Evening in Downtown Charleston

I was looking to update some of my Charleston images and hoping for an interesting sunset.  As I commiserated with my photographer buddy Raymond, if it was that easy to nail amazing images, it wouldn’t be a challenge anymore.  Anyway, here are a couple from this evening.  It took a bit of work to make them look somewhat interesting.

Nesting Purple Martins

For over a year now I have been documenting with my camera the story of Purple Martins, America’s largest swallow.  The only remaining missing link was images of the birds using the gourds and I wrapped that up this weekend.  I can report that these families are very satisfied with the quality and location of their homes.  See an earlier  blog entry here.  One day I will put this all together in a photo essay.  

Angel Oak in the Rain

I know it’s not just me.  My photographer friends do the same thing.  We keep going back to places we’ve photographed many times; I suppose hoping to capture something different, something better.  I had been waiting for an overcast day (on a weekend) to capture this when there is not too much contrast, and when the colors are all saturated from recent rain.  I was also thinking that it would be deserted – again on account of the rain.  Boy, was I wrong.  It seemed everyone was there, with and without umbrellas.  I photographed this in three sections and had to wait ages for each section in turn to empty of people before quickly pressing the shutter.  It’s nice in its natural green shades, but I like it even better like this.

Charleston Race Week 2012

I was hoping of course for blue skies and sunshine as a backdrop for the colorful spinnakers of all the competing craft, but alas it was not to be.  The forecast for tomorrow looks worse with a 70% probability for rain.  For the sailors, it was probably just about perfect.  This was how it looked from Sunrise Park on James Island this afternoon.

Quiet Sea Island Lane

I took a trip down to Savannah, GA this weekend to visit an old friend of my father’s, and coming back, the I-95 was totally gridlocked.  End of Spring Break, etc.  Anyway, I left the interstate and took all kinds of secondary roads which was much more interesting.  As I came through Beaufort, I couldn’t resist revisiting a favorite old haunt, braving the mosquitos and taking a few more shots.  Not surprisingly they look just like my previous shots – maybe there are a couple of slightly different angles, but the place hasn’t changed at all and hopefully won’t.  There’s something comfortable and reassuring about things that don’t change.

Easter Photos

I love photographing kids.  They are so real – no fake happy smiles if you’re not feeling it!  This was from a bunch of portraits we took of families after Easter services today.  Happy Easter!