Anniversary Photos at Table Rock | Semeen and Shehzad

I spent a perfect spring evening with Semeen and Shehzad right before their one-year wedding anniversary. We took photos at one of my favorite South Carolina parks, and one of my favorite places in South Carolina: Table Rock State Park in Pickens. I love that Table Rock Mountain is so easily recognizable from a distance, and I love that we can take photos with both water and mountains here.

Semeen and Shehzad had met before Shehzad came to the US for grad school, but they stayed in touch from across the world. Over the years, they became very close, and they knew that they wanted to get married and live in South Carolina together. When Shehzad came back to India, he proposed to Semeen. With Covid regulations in place in India, they opted for a small wedding just a week after their engagement so that they could be married before Shehzad came back to the US. As the Covid situation became more complicated, Shehzad ended up not being able to fly back to the US for four months! They made the best of the situation and spent that time adventuring together around India and Europe until they could move to South Carolina.

We originally had a different state park in mind for these photos, but when it was time to go, it appeared this park was already closed for the day. Shehzad suggested Table Rock instead. This is one of my favorite parks and I even had my own family photos there, so I agreed. They decided to have one outfit that was more American-looking and one that was more Indian-looking. Shehzad wore a kurta, which is like a long shirt, and Semeen wore a dupatta, which is like a shawl. I loved the sparkle and color the dupatta added to the photos!

When I first met Shehzad through the photography club at Clemson, he had only lived in the US for a few months. He said he loved taking pictures of the trees in the fall because he had never seen trees change colors before and he wanted to show everyone in India how beautiful it was. When we got to Table Rock, there was a tree with beautiful pink blossoms that I knew I wanted to use in their photos, but of course Shehzad pointed out an orange tree along the water too.

Enjoy Semeen and Shehzad‘s anniversary photos at Table Rock State Park!

Want photos like these? Click here to get started, or check out some of my other work below!

South Carolina Mountain Engagement | Libby and James

Libby and James were engaged in November outside Williams-Brice stadium! They wanted their engagement photos at Pretty Place, or Fred W. Symmes Chapel at YMCA Camp Greenville. This chapel is right on the North Carolina border in Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, just down the road from Caesars Head State Park in northern Greenville County.

Since this was the one day Libby and James would be in the area and the chapel was closed for an event that evening, I suggested getting there at sunrise to get better light than if we went closer to midday. I had also heard from other photographers that it’s better to be there at sunrise because the chapel faces east, where the sunrise colors are. I was surprised, but happy, when they agreed to get there that early!

Well, apparently Pretty Place is the place to be at 7 AM on a Sunday, and it wasn’t as intimate as what we were hoping for (read: tons of people in the pews facing the exact spot we wanted in the background). We spent about 20 minutes getting sunrise photos there before we headed back down the road. Luckily, our other two locations only had one car there when we arrived! We took some photos at the Bald Rock overlook and in the trees there before heading to Wildcat Wayside for some waterfall photos!

Enjoy the photos from Libby and James’s sunrise session in the mountains of South Carolina!

Does this look like what you and your partner have in mind for your photos? Use the contact button below to send me a message, or check out some of my other work below!

You May Also Like…

Where to Take Engagement Photos in Upstate South Carolina

Planning Your Proposal

What If You Elope?

Choosing a Trail for Your Photos

Pendleton, SC Proposal | Maggie and Spencer

Spencer and Maggie began dating when they were seniors in high school.  When Spencer went to Clemson, he had a pretty busy baseball schedule, so it was easier for Maggie to visit him. They loved getting brunch together at the Village Café in downtown Pendleton. 

Maggie and Spencer came to Clemson for baseball opening weekend. Spencer told Maggie that they would be meeting friends for brunch in Pendleton before they left on Sunday, so she would have to wear something nice. They parked their car and walked across the green in front of the 1826 Bistro, right across from the Village Café. Spencer got down on one knee, and of course Maggie said yes! Luckily, I didn’t look too suspicious sitting on the bench right in front of the green, and I got photos of the whole thing!

When I talked to Spencer beforehand, he said that he and Maggie knew they wanted to get married, but that she didn’t know anything about his plan to propose, so she was totally surprised when he did. He said Maggie hadn’t told him what she wanted in an engagement ring, but he knew what she would like. He was right because Maggie said the ring was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen! 

I asked them if they wanted to take a few other photos somewhere else in the area and suggested the South Carolina Botanical Gardens. We get some blooming trees in late February, so I figured something had to be in bloom in the gardens. Maggie said they used to take walks through there when she would come visit. The first bit of color we found was a tree with pink buds on it. I suggested taking a photo of Maggie’s ring on one of the buds, and she liked the idea because pink is her favorite color. We walked a little further and found a tree with some white blossoms too. 

Check out a few of my favorites from Maggie and Spencer’s engagement! 

Looking for someone to help you pull off a proposal as beautiful as this one? Click here to get started, or check out the posts below for some inspiration.

Clemson Elopement

Planning Your Proposal

Where to Take Engagement Photos in Upstate SC

Clemson Bridal Portraits

Proposal in Downtown Greenville | Bree and Joe

Joe had a free night at a hotel that he needed to use before the end of the year. He and Bree chose Greenville because they’d heard great things about it, but had never been there and didn’t know much about it. Little did Bree know that Joe was planning something big for that weekend!

Joe and I talked a few weeks before to plan the proposal. We decided he would pick a restaurant in downtown Greenville that they could walk to from the hotel, and he would pick a spot along the way to propose to Bree. I sent Joe some photos of other engagement sessions I had done in Falls Park, and he chose the Wyche Pavilion so it would be a safe place in case it started raining. It was right across the river from Halls Chophouse, where they had chosen to eat dinner—Joe had just told Bree that the reservation was earlier than it really was. 

I got to the Wyche Pavilion early so I could make sure nothing was happening there and I could send Joe a photo of my point of view. They ended up on the other side of Falls Park, where they got to see all the other cool parts of downtown, and even saw another couple get engaged! Eventually, I saw them walk into the pavilion. Joe waved to me when Bree wasn’t looking, and he got down on one knee. 

One thing I love about proposals is that the photos afterwards are just so full of pure happiness. The annual Christmas parade was starting soon, and we got to take some photos with the gorgeous Christmas tree in front of the Westin Poinsett. I’m a little obsessed with Bree’s ring—she had sent Joe a photo a while back of a ring she wanted, which had a diamond as the center stone and an emerald on each side. Bree said the emerald is the birth stone for both of them, so her ring represents the two of them. 

Check out a few of my favorites from Bree and Joe’s sweet proposal in downtown Greenville! 

---

You May Also Like…

Planning Your Proposal

Elopement in Greenville, SC

Proposal at Lake Keowee

Where to Take Photos in Upstate SC

Ready to take some photos in beautiful upstate South Carolina? Let’s talk!

---