Madie and Matthew’s destination engagement session in Charleston was certainly one of our favorite sessions of the engagement season! We often get asked by our clients when the best time to schedule their Charleston engagement photography session is, and our answer time and time again is the spring in the Southeast! Not only is the weather impeccable, the lighting is equally as perfect, and there are so many flowers in bloom at this time of year that create the perfect background for your romance on camera! We typically recommend spring engagement photos to our wedding clients, or alternatively, an early summer engagement photo session. The springtime in Charleston’s Historic District offers some of the most picturesque photo ops of Charleston at its peak.
Madie and Matt are truly some of the sweetest, most thoughtful people you’ll have the chance to meet, and their love is joy-filled, romantic, and filled with so much belly laughter – you can truly see their laughter shine through in their portraits! Their proposal story is an instant favorite of mine – Matt proposed to Madie in their home state of Virginia at the top of a hike they took in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Even though it was extra cold and windy that day they chose to hike, it marked the new chapter in their relationship and their lives together. They are getting married in the fall in Roanoke in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the beautiful wedding venue Sunnybrook, which is sure to be a stunning Virginia wedding day. Being their wedding photographer is personally so special to me – I went to school at Virginia Tech with the bride and have known these two for years!
We chose to start our engagement shoot with Madie and Matt at one of my favorite locations in Charleston – the historic intersections of Church Street! Church Street touches so many of downtown Charleston’s historic streets and houses, and is a favorite place to take clients in the springtime with everything in bloom. The light coming through the trees and Spanish moss is what makes me keep coming back to South Carolina time and time again for Charleston weddings and engagement portraits. Film tends to catch the hazy, golden light of the Lowcountry so beautifully, and envelopes our clients in a glow that is exceptionally flattering for engagement portraits.
We wandered down the peninsula for our golden hour spent together, stopping at Tradd Street along the way. Tradd is a popular spot in Charleston’s French Quarter for portraits, and with Madie & Matt having traveled into town for springtime engagement portraits, we wanted to make sure the specific locations we chose to shoot at perfectly captured historic Charleston at its best! We wrapped up our time on the mainland by heading over to White Point Garden and the Battery along Charleston Harbor – this area is one of my favorite places in town, and is a great spot to catch the sunset on the water in the spring and summer. If you time your visit to Charleston in the springtime just right, you will find that the jasmine, magnolia trees, and the Calypso Oleander are all in full bloom. I had the opportunity during Madie and Matt’s engagement portraits to bring them up to the Battery sea wall, where the Calypso Oleander was luckily in its peak bloom! These bushes create a literal wall of pink, white, and red flowers to walk past and take photos near, using them as the perfect background.
As a Charleston engagement photographer and after years of calling South Carolina home, I will usually skip taking engagement portraits at extremely popular spots like Rainbow Row and the Charleston Waterfront Park, and opt for great locations that are off the beaten path and fairly unknown to tourists visiting town. I like to find beautiful places to shoot at in whatever city my work brings me to – beautiful spots with amazing light not only give me a ton of inspiration as an artist, but also ensure that my clients get equally beautiful photos from their photoshoot with me. I’ve built my photography business off of serving my sweet clients through offering them comfortable, beautiful portraiture in beautiful places throughout the Southeast, Colorado, and at various destinations globally, featuring locations that are unique and never too overplayed.
Our second location for their engagement portraits was to head over to Mount Pleasant and watch the sun set over the Charleston Harbor and Ashley River from the Pitt Street Bridge. This is a favorite place in Mount Pleasant to take engagement portraits at, and offers beautiful marshland and harbor views during golden hour. We finished their engagement shoot just as the sun hit the horizon – this session got me so excited for their Virginia wedding and the celebration of their marriage later in the year!
Photography: Sarah Nann Photography | Film Processing & Development: PhotoVision | Film Stock: Fuji 400h | Locations: French Quarter Historic District Charleston, Mount Pleasant Pitt Street Bridge
