My story starts different than most.

About The Photographer

My photography journey began long before I became a wife or a mother. As a teenager, I had an incredibly sentimental heart. I spent my days taking photos of my friends and our adventures just so I could hold onto them a little bit longer. Walking into Ritz Camera to pick up that freshly developed roll of film was a feeling I'll never forget.

That's the feeling I hope to give to you as I take the biggest moments of your life and create beautiful pieces of portrait art that you can look back on for years to come. I hope that when you come in and view your gallery for the first time you do so with the same excitement that I did when I anxiously opened that packet of double 4x6 prints.

2001

At 18 years old I started my first job as a portrait photographer.

2009

Taxes, licenses, oh my! In February I legally started my own business.

2012

I celebrated the birth of my first baby and opened my first studio!

2018

Proudly voted Showiteer Of The Year award at the Showit United conference.

2019

We welcomed our 2nd daughter and won Best Of The Beach.

We welcomed our second daughter and I was voted Best Of The Beach.

2021

I moved into my new 1,750 sq ft solo studio space in September.

2024

We added an amazing line of themed portrait experiences to our lineup!

About Crystal

I grew up in the part of New York that has more trees than cabs. (Don't you dare call it the upstate!)

At 18 years old I was faced with the reality that I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life (no pressure, right?). So, like a typical teenager, I got a job at the mall.

(Lee is my middle name)

The Twist of fate?
It was at a portrait studio.

We photographed everything under the sun and had 20 minutes per customer to get 5 perfect photos on a roll of film that only held 9 shots. (Yes, I said film.)

Turns out I was pretty good at it! I moved up the retail ladder fairly quickly and over the course of the next seven years I managed studios in New York, Myrtle Beach, and San Diego. In 2008 I made the decision to leave the west coast and move back to Myrtle Beach.

Another Twist of fate?
I couldn't transfer my job.

Just like that, my retail manager days had come to an end.

Crystal Lee Photography began.

and then...

Quick Facts

I rock the home-brew on a daily basis, but I'll never turn down some Starbucks! My entire life changed the day I found out that you can get a peppermint mocha in a frappuccino. #nolie

Maui is the kind of place that finds its way into your heart and never leaves. If home prices weren't in the millions, I'd move there tomorrow!

90's boy bands are the music of my heart but none can compare to the original... NKOTB. I finally got to fulfill one of my childhood dreams and see them in concert in 2008!

I wear flip flops in winter, because Myrtle Beach. (Also, stubbornness.)

I wear flip flops in winter, because Myrtle Beach.
(Also, stubbornness.)

I had a home birth... and NOT on purpose. You can read the full story below, but my second daughter proved to be a true rebel right from the start!

I love hugs. I hate feet. Double chocolate Milano's are a perfectly acceptable breakfast food, McDonald's french fries taste like sunshine, and clearly I'm terrible at dieting.

Let me be your guide.

I'm here to be...

The Dumbledore to your Harry.

The Gandalf to your Frodo.

The Obi-wan to your Luke.

The Alfred to your Batman.

(If you understood half of those, then we just became best friends!)

The Travis to your Taylor.

our story

I met the love of my life at Match.com. During a free trial. On the first day.

- Crystal

Shoutout to modern technology for helping us cross paths! Two years after our first date, we were married. (Pro tip: getting married on your anniversary means he only has to remember one date. 😂)

Now we're spending our days raising two amazing kids and working to build a business... together.

“I would rather spend one lifetime with you, than face all the ages of this world alone.”

- Arwen, Lord Of The Rings