Picture Perfect

from Hilton Head Monthly September 2021

by Hilton Head Monthly

Full of Fellowship

SAYING ‘I DO’ TO ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS

MEKINA SAYLOR AND NICK PENNETTI’S ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS WERE TAKEN ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND BY AMANDA OLIVIA.

BY BECCA EDWARDS | PHOTOS BY AMANDA OLIVIA

Something just clicked when wedding photographers Amanda Olivia and Mekina Saylor met two years ago at a mastermind. “We are complete opposites,” began Mekina, “But we developed a friendship and we both like to give our clients the best possible experience.” That friendship has continued, and recently Amanda Olivia shot Mekina and her fiancé Nick Pennetti’s engagement photos on Hilton Head. “I call it an engagement experience because my sessions are an experience. I don’t want it to be 10 minutes and done,” said Amanda Olivia. “For each client I send them questionnaires asking them what they like to do and personality traits both individually and as a couple. I want my clients to be able to look back at their photos and it be meaningful and unique to the couple.” Amanda Olivia, a film photographer, and Mekina, a digital photographer, provided a checklist for anyone saying, “I DO” TO ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS.

ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP When choosing an engagement photographer, think about establishing a professional but friendly relationship. Not only look at the photographer’s portfolio but interview the photographer. Is your photographer someone you would want to have coffee with and vibes with you and your partner?

“You want to have a photographer you’re comfortable with because if not, it will show in your pictures,” said Amanda Olivia.

“Also, you are going to spend time with your photographer and you should. You want your photographer not to be intrusive but to understand you as a couple and capture that,” said Mekina.

Both also agreed it is best to use the same photographer for your engagement photos as your wedding photos.

“It’s like test driving a car. During the engagement session, as a photographer, you get to see how the couple interacts. What they like and don’t like. So, on the wedding day [the photographer] knows what the couple prefers. You want familiarity on your wedding day to eliminate stress,” said Amanda Olivia.

CONCEPTUALIZE Engagement photo trends aside, do some soul searching on what photos would best reflect you and your fiancé. Do you like to bike together? Do you like to cook together? Do you co-parent a pet?

“Look at your engagement session as an event. Have a vision board for the location or locations. Makeup, hair, outfits, movement, props — have it all picked out,” said Mekina, who added, “Weather is the only thing you cannot plan but go with the wind and know your hair is not going to cooperate.”

MAKE IT A DATE “You don’t want your engagement experience to be rushed,” said Amanda Olivia, who encourages her clients to allocate an entire day to their session. “You want to be in the right head space and enjoy it much like a date.”

“Plus, it enables you and your fiancé to really feel engaged,” said Mekina, who paired her engagement experience with a food tasting to select items to be served at her wedding.

INTEGRATE Engagement photos can be integrated into the wedding in a myriad of ways. Ideas include a coffee table book, save-the-dates, decorations, welcome gifts and the wedding guest book.

As Mekina panned the wall of engagement photos (taken by Amanda Olivia) behind her, Amanda Olivia pointed out, “Most engagements are a short experience and engagement photos help you live in the moment.”

HIT THE GAELIC FOOTBALL PITCH

GET TO KNOW THE IRISH ATHLETIC OBSESSION CATCHING ON FAST IN THE LOWCOUNTRY

BY TIM WOOD | PHOTOS BY MADISON ELROD

Niall Archbold lives for football. It’s just a variety of the game you’ve likely never heard of.

The Dublin native and recent Bluffton transplant had a dream of introducing his lifelong passion, Gaelic football, to the local community.

That dream was loaded with a couple of gigantic challenges. First, few people in the U.S., let alone the Lowcountry, know about the mashup of soccer, rugby and American football with a pinch of basketball.

That’s no problem for the 54-year-old former semipro player and coach who loves talking up the game. His biggest obstacle proved to be his own expectations.

“I don’t do things slow, I don’t have patience,” Archbold said. “My wife, Kristin, helped with the patience. We did a lot of research, got help from folks who had started a league in Savannah and we just started recruiting and talking up the game.”

The couple started with a meet and greet at Bluffton Trading Post just before Memorial Day 2020. Archbold’s passion attracted many curious ex-athletes to the early practices.

Just over a year later, the club had 18 players, elected a board of directors, and played their first-ever game against the Savannah crew.

“The practices, I’ve never been so tired doing anything. The game was just as tiring, but it’s addicting,” said former pro rugby player and Bluffton Gaelic Club vice chairman Sean Ritter. “It works every muscle, scratches that athlete itch in ways many of us never experienced. Plus, it’s such a fun group of people.”

Archbold was looking for “anyone with a pulse” to start his search. While he may be a bit more discerning a year later in finding talent, the club founder said there’s room for everyone as the squad begins fall practices.

Photo Supplied

THINK YOU WANT TO GIVE GAELIC FOOTBALL A TRY? HERE ARE THE BASICS OF WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO KNOW BEFORE HITTING THE PITCH.

THE TEAM Traditional Gaelic football is played with 15 players, but the U.S. version is 13-a-side with positions and formations like soccer.

“We have half forwards and half backs, that’s the additional spots. But there’s midfielders and goalies just like soccer,” Archbold said.

THE FIELD Traditional Gaelic fields are about 130 yards long, but most U.S. games are played on 100-yard football fields. Both ends have a goal and a crossbar above the goal.

THE BALL A sphere that looks like a slightly large volleyball.

ADVANCING THE BALL You can carry the ball, but can’t run with it more than four steps. At that point, you either bounce the ball, pass it, kick it or ‘solo’ it.

“You drop the ball to your toe and kick it right back into your hands,” Archbold said. “It might look like Riverdance but the top players make it look like second nature.”

PASSING Players either kick the ball to another teammate or strike the ball with the side of a closed fist, using the knuckle of the thumb.

SCORING It’s complicated.

Kick it or fist it over the crossbar, it’s one point. Want to score in the goal? You can kick it in, or you can fist punch right after receiving a pass or picking the ball up off the ground.

“My Bluffton crew, they definitely got confused by all that,” Archbold said. “The final score is even trickier.” that has zero goals and 21 points (0-21) beats a team that scores four goals and eight points (4-8). Games are 60 minutes long with two 30-minute halves.

FOULS AND TACKLING: Similar to soccer, a player can be cautioned or removed from the game. There are three types of fouls – technical fouls (rules violations), aggressive fouls (overly aggressive play or verbal abuse of opponent or referee) and dissent fouls (not complying with referee judgment or instructions).

Tackling is allowed far less than rugby or American football. Shoulder-to-shoulder contact and slapping the ball out of an opponent’s hands are permitted, but just about any other contact will be called as fouls.

There are no offsides and no corners kicks. Out-ofbounds balls are inbounded by a kick out of your hands.

It’s a lot to figure out, but don’t worry. Archbold, Ritter and the team are all about teaching up the newbies. Most of them were noobs just a few months ago.

Archbold hopes this introduction of the sport to the area is just the beginning.

“I want to get this in all the high schools, have youth teams and adult teams in every town, a countywide league,” Archbold said. “One day, I’d love to win a U.S. title with this bunch.”

But he’s ready to do the crawling before the full-out sprint.

“We want to get regular games going, get this crew ready for a rematch with Savannah,” he said. “It’s moving along well. I’m just happy to see folks excited about giving it a try. Once I get you on the field, I got you hooked.”