Tag Archive for: charleston portraiture

The Cast and Crew of the Clemente Players!

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I had the pleasure of photographing  the cast and crew of the Werewolf’s Curse, Hair today Gone Tomorrow.  They are currently in rehearsal for their performances the first weekend in April.  They are the Clemente Players, directed by Dr. Sharon Willis (pictured in the front).  All proceeds of the play go to benefit the Clemente Class, which is a pioneering educational experiment for the most needy of our society designed to fight the cycle of poverty by providing higher humanities education to those who would never otherwise have that opportunity.  Click here to see the larger picture!

The Clemente Players!

The Clemente Players!

Jesse and Liza’s Wedding at St. John’s Lutheran Church and Three Lions Pub

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Click here to see the wedding album!

Jesse and Liza were married at St. John’s Lutheran Church–a historic beauty nestled in a hard-to-find alley in downtown Charleston.  The group had a great time and we had lots of opportunity for some creative portraiture.

Liza is a DELIGHT. The best man, Brian, captured it in his toast, that this bride is the happiest and kindest person he knows.  Jesse hit it big on this one.

Three Lions Club on Daniel Island is quite a find!  The venue provides several different adjoining rooms with posh furnishing where guests could gather and have conversation, but the flow and dancing happened very organically.  Good choice!

This wedding was a particular pleasure to be a part of, as Jesse and Liza and I went to High School together.  So it was great seeing some of my old friends and classmates.

In the MirrorIn the WindowJesse under the LanternLiza under the LanternIn the phone booth

The album is now posted!  Click below to see the entire wedding album!

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Rebekah and Korey at Summerall Chapel and the Citadel Beach House

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We had the pleasure of photographing Rebekah and Korey’s military ceremony at Summerall Chapel.  This was a happy first for the studio in that, while Korey is a distinguished Marine, he is not an alumni of the Citadel — but Rebekah is attending Grad school there.  Summerall is of course one of our very favorite church settings in Charleston for photography, and the Citadel Beach House is one of the nicest (and well lit) venues that provide for both a beach reception and a large, in-door reception hall.

This classic couple was surrounded so many happy friends and family.  You could tell that their parents were so proud.  I love being around that sort of thing.

Stay tuned for the Full album to be posted later this week!

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on the Citadel Yard.

Summerall Chapel has some of the most elaborate stained glass in all of Charleston.

Summerall Chapel has some of the most elaborate stained glass in all of Charleston.

I think Korey is most proud of this one.

I think Korey is most proud of this one.

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Everyone sing Happy Birthday to Damien…

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 Ladies, meet Damien. He’s 5′ 11” and enjoys long walks on the beach and good Italian food………just kidding. (But only sort of!)

Aaaaaaanyway, Sunday was my good friend Damien’s birthday,  and of all things, I was able to talk  him into letting me take his goodlookin self out for a photo shoot!

We had lots of fun and took pictures all over the downtown area! We had WAY too many good ones to choose from by the end of the evening, but I guess that’s nothing to complain about! Damien was so much fun to photograph…he’s easygoing and relaxed…and c’mon girls you gotta admit he’s also easy on the eyes! 😉

So now I need your help picking the overall favorite!  (There is a poll at the end of this post so go vote!)

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7. 
I can’t decide if I like it better in color or black & white!
What do you think?

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 [polldaddy poll=1323215]

If you are viewing this post on Facebook, you can click on the poll here: http://richardbellphotography.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/everyone-sing-happy-birthday-to-damien/

5 Year Anniversary Pictures!

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Kaitlin and Robert got married 5 years ago on January 3rd, 2004 at Summerall Chapel.  Their wedding was one of the first weddings I shot after taking over the Studio from my dad, and their album was the first flushmount storybook ablum that we produced by special request for Kaitlin.  That storybook was the forerunner for our entire present album product line.  So Kaitlin and Robert are a big deal for us around here (I still have a picture of her haning in the studio!).

Robert is finally back from serving our country in the Middle East, and they came to downtown Charleston to stay at the French Quarter Inn, where they stayed their honeymoon night. 

AND THEY BROUGHT COLLIN, their 10 month-old little boy.

So of course we did a family portrait shoot right there at the Inn.  It was great to see them again, especially on such a special day.  Here are a few of the shots:

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Baby Grace’s 7 month downtown shoot.

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We did quite  a few shoots downtown over the holidays, so I thought I’d post some previews from a few of them.   This one is baby Grace who is getting regular portraits for her first year.  We went downtown to Waterfront park for this shoot.  Did very well and is getting to that age where she has a lot of great expressions.  Happy New Year, Grace!

On the BenchIn the Trees

When the light is right, this is a great spot for a real Charlestonstonian picture.

When the light is right, this is a great spot for a real Charlestonstonian picture.

January Caption Contest with Richard Bell Photography

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We’d like to ring in this new year with a caption contest. We have prizes that range from Sting Rays hockey tickets to other photography related fun.  The contest runs through January 31st. Anyone can enter, and you can enter as many times as you want. Just submit a comment to our blog or Facebook for the following picture:

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This picture reminds me of Captain Planet, an earth friendly cartoon from the 1980s.

Last Wedding Album Design of 2008

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(post by Valerie)

That’s right, folks. The 2008 calendar year is coming to a close, and wow what a year it’s been! Can you believe that (Nathan & my weddings combined) our studio has shot 63 weddings this year!!!! And of course we’ve also shot countless sessions of engagements, bridals, family portraits, babies and children.

We LOVE what we do, but boy oh boy have we been busy!

April & Justin’s wedding album!

A couple weeks ago, I posted a few of April & Justin’s wedding pictures. I am proud to share their album design (don’t miss it!) www.charlestonwedding.com/weddings/garris

Also, as promised, I am now posting some of my favorites from April’s bridal session….she seriously had one of my favorite bridal sessions of all of 2008, no doubt!

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Baby Sophia’s portraits, downtown and in the studio!

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First of all – you know how much I love babies!!!! (<–four exclamation marks’ worth, apparently)

It’s such a blessing to have the opportunity to continue a relationship with my once brides-and-grooms who are now parents by taking photos of their children! I shot Laurie & Mark’s wedding at Middleton Plantation back in June of 2007, and now they have precious baby Sophia who is now 7 months old!

We started at Waterfront Park, in downtown Charleston’s historic district and then we went back to the studio for a few more photos of Sophia in her Christmas outfit!

The Grinnell Family!

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Sophia loved playing in the leaves!

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She is so expressive! Happy girl…

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(And she LOVES smiling for her Daddy!)

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I sneaked in one of me and Sophia. 🙂

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And then….we headed back up to North Charleston our studio session!

Doesn’t she look like a Baby Gap ad in this pic?

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* * * And this one is my personal favorite! * * *
(Trust me, this shot wasn’t easy b/c she only cried for these 2 seconds the whole shoot so I had to be quick!)

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I love downtown engagement sessions!

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Gil + Nicole = FUN!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a crazy fun afternoon engagement session with Nicole and Gil! Let me tell you, these two are my type of couple! Their fun-loving personalities matched perfectly with my creativity that day. I told Nicole that we have good “photo karma” – haha! They were up for anything, so we got some really unique and different shots. I can’t wait for their wedding!

I just love this one of them on the train tracks behind the U.S. Customs House!

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One of my favorite Charleston attributes is all the fabulous wrought iron! The creative, handcrafted detail makes for a great photograph, if you ask me! 🙂

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We often discuss at our studio how spoiled we Charleston photographers are to be around such awesome color & texture everywhere we turn! This is one of my favorite alleyways:

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I love the lines of the tall staircase at the Customs House.
(Gil and Nicole were so great to let me “play” with them with all of my silly ideas!)

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The downtown sunset was lovely that day too!

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