Richard Bell Photography Blog

In what was certainly the most elaborate and symbolically meaningful ceremony I’ve ever witnessed, Tiru and Vandana were married on February 19th in Spartanburg, SC. Here are some of the highlights from the ceremony (Shaadi), followed by a video preview of the album predesign.

I’m so thankful that Vandana, Tiru, and I were able to get together for this session.  In a few weeks, I’m looking forward to photographing their traditional Indian ceremony in Spartanburg, and I think that this session really helped us click so that the wedding day will be that much better.  Enjoy!

Maribeth and Ben had a lovely evening wedding. Valerie Schooling was the lead photographer, and I tagged along because we love this family. This is our third time photographing a Kellenbenz daughter, so the wedding was just so special for us. St. Philip’s Church in downtown Charleston is perhaps the most well-known Charleston landmark, so we had a great time during our portrait sessions.

We wanted to do something a little extra for Maribeth, since we’ve become so close to her family, so I put together a special presentation of her wedding album predesign. Enjoy!

Images by Valerie Schooling and Nathan Bell.

The gallery images are still to come. Check back soon! http://www.charlestonwedding.com

Courtney and Rodney had one of the most well done “Grand Event” I’ve attended in a long time.  400 guests requires lots of planning, and they pulled it off in an elegant, classy, and very fun way.  (Oh, and Courtney is GORGEOUS!).

Update: the album is posted!  check it out!

Mike and Holly were VERY insistent that they wanted to be featured on our website, and Holly is such a diva for the camera, that we got a phenomenal collection, which I’m very happy to share.  The rain threatened that day, right after the ceremony when we were supposed to take pictures, but all we got was a little sprinkle and a SPECTACULAR SKY instead.  The rain just skirted Folly beach, giving this soft, magical light, ideal for portraiture.  This was a an incredibly fun and tight-knit group.  Mell and I had a great time.  Congratulations Mike and Holly!

Rebekah and Korey’s wedding, at Summerall Chapel and the Citadel Beach House is now posted on our site!

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!

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

I think Korey is most proud of this one.

So let me say that though there are those who would scold me (Ed Pierce) for shooting so much with greater-than F2.8 lens, I love my 24-105L F4.0 IS lens on my 5D!  Its maximum aperture of 4.0 limits what you can do with depth of field and Bohek (that buttery background blur in photographs).  So I’m not crazy about it for people portraits and weddings, but it has been perfect as a versatile, tack sharp, go-to lens on this portfolio-building trip.  The image stabilization more than makes up for the slow max aperture, and during the times that I’m shooting architecture, landscapes and artifacts, I’d rather have the IS than the faster aperture anyway. I’m getting sharp images at 10th and a 6th of a second shutter speed hand held.  The 24-105 range takes away the need of lugging around my usual assortment of lenses when it is inconvenient (like on long hikes or in the subway).  It’s even turning out better then my trusty 24-70, which I left at home due to travel weight and size constraints.

Soon to come: many night and low-light images (Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame) taken with the Canon 24-105 F4.0 IS on my 5D.