Civic Center SPOTLIGHT
Lauren Stroud, Lauren Lee Photography
Lauren Lee Photography "officially" began in 2019. Prior to that I was just testing the waters. It sounds cliche but I have always had a love for "snapping some pics" but mostly just of people. I won a film camera in second grade after selling the most Christmas wrapping paper at my elementary school so I got to play with a camera at a young age. My dad would purchase the film, show me how to install it and let me have at it. Then he would take my film to the local Walmart and send it off to be developed. My dad also had a nack for photography. He would photograph my sisters and I playing sports and also our family vacations. He loved the action shots and candid moments - so I guess that is where I get it from. My grandmother also had mounds of photo albums through the years and I loved looking through them of family members I had never met. Both of them were a HUGE part of my life and now all I have of them are photos.
Looking through the BOXES and BOXES of film I've taken through the years - as mentioned above - 95% of them all of people....of my friends and family. It's those memories that are preserved on the 4x6 glossy cardstock prints that drew me into portrait photography. My big focus is weddings but a close second is lifestyle photography - which includes families and couples. I love catching laughter, I love the small hand of a child on their mother's face, or when a father sees his daughter in her wedding dress, or when a expecting mother rubs her belly lovingly - I love photos that you can FEEL.
I am married to my loving husband and we have three beautiful children. I am also a registered nurse and have been in healthcare for over 20 years. I have progressed so much with my photography I have been able to do nursing as a part time job.
I have had a space at the CCC for a year now. I consider myself a "natural light" photographer however now with a "studio space" I can venture more into different lighting setups. When I was offered a larger room in the CCC I definitely took up the opportunity as it has beautiful large vintage windows letting in all the creamy natural light I could want. I also partnered up with two highly successful local photographers to share the space: Jenna Light Photography and Jaquantae Film and Co. There's lots of magic being created behind that door!
Lauren Stroud
843-437-9564
Civic Center SPOTLIGHT
Janay Parnell and High Jumps Cheer and Dance Company
High Jumps Cheer and Dance Company was established and founded by Walterboro native, Janay Parnell on August 16, 2016. Ms. Parnell, who had served as the assistant cheer coach at the middle school in Colleton County School district for 10 years, had decided to start a community team to
target a wider range of students. At the time in the school system, there were certain criteria that
had to be met to be eligible for school sports, clubs and other organizations. Students had to have
a certain GPA and no disciplinary issues in order to try out for cheerleading. “I wanted to get around
that and give the little girl that may be struggling with math and the one that seems to keep getting
in trouble every day in class, a chance to be involved in an extracurricular activity. Sometimes, all achild need is for someone to take a chance on them to change their downward path to a climbing
status.”
The original idea was to start a community all-star competitive cheer team, but after finding a lot of
the girls were interested in dance, the platform changed to suit the demand of the youth in the area.
Inspired by the then popular tv show, Bring It, The Divine Dynasty Dancers and Dynasty Dolls dance
teams were birthed out of High Jumps Cheer and Dance Company. As of today, the award-winning
dance teams consist of dancers ages 4-18 years old and is currently in its 8th competition season.
DDD specializes in majorette, hip-hop and lyrical dance, as well as cheer pom-pom and acrobat.
Open enrollments for ages 4-8 is year round and tryouts for ages 9-17 are twice a year.
Janay Parnell/ 843-898-0570
Facebook page: HighJumps CheerandDance
Instagram: divine_dynasty_dancers
TikTok: @divinedynastydancers