I hopped in the car. I began driving up Assembly St.(which is the main street in Columbia) when Sarah came up behind me. I get up to the red light and roll down the window. She does her usual smile and I asked how things were going. She then tells me to turn it to this radio station. She just busts out laughing. She then screams that she was ready for another photoshoot….

I then reflected back on the shoot I shot with her for a magazine. I actually asked her to be a part of it because I thought she had the talent to carry the shoot in the direction I wanted to go. After she pulled off from the light I wished her well. I really thought she was destined for great things in life. She was still pretty young so I figured she had a few years to find those great things. She had the happiest personalities of anyone I had ever met.

So I’m working in my office today….my shoot was cancelled because of the weather. I start noticing some strange things on the facebook feeds. Me and Sarah have about 72 mutual friends on facebook and I noticed a lot of posts…….

I then made some calls and found out she passed away today in a car accident. I was truly shocked and saddened by the loss. I was really at a loss for words and can never find the right words in these situations.

I always think about my clients, friends, and family in different ways than most people. When I’m at wedding, a lot of people think I’m just looking for that shot with the bride and groom. Truthfully, when I’m taking photos of the grandparents and just people in general, I think those photos could be the most valuable at times. I’ve lost my grandparents, close relatives, and a friend in high school that I wished I could have taken photos of them just ONCE. When I look back at my photo career I always think about every one that I’ve photographed.

It really saddens me that Sarah was the first person that I knew and photographed that has passed away. She lit up the room with her warm smile and charming personality. Since I don’t have the words I wanted to include a few words that people were leaving about her…..and also a few photographs of Sarah so she will always know she will never be forgotten….

“I’m humbled to see how fast people are willing to send love to your memory Sarah. Yet I’m not surprised because you were truly great. Goodbye Sarah.”

“how does God decided when to end our lives on this earth and bring us to heaven with Him? i dont know the true answer to that question but i would like to think that today He needed someone extra special to make him smile… to make him laugh. Because that’s what you did for everyone else. Sarah, I will always remember your beautiful smile and laughter…. ”

“i’m gonna miss you. you were truly amazing…”

“Sarah, the love you gave to others made you so special. And because of that love, you will always have a place in all the hearts that you’ve touch.”

“I love you. my heart is broken. i’ll miss you.”

“You were honestly one of the most down to earth, genuine, carefree, loving person I’ve ever met in my life.”

“You were like my sister.”

“You truly were one of a kind.”

“a little piece of sunshine was taken away today!”
“I will always miss your gorgeous smile.”

“We will all miss your warm smiles when you walked into a room and your kindness to others. you were one of a kind, and I am thankful to have known you and your amazing personailty. I miss you and love you.”

“A piece of everyone’s heart who has ever met you is now gone. ”

Chasity is a lawyer. I know a really good lawyer joke but….

Nic is pretty awesome. He is the only guy that listens to ESPN radio as much as I do. I would have to say that most of my friends don’t really follow sports too much.

These guys love the Gamecocks. It’s actually a great time to be a Gamecock fan with us winning the baseball national championship last night.

This was actually taken on the horseshoe at USC.

I think Chasity spent a lot of time here for graduate work.

Last photo was shot into the sun. I figured I’d mix it up on this one…

Garnet and black will be flying on top of the State House. I may try and get a photo before I head to Charleston for my engagement shoot.

There’s actually more of these photos on the facebook page.

Ok. So here’s the story. I met with these potential clients once(not Rachel and Danny shown below), and they were asking, “hey ash, how many photos are taken at a wedding?”….so it really can vary….day weddings tend to be less photos taken for some reason…usually because they are shorter…depends on how many photographers there are….lot of variables involved…..i could go on for days with the different situations etc….

so here was my response….”probably around 2,500…”

They chime back….”well we have a friend that shoots for National Geographic(or something like it) and he said anyone that shoots that many photos at a wedding doesn’t know what they are doing….

WOW! REALLY?

ok bud….here’s 1200 photos and nobody’s blinking…..

Wedding Coordinator : Emmy Brooks at Peacock Events
Wedding Location : Linda McCormick at the Thomas Bennett House
Wedding Music : Quiana Parler and Friends and this amazing band that had the party pumping can be found here.
Catering : Cru Cafe(that i mentioned last year in a blog post) and their website can be found here. I actually had lunch here before the wedding started.

Here’s a few photos i did put up on the facebook page before i posted the video…

We actually started off at a waterfall. I don’t remember the name of it. I actually wanted to put the camera down and just get in. It reminded me of the rainforest in Puerto Rico I visited back in March. Most couples would be very cautious about starting a shoot here but these guys are about as laid back as they get!

These guys have actually been dating for 14 years. That has to be a record for anyone I have shot!

Red chuck taylors! I use to rock out black chuck taylors with my suit back when I got started. Those shoes are tough on the feet after a few hours though.

Ramble on. I actually shot a wedding the day before this shoot. The first dance was to ‘Thank You’ by Led Zeppelin. It was a pretty good cover by the band. I actually got the chills/goosebumps. I usually get the chills once or twice during every wedding. So I burned a few cds for Rob and Tania’s shoot since I had to drive for about 3 hours. It was all Led Zeppelin cds. Four of their greatest hits and a cover album called ‘Encomium‘. I’ve had it for years and there are some really good covers on it. I learned today that ‘Thank You’ is actually my girlfriends parent’s song.

I had to call Rob out right here. That’s why it looks like he is trying to hide behind Tania.

Here’s the story of how they got engaged. I really get a kick out of hearing Tania tell the story.

Their invitations were pretty cool. They actually sent me one to check out. Rob is a pretty intense cyclist as you might notice. He was ready to shred the mountains the day I showed up to take the photos.

Here we are at the vineyard. It’s a bit early in the year for grapes but it was very scenic. I can actually vaguely remember eating Scuppernong grapes on my grandfather’s land growing up. Hopefully, I can find some later this year to try again.

If this doesn’t look like something straight out of a magazine….

Super super wide angle. We were just playing around until the sun poked back in behind the clouds. Apple trees on the right….apparently the taste of apple will show up in the wine the orchard is producing.

Just trying to break away from the norm here….

I have three really good variations of this shot. Since I have so many photos for this blog post I have to keep it reasonable.

Here’s a shot Tania wanted to do. This pretty much says everything about them! He’s all about cycling and she’s all about tennis. I actually use to follow tennis quite a bit. Still can’t believe Agassi played in a wig those years. I hope Armstrong beats Contador next Tour de France.

Hard to believe but there is not a nail in this house. I would say more about it but this a wedding blog people!

It was pretty much the end of the day and these guys were kind enough to make dinner for me. It was pretty delicious! Shish kabobs! They also let me sample some of the things they were having at their upcoming wedding. It was raining pretty hard and with a long drive they let me crash there.

I woke up and Rob was upstairs reading about cycling. He was talking about how he could take out Armstrong and Contador with his eyes closed. I started talking trash and before you knew it we were thumb wrestling over who would make breakfast. Tania jumped in on it and the tournament was on! It was pretty intense……

Here’s Tania making the champions breakfast! It was delicious! The waffles were pretty amazing as well!

Here’s their new member of the family, a German Shorthaired Pointer named KeKe(”keykey”). She was a lot of fun! Thanks for checking out the photos and listening to me ramble on…

This is David. He’s about to take the plunge just like my Ipod. Noelle(his soon to be wife) warned me that he kisses like a fish for photos. I never really saw that happen but I figured I would use it for the posting headline.

Here’s Noelle on the right. Her sister Belina is actually doing her makeup. Belina actually gave her away during the ceremony.

They actually wrote their own vows. This is where I discovered Noelle’s nickname Li’l Cricket.

The dress.

The shoes.

Fast forward to the creative stuff….

I think this is probably my favorite shot from the day.

Yes! There were people at the wedding!! Be sure to watch the photobooth video in the previous post to see how much fun they had.

A little something different with some red….

Off to Jamaica we go!

Here’s your classic newspaper shot. I’m not sure anyone reads the paper anymore but had to throw it in ’cause it’s a great shot.

I had to stop at this old building that caught my eye on the way in….

Turns out Katie was at Tamarah and Kevin’s wedding I shot last year. Of course, I had to look back at those pictures and pick her out of the crowd.

These guys were so much fun to shoot!

Every photography book out there will tell you not to shoot with the sun at the subject’s back…. Rules were meant to be broken and just look at the results!

On the other hand most photography books don’t really teach you that much…

The historic cobble stone streets of Charleston. I actually spend a lot of time in Charleston but have never taken a tour until just a few months ago. On the tour, we actually went by a historic home that is the site of one of the weddings I will be shooting this summer. My tour guide informed us that was her favorite house in Charleston. Can’t wait for that!

When I’m taking photos I always like to think I’m capturing a moment in someone’s life that otherwise may be forgotten. I think when Katie and Ryan look back at these photos it will bring back all the memories of how it all started and all the details of that day. That’s really the mystery of photography and why so many people are drawn to it. Memories fade but photos last forever.

Another newspaper shot! Come on! It doesn’t get any better than this!

I actually stayed at an old client’s place the night before the shoot. We celebrated a friend’s birthday which was a lot of fun. It’s strange running into people everywhere that were at the weddings I’ve shot. It really freaks people out when I’m like, “Hey! You had on that red bow tie at Payton’s wedding!” It’s simply because I’ve seen the photos 5 million times. I’ve gotten to know so many people and make so many new friends since becoming a photographer….I love my job!

We stopped at this graffiti wall for just a second to take a few quick shots.

This makeup artist actually emailed through my website. She didn’t type her email in correctly so I never could email her back. I have received quite a few submissions where I couldn’t email the people back. Careful people!







The rooms in Legare are really nice as you can tell!







Here’s Chasity with her sister helping with the dress. Brandi let me borrow her Iphone several times to check the weather. I’ve moved up to an Iphone now.







Keep it together Chasity!







Trying to get that perfect shot…







Bling Bling! On a side note, the first wedding I ever shot had the biggest ring I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t even post it because it doesn’t even look real. It had an actual album of the whole design process. This was probably my fav for 2009 though….







The day you have always dreamed about….finally here!







Sean in the study…taking a break from the Alabama game that was on……







Almost there…..







Probably my favorite shot from 2009. Now on the intro page to my website….







Chasity on her way to see Sean for the first time…..







Alabama eventually won the championship….i swore Florida would…..







Sean’s dad looking on…..







Doesn’t get any better than this….







You may kiss your bride!







At the front gate getting a few shots after the rain settled down….







These guys really did a great job! Really easy to work with.

Taking the Canon 5D Mark II to it’s limits! Great pose Chasity!







First dance shot!







Having a good time yet?







The food was amazing too. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.







They not only threw a wedding…they had a party!







Insert favorite song here….

I put one of the images on the facebook fan page a while back….never blogged about it….i was about to start blogging about wedding photos and thought about starting with these guys. Yeah, i haven’t done the best with that….but i’ve been busy and i’m not conventional by any means….and the new post are gonna be fresh over the next few winter months!

I actually felt really bad after this shoot. Clory brought like three friends with her. One actually did her hair! So after I took some safe shots I was like the hair and the flowers are coming down! I had no idea the hair stylist was with us. I can honestly say I have no regrets though!

Congrats to Marla Binker who won the Ipod Touch giveaway. She actually told me she had a blog which I thought was cool. You can check it out here at The Binker Family Blog

My cousin, Lynn Brawell, died two years ago almost to the date…..i woke up that morning with a call from my mom…..it was one of those few times in my life that i’ve actually been floored…..we grew up next to each other and were only a year apart in age….he passed in a car accident right where we grew up…..i’ve been thinking about him a lot lately….i just wanted to give him a shout out and let him know i loved him like a brother….that’s him on the left….me on the right….Surfside Beach, South Carolina.