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After a year in South Korea, Leigh & Josh returned home to Charleston last night with Gideon. It is so awesome to have them all home safe. It was late, but everyone was so excited, especially over Gideon.The waiting
The arrival
Ellie and Matt meeting their nephew for the first time
Joanne & Ernie re-connecting
Leigh & Matt

This weekend I took a roadtrip with friends to visit a most interesting couple who farm gourds, mainly to house Purple Martins through the breeding season when they arrive from South America, but also for crafters who decorate and sell them. It was the first out of what will be a series of visits through the year because I will be documenting the story of gourds and Purple Martins through four seasons in a photo essay. Here are a few images from my first visit.
Nothing much going on at the farm right now. The gourds are stored in barns through the winter and a roadside farm stall is located at the end of their driveway where the “honor system” rules.These are gourds that have been intricately decorated for Christmas gifts by a talented artist.

It was a beautiful day, for a change, and I had plans to find something new to photograph, but somehow the time just slipped away. There was church this morning, and then a bunch of us went out for lunch. I ate way more than I should have, so took the dog for some exercise in the park and then started playing on the computer. So I never did bring home any new images, but heck, I can work on the ones I have and create new ones. Here’s one that got a makeover.

This is not an easy subject to photograph. Firstly, there are often many people wandering through your frame and understandably, they are in no hurry to move. Just when one bunch drifts off, another will arrive. Secondly, the best weather conditions would be even, overcast light – nothing too bright or dark. Also, the colors should be nicely saturated after it’s been raining. With all this in mind, I took a drive there during a break in the weather this afternoon. I was surprised to find that there were quite a few people there, despite the miserable weather. It’s amazing what an attraction this old tree is. Of course everyone has to be photographed standing underneath it too. The light was ok, but not ideal, and for some reason my wide angle lens was giving me a lot of flare. Anyway, you learn something from everything you do – if you know what’s good for you – and I learned from the trip. Not quite sure what, but I know I did. Tomorrow I might head for a swamp – depending on the weather. I do love my weekends!

Yes, I know I have a shrimp boat fetish. Maybe I need to tag along for a day’s shrimping to cure me of some of the romanticism of this subject. Anyway, until then, here’s a couple more ..

Today was taken up with housekeeping issues, some cooking, some taxes, some laundry – rivetting stuff. Did take a little trip into the marsh to photograph the remains of this dock, and then caught a blue heron fishing in one of our ponds. Best I can do for today.

A friend gives me a pointsetta every Christmas – it’s become a tradition. Anyway, I’m not very good with plants as a rule. If they survive or (rarely) thrive, it is in spite of me. Anyway, it’s almost February and this one is still looking so awesome that I decided to take it to the studio and practice some lighting techniques with it. Now it can die in peace – preserved digitally for posterity. Thanks Lee!

I have in my mind a vision of an image yet to be captured. It is of marsh and creeks with shrimp boats in the foreground and absolutely still water reflecting a setting full moon. There is already color in the sky, clouds tinged pink from a rising sun…. Well, if you don’t show up, you will definitely never get it, so this morning I showed up even though the forecast was not encouraging. That’s the fun of it – you just never know. This is not up to my vision, but I enjoyed being there. This photography thing is not an obsession. Is it?

I decided on Friday to go chase some snow over the weekend, so I made a reservation for one night at some nondescript (pet-friendly)Comfort Inn in Mars Hill, NC, packed some sandwiches, microwaveable dinner, food for the dog and headed north up the interstate early Saturday morning. The overall experience was mixed. I came away with a couple of images that I really like, but more detailed planning would definitely increase the odds of success (surprise!) Also Logan contracted some kind of bug, the details of which don’t need to be shared in this forum, but suffice it to say that I didn’t get much sleep last night. It also necessitated several additional inconvenient stops along the way. I did enjoy watching his confusion over the white stuff. He thought he could walk on top of it, and kept falling through – sometimes up to his ears!

Analytical and Environmental Standards company O2SI needed some updated product images for a new tradeshow booth, their website, etc., so this afternoon we photographed all shapes and sizes of bottles, metals, ampules, and other laboratory equipment.You really need to kick your creative juices up a few notches to make some of these widgets look pretty, but we had fun trying