I don't get out to shoot street photography nearly as often as I would like to, but it's a real treat to get out in the middle of people enjoying whatever it is that's going on. During times like Halloween make it even more fun, because everyone is out for a spectacle and you very rarely any other time year run into so many people who are trying to get their photo taken.
Read MorePlease watch the video first.
My family has been through some tough stuff, rain and flooding being pretty high on the list. Never thought we would have to go through it again though. I explain most everything in the video but I wanted to add something.
Please be very careful with your words. This is more than just house. It's memories, and hard work and a place where I spent 20 years of my life. 20 years! So before you ask about flood insurance or say that you would just tear it down and move or make some tired joke about lake front property, think about the fact that it's more than 4 walls and a roof. It's a big part of people's lives. Unless you have dealt with something similar, you have no idea what type of heartache that comes with losing a home. So before you comment on someone's photo status or retweet that photo, have compassion for those that are losing their possessions.
See all the photos after the jump
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In a small beach town on the coast of South Carolina, a small but powerful thing was invented. Just a little jig that was referred to as "The Bop" or Swing or Jive that would eventually evolve into something of it's own. The Carolina Shag. A simple dance known for it's origins in the swing-time era but with a more relaxed feel. A more down to earth movement that could be done anywhere from sawdust covered floors of the local honky-tonks to the remnants of low tide right on the shore of the Grand Strand. Before the civil rights movement and integration of races in South Carolina, North Myrtle Beach was neighbored by Atlantic Beach where people of color were limited to enjoy the ocean with only about a half mile stretch of beach.
Read MoreThis engagement session couldn’t have been more wonderful as we walked the scenic Market Commons here in Myrtle Beach. Preston and Carleigh wanted a quick session so that they could have a photo to share with all their friends and family to announce their joyful news. To help them share the engagement photos even quicker, I provided an on-the-spot edit for them to share!
When I was a kid, I had a bad habit of losing things (unfortunately that habit has stuck a little more than I care to admit). It’s not that I didn’t care about things, it would just slip my mind and poof it was gone next time I thought about it. This is a very big reason why my parents would not let me have a digital camera when I was young. They knew that I would end up misplacing it and never have anything to show from my travels. Well eventually at the age of 17 or 18 I believe, my parents finally bought me a digital camera: A Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ3 point and shoot. No have the time this thing felt so advanced, it had a 10 times optical zoom , A metal body and took very decently sized photos. I never had the need to print over 8 x 10 often but I did end up using one of my images for a poster which turned out very good. Detail wise the photo itself actually kind of sucked haha.
Read MoreThere are certain events every year in the Myrtle Beach area that people look forward to. We have marathons, car shows, restaurant and wine events; but one thing everybody knows it looks forward to is the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church Greek Fest. With vendors, music, Attractions for the kids, traditional Greek dancing and of course some of the best food on the beach, you're bound to have a good time. I ended up going with my family to enjoy the festivities and decided to shoot a little street photography while I was there. I hope you enjoy the video and photos.
If you like my work and are interested in me covering your event in the future please visit my contact page at 843-446-4929
I like to think of myself as a pretty adventurous person; I get to travel a good bit with my job, meet new people constantly and overall put myself in situations where I get to experience a lot more than I normally would have with a behind the desk day job. Sometimes my job isn't as adventurous but it's still just as rewarding. A few weeks ago I had the express opportunity to spend an evening with a group of men that all served on the same ship in the U.S. Navy on a ship called the USS Tutuila. Some of these men served during Vietnam some during the Korean War and some even during World War II. They needed help capturing photos for their reunion album and they called me to help them out. I have a great respect for those in uniform and it was an honor to be able to photograph them. There were somewhere around 80 men plus their wives and children here
Though this was pretty simple work, and they didn't want anything fancy, I still had a lot of fun interacting with these people and hearing stories that they were interested in telling. Many of these men served together during different tours, so to see them together all these years later was very cool. Anyway I curated just a few images that I'd like to share with you that didn't make it into their reunion book but will be in my personal collection forever because of what it meant to me not necessarily because they're the best portraits of ever taken. Hope you enjoy them.
Some call the Eiffel Tower the "Scar On The Face Of Paris". The famed French writer, Guy de Maupassant, is even remembered for eating dinner at the restaurant on the upper deck of it because "It's the only place in Paris you can't see the Eiffel Tower". Though I do agree that the colossal metal monument doesn't really fit with the historical feeling that Paris is known for, it really is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. Like Mr. Maupassant, I also am a very big fan of the views of the city from those heights. From so high up, the city is almost unrecognizable. Because of this, I wanted photograph the city with miniature feel that envisioned. Here are a few photos from my time on the upper deck.
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I have always had a love for cameras. I love the way they look, the way they feel. Cameras themselves can be works of art, and in the coming months I hope to show a few of cameras off in some blog posts. One thing about vintage cameras, is that you have to keep them working, running film through them now and again . Moss never grows on a rolling stone. I am the proud owner of a Nikon FG, and though not many people would call it "vintage" It is older than me and I feel that counts. Its a beautiful SLR that has very classic styling that many cameras today are starting to emulate. While leading a street photography workshop not long ago, I decided to shoot with it to give it a little exercise instead of letting it collect dust on a shelf.
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Everyone has a favorite place to stay in Myrtle Beach for vacation. Well Ocean Lakes is a place many call their favorite destination place when coming down on vacation. It's a gated community that allows the interior to be safe from traffic coming through as well as enjoying their private beach and family friendly facilities. Above all else though, many people enjoy time down on their own miniature version of the famed Myrtle Beach Boulevard. The preferred mode of transportation is golf carts and after dark every night, they all line up to play their music and have a good time riding around. Being a family friendly resort, nothing ever gets out of hand because there are just as many parents and small children as there are young adults and teenagers.
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Most all photos stay to a very small number of crop ratios that fit the standards of today's print decorations. 2:3 which is the most commons gives a great surface area for landscapes and portraits. Another type of crop that is very popular is 1:1 square. With Instagram, retro instant film and medium format lomography cameras gaining popularity, the square format is starting to make a rise in decorative prints. Though most of my work is done in this format, every now and again, I get an itch to edit my photos in a little different way.
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In this blog post I want to show you work that I have done for a local restaurant. This is one of my first ventures into commercial photography, but knowing how to use my camera is a good enough confidence booster to know that I can produce good images for what they were wanting. The client is Co Sushi, a new restaurant to the Myrtle Beach area, looking to expand their gallery of images that will be used in social media as well as possible print ads. They were looking for some images of the restaurant itself but mostly some good shots of their menu items.
Read MoreOne of my ongoing projects is to show the world the Myrtle Beach that is visible only when the bright lights of the boulevard fade away. Over 14 million people visit us every year but only 20,000 of us are here to see what happens when everyone else leaves. Though the main goal of my project is to show everyone's favorite spots in Myrtle Beach completely abandoned, I couldn't help but photograph this old building on it's last leg.
This Motel is one of the few left standing from the golden era of the Grand Strand. The Tradewinds name is now used in much newer structures, but this old building has been long forgotten by travelers coming through. Being condemned due to asbestos, the place has fallen apart and is now only used to house what looks to be construction materials for what I am sure is another property. I will be surprised if this place last until next year.
Don't get me wrong, I love my town; the excitement and fun that takes place here made for a great place to grow up. I hate that Myrtle Beach is seen by the public so often as dirty place with shows like "Myrtle Manor" and "Party Down South" and headlines that create nicknames for the city such as: Murder Beach or Dirty Myrtle. My hope is that through this project, I can do my part to help Myrtle Beach be seen on all sides, not just the glitzy and glamorous, and not just the dirty broken down places but everything. The way I see it.
Myrtle Beach is home to all kinds of attractions for people to come visit; permanent places that sit empty when the crowds go home. Though there are plenty of places like that, there is always one type of entertainment that goes to the crowd: the traveling circus. Traveling circus troupes have been a tradition for hundreds of years in one way or another and it's nice to see such an old piece of history being honored even in today's busy digital world.
Click through to see the video and photos!
Read MoreCosplay is not a new concept, but it has become more normal in the pop culture over the last 5 years or so. Events such as Comic-Con have really pushed geek culture to the forefront and dressing up for fun doesn't just have to be on Halloween anymore. I have some friends here in the Myrtle Beach area who all dress as Disney Princesses for different events. They spend a good bit of their time doing makeup, hair and making sure their costumes are just right for everyone's enjoyment.
Click through to see the video and photos!
Read MoreThere are places all over Myrtle Beach that you can set your blanket but if you are not careful, you will have to pay out the nose to park your car trying to get there. In the downtown area, the resort section is littered with pay to park lots and parking meters. Most places will make you pay by the hour, but sometimes, you can get lucky and find a place that asks for $20 for the whole day. Though, even if you find a reasonable place to park your car here, if your headed to the beach you are then going to be surrounded all day by other families and way too much foot traffic.
Read MoreStreet Photography is increasingly becoming one of my favorite pastimes and my location of choice for this series is Market Common.
I love the mixture of low country spacing and southern metropolitan architecture. The mixture of people this time of year is very nice too. Right before the troves of folks come in for spring break and summer breaks loose, there is about a 3-4 week period where the weather is gorgeous and the only people here to enjoy it are snowbirds who have spent their winter here and us locals. This is my favorite time to enjoy Myrtle Beach because everyone is out of hiding and the town looks halfway populated. Sure it takes a little longer to get to work but it's worth it to actually see people!
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Continuing with my Abandoned Myrtle Beach project, I decided to head over to Broadway at The Beach which is located in the heart of Myrtle Beach proper. This is a place millions come on vacation due to the many shops, restaurants and attractions that are located within it. There's the Hard Rock Cafe thats shaped like a pyramid, Celebrity Square, Ripley's Aquarium, Wonderworks and many other family oriented places.
This is a place that has made it in the itinerary of almost of every family vacation to Myrtle Beach, a place to watch fireworks a couple of times a week. It has very strict policies on operation so almost every business is open year round, but with minimal staff that just sits there hoping they dont get laid off too. Times can be really rough here in the winter.
Read MoreTraveling is something that I feel I was made to do. I have had many opportunities to see different parts of the world, but still one of the easiest ways to feed my addiction is picking a place fairly close to me that allows me to get a couple hours away from home and immerse myself in a culture that is different than my own. Charleston is a beautiful old city and is very well known for it's historical significance here in the south.
Home to numerous colleges including the Citadel and the College of Charleston, a day in there is filled with just as many slouchy beanies and fixed gear bikes as there are seersucker suits and mint juleps. Make sure to watch the video and enjoy the photos!
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