I think that for those like me who were born in Africa, the pull of the wild stays with you, no matter where one wanders throughout the course of life. There is something that nourishes the soul when standing on untamed soil listening to the sounds of the birds and letting your senses absorb the wildness of the land and its inhabitants. This is the best of Africa, its finest gift.
Here I am back on the other side of the world, definitely on the bottom side 🙂 I will be here a month spending time with my mom and catching up with other friends and family members. My mom took a fall recently and has been recovering slowly. As a result we have restricted our adventures to her retirement village, hard for both of us. Adventurous spirits apparently run in the family. I have been stalking garden birds and finding colorful garden compositions to photograph and here are some of my favorites. Next week I will be visiting a game reserve for a couple of days, so hopefully I will be able to post some great wildlife images ….
I’ve been doing quite a few family portraits lately – ’tis the season 🙂 The clients wanted simple, classic studio shots with a vintage look. These were some that got the old fashioned sepia treatment.
Some years I have barely managed to get away to my favorite places in North Carolina once during the fall season, but this year I was blessed with the opportunity to visit three times. These photos were from this third visit over Thanksgiving, and in Tryon the leaves were barely hanging on to the tree limbs. Thick carpets of dried foliage on the ground crunched underfoot as we walked the trails. Everything looked a glorious mess, and it was cool and crisp but sunny. So grateful for these good times with good friends.
I photographed Sarah when she was pregnant with Jenna about 10 years ago. This lovely young lady is now nine years old. One of the things I most enjoy about portrait photography is the challenge of communicating personality and emotion. These images show so clearly the affection between these two. Thanks Sarah for choosing me through the years to document this journey.
It was a pleasure to have these two sisters in the studio the other day for some updated headshots. Gosh, I love what I do!
After spending some days in the Brevard area of North Carolina, I wandered back over the state line into upstate South Carolina where I stayed at a wonderful B&B in Salem called Sunrise Farm. Such fun to walk out of the door before sunrise and capture the light as it rakes across the pastures and signals the dawn of another day. Of course many farm people wouldn’t understand why this would be a big deal, but for a city girl, it’s a treat. Here are a few images from early this morning. These last few days of fall in the mountains have been amazing, but tomorrow it’s back to Charleston and the low country, home.
Every fall I try to spend time in Western North Carolina. I am like a child in a wonder world when surrounded by the brilliant colors of Fall. I don’t always time it right, but this time everything came together and I hit the peak for this area. I like to base myself in Brevard, because from here it’s a short run up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and elevations of 6,000 feet (where the trees are already bare) or I can wander around further down the mountains. Right now I’m socked in for a couple of days by a front that’s moving through and bringing a lot of rain, but here are a few from the last couple of days. No saturation added, in fact I had to back off the colors because they were almost an assault on the eyes! My favorite time of year.
Last Saturday morning has got to have been one of 2021’s photographic highlights. We had scheduled an early morning trip out on the water off Wadmalaw Island to photograph shore birds and shrimp trawler activity. This was nothing new, but rarely do conditions come together to offer the best weather, light winds, gentle tides, and great subject activity, the subjects being the birds and shrimp trawlers. It was hard to pick a few images to showcase here, because we came back with hundreds of keepers. The thrill of a successful morning more than makes up for the many early rises and time spent drifting on the water in less than perfect conditions, having spent hard earned cash for pitiful results. This is the challenge of photography. The outcome is never a given, but this was a treat. Thanks to photographer, naturalist, and boat captain extraordinaire Eric Horan. You can find information about his lowcountry tours here: https://horanphoto.com/lowcountry-photo-tours-adventures
It’s that time again. Halloween decorations are everywhere, thoughts are turning to Thanksgiving plans, and then before you know it, Christmas will be here. Some are getting organized ahead of the curve and getting their Christmas card photos done and dusted. Charleston has so many picturesque backdrops that’s it’s hard to choose a theme. This family chose historic downtown for personal and aesthetic reasons. It’s always amusing because everyone wants to have these memories later, but they don’t much enjoy having to endure their time in front of the camera. Kudos to these guys, especially the kids. They did great. If this is something you’ve been meaning to schedule, please contact me. It really is a relatively painless process and kids grow up fast 🙂
