I was in Charleston harbor this afternoon to photograph some of the birds that are nesting at Castle Pinckney and on Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.  It was a small window of sunshine and calm within a pattern of unsettled weather. The water is warm and full of food for birds, dolphin and fish.  What an abundance of wildlife there is out there.  It is our responsibility to protect it.

This was our last full day at the lake, and it was also Memorial Day. Thank you to all who served and paid the ultimate price so that we can live freely and safely.  We ended our time here with fireworks.

I have been dying to post these for the past 10 days but couldn’t until after the wedding.  We had such fun shooting, test driving the dress and the makeup.  Here are a few of my favorites.

So instead of a traditional wedding followed by a honeymoon, Matt and Christine decided they wanted a small wedding on the shores of Lake Keowee in upstate South Carolina.  That is how the family and a few close friends ended up spending 5 days together in a very large rented house near Seneca.  We arrived here on Friday and they got married on Saturday.  Matt’s cousin Simon from South Africa surprised him by joining us. Even a small, informal wedding requires a significant amount of planning and preparation, so things were a little hectic until everyone had eaten and things had gone smoothly. Thereafter, and for the next few days we will be relaxing in the sun, and just chillin’.  Here are a few photos from yesterday (I was doing double duty as the photographer and mother of the groom!)

Yesterday evening, the Friends of McLeod were invited to a celebration to mark the opening of the McLeod Plantation under the stewardship of the Charleston County Parks & Recreation Commission. The buildings have been shored up and renovated, the grounds have been tended and everything just looks wonderful.  We have to thank the Friends of McLeod, the City of Charleston, the Town of James Island, the CCPRC and countless individuals who labored tirelessly to preserve this historic property for the citizens of Charleston.

The 160 ft. Barkentine Tall Ship, Gunilla visited Charleston during the last week of April for the 10th time.  I photographed her back in 2009 during a previous visit, and I would absolutely love to photograph her under full sail, but haven’t had an opportunity yet.  In the meantime, I had to be content with angles of her tied up at the Charleston Maritime Center where she was docked for a few days.

Yes, I know that was last weekend and now here we are at the beginning of the following weekend, but I’m playing catchup.  There have been quite a few above average photo opps recently and so I was reluctant to gallop on (excuse the pun) to the next before you had savored the previous, like the very cute Claire.

These horses are magnificent however, and the traveling show is most impressive.  The carriage is polished until it mirrors everything around it.  The brass, leather and other components of their hitching gear are spotless. What a great opportunity to get up close to this iconic slice of Americana.  Here are a few of the images that hopefully capture the excitement of the parade.

I photographed Claire when she was still just a bump in her mother’s tummy, then again when she was just a baby. She has sure turned into a beautiful toddler.  Kids are challenging to photograph because they are on the move all the time and they have very short attention spans.  They also get tired all of a sudden and then we are definitely done!  Mom was concerned that we weren’t able to capture more than a few good ones, but when I started working on them later in the day, I couldn’t believe what we had.  The camera LOVES this kid.  Can’t wait to photograph her again in another year or so.

Spring is when I start agitating to get back up in the air again.  The marsh grass has turned from it’s winter dirty brown to a soft green and everything looks so much brighter again.  I decided to choose locations that needed morning light, and after I finally fought my way through some horrendous traffic in the West Ashley area (thanks to yet another wreck on the I-526), we got airborne at about 10am.  I gotta say, the morning light can’t come close to the quality of the evening light, and while we got some decent shots, I will limit my future aerial photography trips to late afternoons.  For a comprehensive selection of aerial images taken over time, please see here.