Category: News

I have been playing with some painting and texture effects since these kinds of seascapes lend themselves very nicely to some artistic license.  New subject matter coming up (some will be saying, thank goodness for that!)

I have been sifting through literally hundreds of images, and deleting many of them, mostly because they were redundant, but some because they were just no good 🙂

Here are a couple more from last weekend’s excursion.  Here’s a shout out to Eric Horan, a great naturalist, photographer, and guide through the creeks and shorelines around Beaufort. If this is something you would enjoy, get in touch with Eric Horan Photography. He knows the area like the back of his hand and does regular shorebird, dolphin and shrimp boat tours.

Hunting Island called me back.  It is so badly damaged from the storm, and honestly I don’t know how the state of South Carolina is ever going to find the funds to re-open it to the public.  Rows of camping sites enjoyed by families for generations have apparently just disappeared.  Trails are impassable.  I didn’t break the law and go places that are off limits, but the public has legal access to the beaches below the mean high tide line and that’s where I was. Over the next few days I will post a few images of the boneyard debris scattered all over the place, but I also had fun capturing the motion of swirling tides as you can see here.

Yesterday I took a small skiff ride with some friends.  We put in at Russ Point Landing, just before the bridge to Fripp Island.  We were photographing seascapes, shorebirds, etc., but we decided to take a look in the lagoon which runs through Hunting Island State Park.  I had not visited since last year’s Hurricane Matthew, but even on the drive down to the island, the severity of the damage was very apparent.  After passing under the footbridge, I was shocked to see that the sea had breached the lagoon and  dumped a whole new beach where there had previously been maritime forest.  The entire landscape has changed to the point where it is almost unrecognizable.  This happened literally overnight.  There is no telling when this wonderful state park will re-open.  Two rows of camp sites were completely wiped out.  Trees are still down everywhere. The funds to repair the damage are not forthcoming.  It is very politicized, what a shame. Nature is cruel but still so beautiful.

There are so many birds where I live.  Lots of trees in the area and a golf course nearby seem to contribute towards making it a great environment for bird life.  I have been trying to encourage some bluebirds to make their home in the nesting boxes I have provided, but they’re being coy for the moment.  In the meantime, the squirrels don’t have that problem and are passing the word around in the neighborhood that eating is good in my yard!

Charleston is always so pretty in the Spring.  All the azaleas are in bloom (albeit this year a little prematurely), everyone is sneezing from the pollen and driving around in dirty cars since there is no point in getting them washed until the dust has settled.  This is a particularly beautiful driveway tucked away in West Ashley, but begging to be photographed.

 

This was our last full day here in Puerto Rico, and so I took the opportunity to just wander through the streets of old San Juan. It is a very historic, quaint city, with colorful buildings and friendly people.  It is also in need of much maintenance and beautiful buildings are sadly in decay.  I visited the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, (pics below), and it needs a lot of restoration work.  I felt so bad for a local lady who was sitting quietly with her rosary, obviously praying, surrounded by jabbering selfie-stick waving tourists who had little awareness or respect for the sacred space they were invading. Heading home to Charleston tomorrow.

Today we enjoyed exploring old San Juan’s historic Castillo San Felipe del Morro Fort and the Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis cemetery before arriving at Bacardi Rum’s distillery for a special tour in the afternoon.  A really great day.

Today did not turn out quite the way we planned.  The weather was pretty nasty, squalls of rain and wind gusting up to 30+ mph, not a good day for outdoor activities.  One thing I had heard, and which turned out to be true for today, was that the weather changes by the minute, so in between the crud, we walked on the beach a little, and later decided to visit the El Yungue National Rain Forest, since it’s usually raining there all the time anyway.  Here are a few photos from our day.

So a month ago, I had no idea that I would be traveling to Puerto Rico now or any other time.  However, a friend was given a house on the beach for a week as a birthday gift and I was invited along for the ride. There was only one course of action at that point, book a flight!  This was our first day.  The house is on the beach and also has its own private pool – sweet.  Tomorrow we are scheduled to visit the El Yunque rain forest, and then old San Juan the next day, and Bicardi Rum later in the week (private, behind-the-scenes tour due to special contact). Stay tuned …