I’ve seen.  This week everything went super smoothly.  The videographers, AAA Photography, were great and the ceremony went off without any problems at all.  The only thing about the veranda (I guess is what you call it), is for the amount of people they had at this ceremony it got to be a little tight. The videographers were really squeezed in and it was a little hard to get some angles and shots I like when I have a whole beach to move around on.  Also, the groom was so much taller than the bride, it actually made some of my shots I normally do difficult. They were a great couple, and I thought almost all the pictures tuned out fantastic. My wife seem to think the groom was a little too good looking, I might have to hide the rest of the pictures :)  I hope you enjoy some samples below.

How guys get ready for a wedding - Ocean Club

The girls are going crazy in one room, and we see the guys busy getting ready here.

Bride putting on earings in mirror - Grande Dunes, Ocean Club

Bride in doorway, black and white - Grande Dunes, Ocean Club

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Wedding at Marriott Resort and Spa, Myrtle Beach

Here are a few of the pictures from my wedding this past Sunday at the Marriott Resort and Spa at The Grande Dunes near the ocean in Myrtle Beach, that’s a long name for a location. The weather actually turned out to be perfect for the wedding. This couple was very easy to work with, I did engagement portraits with them previously that turned out really great as well.  There were actually a ton of pictures I liked, I tried to pick out a few to post on the blog.  I normally like my pictures really clean without a lot of silly Photoshop effects, the kind that I’ve noticed some photographers use to draw attention away from bad pictures.  If you see a short depth of field (blurry out of focus background) it’s being done in camera.  However one of the pictures below I used the Totally Rad Actions F-Zero action for a tilt shift lens effect.  It looks like something you might get from a Lens Baby without the trouble of using one, and I thought it really worked for that picture.  I hope you like the pictures, if you do don’t forget to click the Facebook like button above.

Kiss at Marriott Resort and Spa at Grande Dunes

Bridal portrait on stairs Marriott Resort and Spa at The Grande Dunes

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Bridal Portraits, Members Club at the Grande Dunes, Myrtle Beach

I did some beautiful bridal portraits after my Indian wedding at the Grande Dunes.  The members club is a great spot with the golf course out back. It was a little different to do the bridal portraits after the wedding, but it worked out well.  I’m learning how to use fill flash more effectively for example in the shot of the bride looking out over the golf course.  It was very dark in the area where she was standing compared to the background in the bright sun.  If I had just exposed for her, the background would be blown out and white.  However, exposing somewhat for the background and filling in the bride with some flash, gives very nice results. Of course you can never beat the light coming in from a big window.  I hope you enjoy some of them below.

Bridal portraits after Indian Wedding Grande Dunes

Bridal portraits after Indian Wedding Grande Dunes

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