Tag Archives: ocean

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Another fun couple doing engagement pictures at the Myrtle Beach State Park


April 11th, 2013

I met this couple for the first time on Friday to discuss photographing their upcoming wedding. While they were in the area we decided to do some last minute engagement pictures on Monday at the state park in Myrtle Beach. I’ve said it a lot of times before, but doing engagement pictures is really the best way to get to know a couple, and for them to get to know you as the photographer. If they like what you do during the engagement portraits, they are going to like you at the wedding as well. Pictures of the couple after the wedding is pretty much the same thing, just a little more rushed and with a little more stress.

We are finally getting some good weather, it was a beautiful evening with a great sunset. I notice it seems to be a really popular thing to get some flare from the setting sun in the lens.  You certainly wouldn’t want it in every picture because it washes it out, but it can be a cool look.  The really expensive Nikon lenses have a special Nano Crystal coating on them to reduce flare because it’s not normally something you would want. If you get the sun over to the side but in the frame enough where it’s hitting the lens you will definitely still get it.

One other thing I thought of.  Because of constantly looking into the sun I know I need to always wear sunglasses. However my current ones completely make the screen on the back of my camera not visible. I realized you have to get sunglasses that are not polarized. I ordered some nice Ray-Bans that should be really good without being polarized. I’m hoping that will make it so I don’t have to keep taking them off to see my screen.  I hope you enjoy the pictures below, please comment if you do.

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Fall engagement portraits at the Myrtle Beach State Park


December 6th, 2012

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about engagement pictures. When I’m doing engagement pictures for an upcoming wedding, I try to keep them in my slower times of the year if possible. When it cools down a bit is usually a great time anyway, the color in the ocean and sky seems better once things cool off. This is a fun couple who’s wedding I have coming up in April at the Grande Dunes. I like it so much better when I already know a couple well at the wedding, and they already have a good idea what they are in for :) I hope you enjoy some of the shots below, I’ll also be posting soon some engagement pictures from Georgetown which I think everyone will like.

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Fun sunset pictures with the bride and groom at Holden Beach, NC


October 2nd, 2012

This is the first time I’ve been up to Holden Beach in NC for a wedding. This wedding was for a couple that was bringing together their two families with adult children. Everyone just seemed really happy and got along great. That always makes things easier for me. The wedding was held at a really pretty private home on the ocean. It was quite a long walk from the beach house down to the actual ocean. The area behind the house was huge and just full of dunes and sea oats, as well as a small lake surrounded by tall grass. This was actually one of the prettiest beach spots I think I’ve seen. It makes you realize how much they have ruined the Myrtle Beach area. All the houses and hotels are stuck almost on the ocean, it has just ruined the beach and dunes. I guess there is nothing that can be done about it now except occasional beach re-nourishment when they pump sand out of the ocean. I decided for this post to highlight just one part of the wedding, pictures of the couple that we did at sunset. The whole afternoon I had been looking at spots and thinking about what it would look like at sunset. After spending some time at the reception the couple walked back down to the beach with me right around sunset time, like usual we only had a few minutes. The angle of the sun to the ocean is different here than it is in Myrtle Beach. That is why there are a lot of cool shots with the sun going down over the ocean. There is only a brief time during the winter when the sun’s angle will be like that here. I just love in the pictures below the way the sunset reflects off the edge of the water, as well as the ones of it going down behind the lake. If you like these pictures please comment and ‘like’ the post, it encourages me to post more often. A couple of these shots have been touched up, but most have not. I hope you enjoy them.

Couple sitting in the sea oats and the sunset - Holden Beach, NCCouple sitting in the sea oats and the sunset - Holden Beach, NC Continue reading 'Fun sunset pictures with the bride and groom at Holden Beach, NC'

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After reception trash the dress with the bride and groom – Ocean Isle Beach


May 22nd, 2012

I had a lot of fun after the wedding reception with this couple.  They planned it so that they could go to the reception for a couple of hours, then do a trash the dress session at sunset before leaving for the evening.  I’ve never had a bride and groom get completely in the ocean like they did.  The only problem we had, we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, but I don’t let anything stop me when I shooting.  The poor bride in the first picture below had scratches that I had to Photoshop out on her arms because of getting bitten.  I think the results were worth the bit of suffering, I really love all of these, it was hard to pick just a few for the blog.

I’ve thought recently about selling my Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens because I never use it anymore.  It’s really heavy and bulky to keep in my bag all the time.  However, I’m glad I had it.  You might notice if you look closely, about half way through the pictures I switch lenses from my 85mm f1.4 to the 70-200 f2.8.  Using the 70-200 is how I get those really close up shots when the couple are deep in the ocean.  It looks like I’m on top of them even though I’m back on the beach.  Even if it’s heavy, I realize it’s good to carry around everything because you never know what you will need.  I hope you enjoy the pictures below, let me know in the comments if you like them!

Bride standing in front of the sunset - Ocean Isle

Bride standing in front of the sunset - Ocean Isle

Couple standing in front of the sunset - Ocean Isle

Couple standing in front of the sunset - Ocean Isle

Continue reading 'After reception trash the dress with the bride and groom – Ocean Isle Beach'