Oh wow!  This was worth getting up early for.  The last total lunar eclipse back in April this year was pretty much a bust due to cloud cover, but this morning was beautifully clear.  I had got my equipment organized the night before, correctly assuming that I’m not at my sharpest at 4am, so all I had to do was make myself a cup of tea and watch the show, clicking the shutter occasionally and wiping the dew off the front of my lens.  Neighbors Victor and Dori joined me on the dock as the earth’s shadow slowly progressed across the face of the full moon.  As the totality phase approached, so the sky began to lighten and the moon became increasingly difficult to see, and even more challenging to photograph.  Finally I gave up, and a little later it set in complete obscurity.

I just love doing family portraits.  Usually I find that the subjects start off somewhat apprehensive, but warm up after a little while and usually it’s a lot of fun.  One of these subjects (not the kid) is inclined towards being more than a little apprehensive (I know because we did this last year as well), so this year I jokingly suggested they bring some wine with their picnic, since we were going to a park.  They took me quite seriously, and while we all still functioned quite competently, the wine took the edge off any nervousness, and we had a hilariously successful shoot.  I think I should make it a mandatory condition for all future shoots, as long as they are not too early in the day 🙂

I had been waiting for ages it seemed for the weather to clear.  Someone said on the radio the other day that out of 29 days in September, only 5 were not rained out.  I had been waiting to get back in the air and collect some new aerial images of the Charleston area, and today was perfect.  Here are a few from the route we took, over the downtown area, across the harbor to Shem Creek and along the coast of Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms.

I am working with Tour Charleston to produce some imagery for their new website that will be launching soon, and so last night I tagged along with tour guide Frank and a group to get a better idea of what they do, and also for fun, of course.  They do a great job, so call 843-723-1670 if you’re in the market for a great downtown ghost tour.  Here are a few images taken in the Unitarian Church graveyard on a drizzly, creepy night 🙂

Often when I don’t have to be somewhere or do something in the evening, I will grab a couple of lenses and head downtown with no agenda, just to see what I can find.  Sometimes I come up empty, but I usually find something worth keeping.  As soon as the glow in the sky fades, the magic fades insofar as my camera is concerned, and it’s time to head on home.  Here are my keepers from last night.  The wrought iron images from St. Michael’s Church gates are vertical versions of the ones I took a couple of weeks ago.

I was one of many random folks who stood solemnly along the Charleston roadsides as the funeral procession for Deputy Sheriff Joe Matuskovic passed by.  I have never seen so many emergency vehicles assembled at one time.  They came from every county in South Carolina, and from Georgia and probably other states as well to pay their last respects to one of their own.  So very sorry, what a waste of a good life and how sad for friends, family, colleagues and the community in general.  RIP

” ….  and God Himself will be among them, and
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer
be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain;
the first things have passed away.”    Revelation 21:4

The brand new Harbor View Elementary School just opened on James Island and it is beautiful, thoughtfully designed, with state of the art equipment for the kids.  Steve Coe, the architect, felt strongly that the new facility should communicate to the kids a sense of place and a connection to the past since it is located on property that used to be part of historic McLeod Plantation.  To this end, he has used some of my photography of the ancient oaks.  In addition to the photograph embedded in the huge acrylic wall panel, there are images of oak canopies suspended overhead in more acrylic panels to simulate the effect of light streaming through the tree tops.  Steve also designed the flooring in the hallways to incorporate a ribbon of blue that represents the Wappoo Creek, a critical component of the plantation’s operation.  The “creek” eventually meanders through the door and to the playground.  Kudos to Steve and his team for an excellent job well done.

Yesterday evening we went looking for bird life, dolphin, and shrimp boats in the waters around Hunting and Fripp Islands.  Shrimp boats were in short supply and I don’t have the right kind of lenses to capture birds unless they are pretty close, but it was a gorgeous evening and I did enjoy the scenery.

I could post more images from the past few days every day until Christmas, but life in Charleston goes on, so these will be the last Palouse images featured on my blog – until next time.  I spent a wonderful 4 days there.  It is very refreshing to absorb the sights and sounds of such a different world. The Palouse is a very special place and the people are equally memorable.  They are the way one would imagine all Americans to be back in the day; salt of the earth, hard working, friendly, and honest. 

I have spent four wonderful days here, leaving before sunrise to photograph the first light, driving for many miles throughout the day, and arriving back at the hotel in Colfax sometimes only after 10pm. It has been a veritable feast for a photographer, like one of those “all you can eat” buffets (except that the food was excellent) and I was a glutton 🙂  All good things come to an end however, and a good thing too, because I am exhausted.  One more early morning tomorrow so I can drive back to Spokane in time to catch my early flight back east.  In the meantime, here are a few more from the past couple of day’s “work”.