How to Choose a Family Photographer in Charleston (Plus What to Wear)
Here’s how I think about choosing a family photographer in Charleston, from style and location to outfits and timing.
Booking a family session can feel more complicated than it should be. Here’s how I’d think about it if I were in your shoes, plus a few honest thoughts on outfits.
Decide what kind of memory you actually want
Some photographers pose every hand and every smile just so. I do the opposite. My style is documentary and unposed, which means I’m photographing your family walking on the beach, chasing each other around the yard, or piled onto the couch at home, exactly as it happens. If you want your gallery to feel like your actual family instead of a stock photo on a website, that’s the style to look for. Ask any photographer you’re considering to show you a full, unedited gallery, not just their ten best highlight shots, so you know what a real session with your family will actually look like.
Pick a location that feels like you
I photograph families all over Charleston and the surrounding areas, on the beach, in your favorite park, under the oak trees at places like Hampton Park, or right at home. Home sessions are especially great for families with a new baby, a big move, or just a season you want to remember exactly as it looked, toys on the floor and all. If your kids are more comfortable in their own backyard than posing in front of strangers at a public park, say so. A good session works with your family’s personality, not against it.
Outfits, keep it simple
You don’t need matching head to toe, and honestly those matchy sets tend to photograph flat. I usually tell families to pick a loose color palette, soft neutrals, or a couple of complementary colors like sage and cream or rust and denim, and let everyone wear what actually feels like them. Comfortable kids make for better photos than perfectly coordinated ones, every single time. If your toddler refuses to wear anything but their dinosaur shirt, let them wear the dinosaur shirt.
Golden hour is your friend
Late afternoon light is soft, warm, and forgiving, and it also tends to line up nicely with nap schedules being over and everyone being a little less cranky. If you’ve got early risers, a soft morning session works beautifully too, especially at the beach before the crowds show up.
Plan for real kid behavior
I’m not expecting your three year old to sit still and smile on command, and neither should you. Some of the best images come from the meltdown that turns into giggles two minutes later, or the toddler who refuses every posed shot but lights up the second I stop directing and just let them run.
Ask about turnaround
You’ll get a sneak peek within days of your session and your full gallery in 2 to 6 weeks, so you’re not left wondering for months.
If that sounds like the kind of family photos you’re after, I’d love to hear from you! Sessions book up fastest in spring and fall, so if you’ve got a season in mind, now’s a good time to reach out.
Getting Married in Charleston (or Anywhere)? Here’s What I Wish Every Couple Knew!
After 300+ weddings, here's what I wish every couple knew before booking a photographer, from timelines to first looks to why the cheapest quote isn't always the best deal.
As a Charleston wedding photographer, I've shot weddings and elopements all over the world, over 300 of them at this point.. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way, and what I wish every couple knew before they start looking for a photographer.
Book early, and book based on real galleries
The best photographers in Charleston get booked out fast, sometimes over a year in advance for peak season. If you have a date set, start your photographer search as soon as you lock in your venue. And when you're comparing photographers, ask to see a few full weddings from start to finish, not just the ten favorite shots from each one. Highlight reels are curated by nature. A full gallery tells you what your actual day will look like: the getting ready chaos, the in between moments, the toasts, the dance floor at 10pm.
Don't book on price alone
I SO wish this didn't need saying, but I've heard the same handful of stories too many times to leave it out. A newer photographer undercuts the market to build up a portfolio fast, a couple books them to save a few hundred dollars, and months later they're still waiting on a gallery that never shows up. Sometimes it finally arrives and it's fifteen unedited photos dumped in a shared folder. Sometimes the photographer stops answering messages entirely, and there's no getting that wedding day back once it's gone.
Think of your photographer as an investment rather than a line item to shop down. You're paying for the backup camera bodies and lenses in case one fails mid ceremony, years of experience shooting in low light receptions and fast moving getting ready rooms, insurance that protects your date, the real editing time that goes into every single image, and the accountability of someone with an actual business and reputation on the line. A photographer charging a fraction of the going rate is usually missing one or more of those things, and your wedding day is not the place to find out which.
At the end of the day, what you're really paying for is the memories themselves. Your photos become the one tangible piece of your wedding day, the family heirloom that ends up on a shelf or in an album your kids and grandkids will actually hold someday. That's worth protecting, and it starts with who you hire.
Give your timeline more room than you think you need
Every couple wants more portrait time and less standing around, and the secret to getting both is padding. Hair and makeup runs long. Grandparents move slower getting into position for photos. The shuttle bus takes ten extra minutes to load. If your planner or venue coordinator hands you a timeline that feels tight, ask your photographer to weigh in before you finalize it. We've seen the ten minute gaps that turn into forty, and we know where the time actually needs to live.
You don't have to do a first look, but here's why so many couples do!
There's a real romance to seeing each other for the first time as you walk down the aisle, and I'll never talk anyone out of that if it matters to them. But a first look does something practical too: it buys you time, and time ends up being the biggest perk of all. You get more time with your person on your actual wedding day instead of being separated for hours while everyone gets ready. Couples who do one usually get through family formals and wedding party photos before the ceremony even starts too, which means more time with your people at cocktail hour instead of stuck behind a curtain while everyone else is already celebrating without you.
A first look also gives you two separate windows for portraits instead of one. If Charleston decides to throw one of its classic afternoon showers between the ceremony and reception, you already have a full set of portraits banked from earlier in the day, so the moment isn't lost to weather.
Let the day be a little bit messy
The dress will get dusty. Someone's tie will come loose. The flower girl might refuse to walk. That's just what weddings are actually like, and some of my favorite images from the last ten years came from moments nobody planned. If you can let go of needing everything to look magazine perfect in the moment, you'll enjoy the day more, and the photos will feel more like you.
Ask if a second shooter is included
A second photographer catches an entirely different angle of your day: your dad's face during the ceremony while your first photographer is focused on you, the groom's reaction as you walk in, candid guest moments during the reception that one photographer alone would simply miss. If a second shooter isn't already part of your package, ask what it would take to add one. For weddings over 100 guests especially, it's one of the best upgrades you can make.
Send your photographer a family formals list ahead of time
Nothing eats up more portrait time than trying to figure out, in the moment, who Aunt Carol is and whether she's supposed to be in the photo with the grandparents or not. A short list with names and relationships, sent a week or two before the wedding, lets your photographer run formals efficiently so you can get back to your party faster.
This is exactly why I send every one of my couples a custom pre-wedding questionnaire. It walks you through your family formals list along with all the other small details ahead of time, so you're not trying to remember any of this in the middle of your wedding week. You fill it out once, and I show up already knowing your people.
Weather is not the enemy you think it is
Charleston weather can turn in an afternoon, and after 300 weddings I can tell you that some of the most beautiful, most talked about photo sessions I've shot happened in the rain. A good photographer already has a plan B for your venue, whether that's a covered porch, an indoor spot with good light, or leaning into the moody sky instead of fighting it. Ask what your photographer's rain plan looks like before the day arrives so nobody is scrambling.
Look for a style that feels like you, not just what's trending
Editing trends come and go. What matters more is whether a photographer's style actually matches how you want to remember the day. If you love bright, true to life color and candid moments over posed perfection, look for that in their recent work, not just their most popular post. Scroll past the highlight images and look at a handful of full galleries. If your gut says "that looks like us," that's worth more than any trend.
Ask about turnaround time, and get it in writing
You will want to see your photos before the wedding excitement wears off. I send sneak peeks within a few days and full galleries within two to six weeks, and I built our whole workflow around getting that right, because waiting months for your wedding photos is one of the most common complaints couples have after the fact. Whoever you hire, ask directly how long you'll wait, and hold them to it.
Whether you're getting married on a private estate outside Charleston, eloping on a bluff in Hilton Head, or planning a beach ceremony in Myrtle Beach, the same things end up mattering most: a timeline with breathing room, a photographer whose real galleries you've actually seen, and a day where you were present enough to remember how it felt, not just how it looked. That's the whole idea behind what I do!
Grace + Tyler // Charleston, South Carolina | Engagement Session around Historic Charleston
It’s Grace and Tyler’s Wedding Week!
In honor of my dear clients getting married this week, I wanted to share a few of my favorite images from their Summer Engagement Session in Downtown Charleston, SC.
We started our session on one of my favorite streets in Charleston. We met up on the corner of Church/Chalmers street and then I led them around to a few of my favorite spots that I think are quintessential Charleston - historic, romantic and charming.
We spent the first half of our time together exploring Downtown Charleston and then we headed over to the lovely Hampton Park. I love the way the light sets in this park. I am obsessed with shooting in the glowy, warm, sunset light. Check out those sunset photos! It always makes me giddy when the light shows off like that. Shooting in light like that is my happy place.
Happy Wedding week Grace + Tyler! I cannot wait to celebrate you this weekend and to continue to document this amazing season in your life.
Stay tuned for photos from their upcoming wedding at Cannon Green, coordinated by the incredible Jessica with Cruz Coordination. I am genuinely thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with such an extraordinary group of talented professionals, who also happen to be extraordinary human beings, as part of this remarkable team of wedding vendors. Their expertise, creativity, and dedication to their craft are truly unparalleled, and I am honored to have the chance to work alongside them and see everything come together for Grace + Tyler!
Check out this awesome team below, if you are planning a wedding in Charleston, SC.
Vendor Team:
Baker: Sugar Bakeshop
Ceremony Music/DJ: Bryan Mahanes
Florist: Wilder Blooms
Hair: Slate Hair and Makeup
Make up: Dannon Collard
Officiant: Pastor John Lescow
Transportation: Lowcountry Valet – Vintage Bus Dorothy
Photo Booth: IL Piccolo Bar and Foto Booth
Signage: J.Lily Design
Charleston Fall 2023 Mini Session // Hampton Park in Charleston, SC
Charleston Fall 2023 Mini Sessions are here!
I am so pumped to offcially announce my first Mini Session date of the Fall 2023 season. I will be hosting my first Fall 2023 Mini session at the stunning Hampton Park in Charleston, SC on October 7th 2023. Last year these sessions went so well that I decided to host TWO mini session dates this year. I will ONLY be offering Mini sessions on these two dates, so grab a spot while you can.
November Date release coming soon!
THE INFO //
WHEN: October 7th 2023
WHERE: Hampton Park - Charleston, SC (more detailed location info sent two weeks before session)
HOW MUCH: $250
WHAT IS INCLUDED: 20 minute session, 30+ Images, Online gallery, Digital Download, Printing Release
BOOK HERE!
These sessions are 20 minutes long and include as many photos as we can snap during that time. I work quick, so you will get a minimum of 30 images, but most likely MANY more than that :).
I’ll have a few spots setup with cozy Fall seats/prop options but you can also choose to just use the natural gorgeous backdrop of oak trees/greenery of Hampton Park.
Who are these sessions good for? Literally anyone! Need some updated family photos? Need some rad new headshots for your website/social media/hinge profile? Did you just add a new human or fur baby to your fam? I got you. This is the perfect, quickest way to get some dope new photos with the bomb lighting that will truly capure you in the season you’re thriving in.
CLICK HERE FOR BOOKING INFO!
Fifteen years of shooting Charleston weddings taught me this: the best photographer for you isn’t the one with the flashiest portfolio. Here’s what actually matters when you’re picking someone to capture your day, from style fit to turnaround time to what “unposed” really means.