Along with all Americans, I owe a great debt of gratitude to all those who have fought for our freedom, and to all those who have died defending our freedom.  Thank you so much.

We celebrated this Memorial Day at home with a bunch of family and friends.  It was a really great time. The kids had a ball, big kids and small kids, as evidenced by a few of the many photos I took.

About a year ago I had just (thankfully) driven into my garage during a tremendous storm when the air seemed to explode all around me with a deafening roar.  Instinctively I ducked to the ground and soon realized that lightning had struck very close by.  I think it is hard to imagine the power of a strike unless you have experienced one at close hand. Sure enough, one of our beautiful old live oaks had taken the hit; as evidenced by multiple chunks of splintered bark jettisoned in every direction and a sort of burning smell. Nearby electrical outlets were blackened and warped and a few modems etc. needed to be replaced inside the house.  

Years back we lost a beautiful Water Oak quite nearby when a contractor merrily took his trench digging machine and chopped all the roots along one entire side of the tree.  It took awhile to die, but we had to eventually get it taken out or risk it falling.  It was like losing an old friend.

This one hasn’t been taken out altogether, but the necessary pruning has left it malformed, misshapen, like a disfigured amputee.  I know it’s only a tree (as opposed to a person), but it’s a sad sight.

I had been meaning to attend one of these regular Spring events for awhile but conflicting schedules kept getting in the way.  I managed to make the last one yesterday evening and was so glad I did.  This is a great property, bounded by Old Towne Road and Old Towne Creek and adjacent to Charles Towne Landing, and soon to become a Charleston County Park once a master plan has been approved and implemented.  In the meantime it is available for special events.  Here are a couple of images from yesterday.

I was excited to learn that my images took the first and third places in the Color Photography Advanced category this year.  That’s awesome and the prize money will help fund a new lens I have been coveting for awhile, or maybe some new software, or something fun.  Thanks to the City of North Charleston!

This area definitely remains at the top of my list of favorite places to explore.  I will go back in the fall, as I do every year, but here are some more from last weekend’s Springtime trip.

I had signed up for a “Wildflowers and Waterfalls” photography workshop led by Kevin Adams, a recognized authority on the subject, and a great photographer.  For the past few days we have been based in Highlands which sits at approximately 4,000 feet above sea level.  The waterfalls are beautiful but there are very few wildflowers to be seen.  Spring has been delayed this year by a tenacious winter.  Only a couple of weeks ago there was snow on the ground here.  Anyway, we’ve been getting a lot of exercise since some of these falls are a good hike away from the trail head.  Here are a couple of the images.

Detail from Dry Falls

Detail from Whitewater Falls

Whitewater Falls

Dry Falls

I had been looking forward to this total lunar eclipse with great anticipation, planning in detail what would make an appropriate foreground for the backdrop of a red moon suspended in a starry sky. Dream on!  I had even rented a powerful telephoto lens to capture as much detail as possible, wanting to document the event to the best of my ability within the constraints of available funds.  Well, again the best laid plans are sometimes thwarted by circumstances beyond one’s control (see previous post).  A cold front was marching in from the west, bringing with it gusty winds and significant cloud cover.  The eclipse was due to start at around 2am so I set my alarm for 1.45am.  Peering bleery-eyed out of my window I could see nothing but clouds.  Unwilling to admit defeat, I re-set the alarm for 2.45am and tried to go back to sleep.  Awakened on schedule, I was rewarded by a fuzzy, but visible moon which was slipping further and further into the earth’s shadow.  This composite of the various stages of the lunar eclipse was the best I could capture in a hazy sky, between swiftly moving clouds, before it finally succumbed to the inexorable progression of the advancing storm.

For awhile now I have been meaning to visit an old family friend who lives in Savannah, and on Friday I had a 24 hour window of opportunity, so after work I headed south.  My early evening plan was to photograph the downtown squares and parks, adorned with azaleas aplenty in riotous Spring color.  Another planned stop was Forsythe Park’s historic fountain, one of my favorite photo subjects.  Well, the best laid plans sometimes unravel and mine did.  The lighting was flat, not golden as I had anticipated, there was hardly an azalea bloom in sight, and to add insult to injury there was no water in the Forsythe Park fountain. Apparently a recent heavy downpour had done away with the azaleas and the fountain was dry due to planned maintenance.  Fortunately my disappointments ended there and the rest of the weekend was delightful.  An additional bonus was the completion of the two lane highway all the way to the I-95, finally.  It is wonderful – great job and many thanks to those responsible; I am happy to have donated my tax dollars.

A far more relaxed version of the Cooper River Bridge Run, held in Edgewater Park in the afternoon of the same day, sandwiched between before and after parties aplenty.  The winner of this year’s race was Emma Weeks in a time of +- 8 seconds 🙂  Here are some snapshots from this year’s festivities.