Name: LRA Photo
Price range: $$

Tybee Island sits about twenty minutes east of downtown Savannah, and it is the reason a lot of couples pick this part of the coast in the first place. Wide flat sand, no cliffs, no crowds once you walk far enough north.The parasol came out as a prop and stayed because it turned into the best light modifier on the beach, bouncing a soft even wash back onto both their faces while the sun did whatever it wanted behind them.

A paper parasol, a borrowed patch of shade, and the last warm hour of the afternoon on the Tybee Island sand.

Under the Parasol

Sea Pines has the kind of oaks that do the composition for you. Get a family underneath one, give the boys something to do with their hands, and the picture more or less makes itself.<figure><img src="https://lraphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/hilton-head-photographers-sea-pines-0003.jpg" alt="Older couple standing arm in arm beneath a live oak in Sea Pines, Hilton Head Island" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /><figcaption>Grandparents, same afternoon, same tree.</figcaption></figure>

Three boys, two parents and one very old live oak in Sea Pines. Nobody stood still for long.

Five Under the Oak

Half an hour before sunset the whole beach goes warm and low and there is nothing left to do but sit down. This is usually where the posing stops and the prompting starts.<figure><img src="https://lraphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/Tybee-Island-wedding-0012.jpg" alt="Two photographs side by side of a bride and groom embracing and then walking barefoot on the sand as the sky turns pink at sunset" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /><figcaption>The last of the light, going fast.</figcaption></figure>

Sitting down at the water's edge with the bouquet still in her lap and her hair coming loose in the wind.

On the Sand at Golden Hour

Lexi grew up in Ohio, so sessions still happen up there when a couple asks. Yellow Springs in late autumn is worth the trip on its own.If the dog is part of the family, the dog is in the photographs. That is usually the first question couples are afraid to ask and the easiest one to answer.

An autumn engagement session in Ohio that the dog fully intended to be part of, bandana and all.

Three of Them

Hollyoaks on the Marsh is one of the Savannah venues that keeps coming up, and the getting-ready cottage is a large part of why. Good light through the windows all morning and a front door worth photographing.

The white cottage at Hollyoaks on the Marsh, green door and striped awning, waiting for the first guests of the day.

The Cottage at Hollyoaks

Walking shots buy you two things at once: the couple stops thinking about the camera, and the dress finally gets to move. On Tybee the wet sand doubles the whole thing back at you.

Tulle sleeves against a black tuxedo, walking the flat wet sand while the tide went out behind them.

Down the Shoreline

Everyone in soft blues and whites, which is the one piece of styling advice worth giving for a Lowcountry session. The greens and greys here are strong enough already.<figure><img src="https://lraphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/family-photos-hilton-head-island-0004.jpg" alt="Father throwing his laughing toddler daughter into the air while her mother watches, beneath an avenue of mossy live oaks" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /><figcaption>Same session, once the standing-still part was over.</figcaption></figure>

A family session under the oaks on Hilton Head Island, the baby on one hip and the four-year-old holding on with both hands.

All Four

Backlit, wide open, close enough that the frame holds two faces and one hand and nothing else. These are the frames couples end up putting in the album.

Her hand flat on his lapel, the ring catching the low sun. Most of the good ones happen this close in.

Close Enough to Whisper

Downtown Savannah is walkable in a way that suits a session, and the squares are close enough together that you can cover three or four in an hour without anyone getting tired of it.

The theatre marquee on a spring afternoon downtown, one of the corners couples keep asking to be photographed on.

Downtown Savannah

Detail frames are worth slowing down for. The flowers are gone within the week and the dress goes in a box, so this is often the only record of either of them in good light.

Blush roses, chamomile, stock and fern, held one-handed while the other hand kept the parasol up.

Garden Roses and Chamomile

Extended family sessions are their own kind of job. Get the big group frame early while everyone is still willing, then break it down into couples and grandchildren once the pressure is off.This one ran right to the end of the light, which is when the laughing usually starts.

Three generations on the sand at Palmetto Dunes at the end of the day, shoes off, nobody looking at the camera all at once.

Everyone, Barefoot

Not every frame needs colour. Strip it out and what is left is the shape of two people leaning into each other, which was the point of the session anyway.

Hands folded between them in the cold. Black and white, because the light was already doing all the work.

Forehead to Forehead

Worth walking a venue before the day starts. Knowing where the clean walls and the good steps are means you are not hunting for them with a wedding party standing behind you.

Black shutters, a curved iron rail, and a set of steps that every couple ends up being photographed on.

The Front Steps

Galleries need somewhere to breathe. A frame with nobody in it does that, and it puts the place on record as clearly as any portrait does.

No one in the frame. Sometimes the picture that sets up the whole gallery is just the water going orange.

Last Light on the Atlantic

Almost nothing in the frame and it still reads immediately. Worth taking the shot every time, even when the light is flat.

Two hands and a ring against an empty beach, printed in black and white.

A Hand, Offered

Live oaks are the reason couples come to Savannah for photographs and the reason the light here is so forgiving. Shade all day, and the moss softens whatever comes through it.

The tree the whole property is built around. Spanish moss does most of the decorating in the Lowcountry.

Live Oak, Spanish Moss

Proposals need a spot that is easy to reach, easy to hide in, and worth photographing afterwards. The north end of Tybee manages all three.

The boardwalk out over the dunes with the lighthouse behind it, a quiet favourite for a proposal.

Tybee Island Light

Bluffton sits between Savannah and Hilton Head and gets less attention than either, which is part of the appeal. Old oaks, low buildings and considerably more room to move than downtown.Wedding party frames work best in motion. Ask everyone to walk, then say something that gets a reaction.

Bouquets in the air on the walk back from the ceremony, in front of the moss and the azaleas.

Cheers on the Path

Maternity sessions sit in the same part of the calendar as everything else here, and they are usually booked by couples who were photographed once already at their wedding.Dappled shade under the oaks does the work. No reflectors, no flash, just finding the spot where the light has already been softened for you.

A maternity session under the oaks, white eyelet cotton and one hand where it always ends up.