So recently I had this beautiful Toyota LandCruiser in the studio for a photo shoot. The owner needed some great pics so that they could sell their vehicle on some high end websites. Great automotive photography will always get buyers interested in your car or truck that you have for sale. A nice clean, clutter free background is mostly preferred when selling.

I know that I haven’t been able to post to my blog in awhile because in the summertime here in Charleston, it’s family beach portrait season! Now the real treat for me is when I get to photograph some of the same families year after year when they come to town and visit. Seeing all the children growing up and getting taller is a real treat as a professional photographer.

Be sure to click on the slideshow below.

It is always so much fun when I get together with my friend Richard and his family. He now has 5 teenage girls in his household! Whew! (and I thought I had a lot of work with just 2!) haha! 🙂 The weather was beautiful at the new Shem Creek Park over in Mt. Pleasant, SC. There was plenty of sunshine and shrimp boats along with a great boardwalk area where many people stroll down to see the salt marsh and river area. For our shoot, we even got to include the little “furry” children in a few pics.

For more images online, just click here!

So I had the pleasure of meeting Derek and his family here in Charleston for a tour that was setup for them by the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. On this particular day they started off with an informative carriage tour from Palmetto Carriage Works in downtown Charleston. Then we headed over to White Point Gardens (The Battery as we local folks call it) for some fun family portraits under the big oak trees. After that we strolled down Rainbow Row and through various cobblestone streets. Derek and his family are from North Dakota so the heat and humidity in August was a little bit of adjustment for them but they did great and had a fun time. Towards the end of our photo shoot, they ended up at the Nathaniel Russell House for a home tour setup by my friends at the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. I had a wonderful time meeting the family and showing them a quick tour of my lovely city.

Be sure to view their slideshow below!

Blue skies and perfect weather for a February surprise proposal at The Battery in downtown Charleston, SC. Mack had been planning on popping the big question several weeks in advance on his way into town. Of course when I found out that he’d be riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle to the shoot, I knew we’d have to do some awesome pics for his engagement session! Hannah was so surprised to find out what Mack had really planned for that special day! 🙂

Be sure to click on their slideshow below. More links and photos below!

What a fun time I had with Matt and Heather for their family portraits in downtown Charleston. Here’s a quick slideshow below. Their kids were so much fun to work with! 😉

What a great time that I had with Shanna and her beautiful family for a recent portrait shoot out at the new Shem Creek Park in Mt. Pleasant, SC. They currently live in Charlotte, NC but come down to Charleston all of the time to visit and see family and friends. Now most of the time when I photograph family portraits most parents (including myself) always try to bribe the kids with some ice cream or sweets. Well you know a family really loves the lowcountry when the “bribe” for the kids to be good for the shoot is crab dip from one of the local seafood restaurants on Shem Creek. ha! Love it! 😉

Recently my friend Allison Long opened up her new location of Bella Bridesmaids in downtown Charleston at 43 1/2 John Street. It’s such a great new place that she has and I send a lot of my brides over to her when they are trying to find the best looking bridesmaids dresses in town! She also has jewelery that you can select right there in her store. These particular jewelry items were created by Stella & Dot.  If you are in the market for some beautiful dresses or know someone who is, send them over to Allison. She’ll take great care of them! Congrats on the new store front and soon to be “new mommy”! 😉

Now of course I remember not to long ago having a very beautiful bride to photograph back in 2006! 😉

A few months ago I picked up a couple of the Fstoppers Flash Discs from Patrick Hall and Lee Morris. Now that I’ve had a few events to try them out in real world conditions, I thought I’d write a quick review since so many other photographers have been asking me about them.

Now what I really like about the Flash Disc is how small and compact it really is. It folds up nicely and fits in my camera bag where I keep all of my shoot thru umbrellas and such. The only thing that I’ve had to compare it with in the past was my smaller Westcott collapsible umbrella (part #2001) that I use on most setups. What I’ve been photographing lately with it is ring shots, awards, and other  detail shots. Since it has a smaller overall circular design, I’ve found that it doesn’t get in the way at events the way my larger shoot thru umbrella did. Nothing is worse than doing a quick table top setup at a reception event with an umbrella when some guest walks by and bangs it with their shoulder or body (insert drunk guests here) 😉 . Seeing how the flash disc doesn’t have any rods or anything else poking out like most umbrellas do, I’ve found it to be a rather smooth setup for situations like this.

Of course with this flash modifier and it’s compact design I’m not trying to light big group shots of 100 people. It’s just not designed for that. Different things for different types of jobs. I’ve found it’s a good item to use in the tool bag of light modifiers when trying to work fast and compact during tight timelines. I can also easily hand hold this on my flash when walking around photographing people at events if needed. It gives a nice diffused quality of light for skin tones that I’ve noticed. (see example pic below) Overall for my quick setups that I need to do at events, this have proved to be a very handy tool for me.  I guess the only thing that Lee will have to worry about will be all of the Chinese knock-offs coming out this time next year of his Flash Disc. (support the local folks!)

Some sample pics below

The first images is a close up shot of the rings using the flash disc on the right side of the camera. Same setup with the images below lighting an award.

Here I was simply hand holding an SB-800 with the Flash Disc attached.

When the Flash Disc is opened up, it’s about 12 1/2″ inches wide. The square patch right under the tape measure is there to help reduce a hot spot from the flash when being used.

This is the universal flash head holder. It’s a stretchy material that allows it to be used with a wide number of flash models.

The material in between the Flash Disc is a neoprene type material that helps to give a nice overall soft light source from the flash.

So if you are wondering how I’ve been spending a great deal of my time, energy, effort, and money lately………well here you go! The new downtown studio location of Robbin Knight Photography in the historic Harleston Village area. Right on the corner of Wentworth and Rutledge Ave. Also right next door to the awesome florists at Frampton’s Flowers!

Now I told someone the other day that I would probably not be a very good general contractor/building remodeling by any means. What a learning experience on fixing up an historic building in the downtown area. Projects that I thought might only take a few days ended up takes a few weeks and then when I thought some project might cost a certain amount, it was like triple the price! ha! So I kinda blew my whole timeline (and budget) for when I wanted to really open. Which was a few months ago. 😉 Like anything else, there is always something  to do or improve upon when having a studio location. I’m still setting things up and ordering canvas gallery wraps to go on the walls, but for now we’re open for business!Email or call if you would like to stop in sometime. Or if you happen to be walking around downtown checking out all of the sites, come on in!

So if you still can’t think of where this is in the downtown area, here’s  a quick pic for you. It’s on 162-A Wentworth Street.