Charleston Engagement

Beautiful couple inside and out

When Theres reached out to me a week before asking if I would be available to do a Valentine’s Day photo session, I got super excited.

I’d be lying if I said I don’t adore these two. It’s not only because they are this picture-perfect couple with amazingly sweet personalities but also because they trust me 100%. Always! It was the second time Therés and Chris were in front of my lens.

There was only one potential issue

Therés is a very successful and busy model and actor and was coming from New York. She would land at around 5pm, fight her way downtown through rush hour traffic and get to the Valentine’s Day photo session right before sunset. We were going for a natural light look and wanted definetly to avoid flash. As everyone knows as well, traffic at 5:00pm is a nightmare…

If you are a photographer, you know that this is where you start getting nervous. As soon as the light is gone, it’s gone! And at a certain time, you lose light pretty fast. It’s literally a matter of seconds.

The day of the Valentine’s Day photo session

On the day of, it happened what we didnt hope for. The flight was delayed and traffic even worse. With that, the big challenge was to find a spot that had the longest possible access to light.

With all the buildings downtown, it definitely had to be somewhere really high. A rooftop, if possible. And where do you find public rooftops? Usually in hotels. After we got rejected by one hotel we didn’t have much time left. At this point it was certain that Therés and Chris wouldn’t make it until a couple minutes before 6:00pm.

My mind was rushing

A race against the time isn’t fun at all. I turned around and there it was. A parking garage with on-deck parking! Martin and I rushed over, took a couple test shots while I was texting her the address. I was afraid that Therés must have thought I was crazy. You have endless options in beautiful Charleston and I chose the top of a parking garage for a Valentine’s Day photo session… But that’s exactly what I meant earlier when talking about trust. The parking deck was our only option that night to get amazing images…and they never questioned me. Not a single second. They arrived at 5:57pm and we knocked out the most stunning images in 15 minutes.

Honest opinion? This might have been one of my favorite shoots so far. And again it shows that as long as you work with a little creativity and courage, everything is possible – especially with photography. With their crazy schedules – Chris is in the military– sometimes that’s how a photoshoot looks. Sometimes I have to accommodate my couples’ needs and that’s totally fine with me when the end result looks like the one below.

Looking for more some ideas for your Charleston engagement or proposal? Have a look at our guides with some helpful tips on the best Charleston Engagement Photo locations, what to wear for your engagement session or just what you as a couple can do in and around Charleston.

Are you ready for your session? Great, let’s get in touch and plan the details.