Tag: SC

Flooding from Tropical Storm Debby

I had to travel down to Walterboro today from Charleston, and my route took me down Highway 17A South through Ridgeville. As I neared the bridge over the Edisto River, I suddenly noticed water, deep water on either side of the road. It was unbelievable, and I was so broken hearted for the folks who live in these houses, for the mess, for the expense, for the total upheaval this event must represent in their lives. This is days after the storm had passed. Fortunately the Edisto River floodwaters are receding after having reached record breaking levels of 17 feet. These images hardly do justice to the actual devastation.

Spring at Middleton Place

I have photographed the onset of Spring at this location many times over the years, so this year I tried something a little different. There is a genre of photography called ICM (Intentional Camera Movement), which I have been playing with. It involves using longer shutter speeds and moving the camera intentionally while the shutter is open. It’s kinda hit and miss at the moment for me, but I’m enjoying the new challenge. Here are a few examples.

Falcon Heavy Fly-By

The SpaceX program and their apparently bold and limitless imagination as to what can be achieved is so admirable. To me, it represents the brightest and best of American ingenuity and I plan to visit Cape Canaveral soon to witness a launch in person. In the meantime, I went out to Folly Beach on the evening of December 28th to see if I could spot Falcon Heavy fly by. Launch time was 20:07 and the trajectory was showing that it was passing up the eastern seaboard. I took my camera along for fun, and captured this shot of the separation from the boosters as the rocket continued on its journey into orbit. What a thrill!

Sol Legare Island

The Sol Legare and Kings Flats area has an incredible history. “During the Civil War, the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was one of the first sanctioned African American regiments in the Union Army. The 54th fought on this narrow strip of land in 1863 during the Battle of Sol Legare. While fighting to free enslaved Americans during this battle, the 54th lost 14 men, with an additional 17 wounded and 12 missing. A mere two days later they went on to fight in the Battery Wagner battle (which you can see in the movie Glory starring Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman). In the late 1800s, newly freed enslaved Americans settled on Sol Legare to farm and fish. Many of its current residents are direct descendants of these original settlers.For more than 100 years, the Seashore Farmers’ Lodge on Sol Legare served as a community building for meetings, school, church and funerals.” (quoted from Rheosgear’s blog).

I have frequented this area over many years now. Back in the day, I would visit Thomas Backman at his seafood dock. He would usually be found working on his boat, Backman Enterprise, getting it ready to put back to sea. Sadly that never happened, since he passed away suddenly a few years back, and now the old shrimp trawler sits in mud most of the time, dreaming of better days. Here is a photo of him, taken back in 2011.

I went back down that way today, and took the following photo. Sadly his dock is now a jumbled mess of planks in the marsh, thanks to the battering of many storms and high tides. I guess some day this property will be sold and reimagined as a cluster of condos. Time marches on.

The Edge of America

Summer is almost over and most vacationers have returned to their homes. I don’t enjoy Folly when it is crowded but love to spend time there out of season. Yesterday was a beautiful warm evening and it felt good to walk the beach again. I have so many images of this shoreline, as do many of us locals, but it never tires, and they are never the same.

Three Generation Family Reunion

I had fun photographing a family of three generations who spent a week at Folly Beach celebrating the grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary. It was hot, and it’s sometimes challenging to accommodate the spread of ages in such a large group, but these guys were troopers and we came away with lots of images that will provide happy memories for years to come.

Botany Bay Boneyard Beach

One has to time one’s visit to this location carefully, otherwise you run the risk of driving an hour South from Charleston, walking the trail to the ocean, only to find that a high tide has rendered it completely impossible to access the beach. I saw a low-tide opportunity during the late afternoon yesterday and decided to pay a visit. The weather had been unsettled and was overcast in Charleston, but at this time of year it is so changeable that it was worth a try. The beach is always wonderful, and I so enjoy just being there, but the air was hazy with smoke from the Canadian wildfires, and the colors were pretty dull, so I decided to convert the images to black and white. Here are a couple.

Gifts from Charleston

So many people love Charleston for so many reasons. I could try to enumerate, but I would be digressing from the point of this post, which is to announce a new little “crafty” business that a friend and I are busy with. Folks who visit Charleston (and locals) are always looking for gifts that depict the charm of Charleston, whether it’s for friends and family far away, or for someone who has everything they need already and has a birthday looming. These whimsical items are so southern, so charming in their design, so easily light and “packable”, and best of all, so unique. Do you have an attractive bowl cover for the salad you are bringing over to your neighbor’s house for dinner? Do you have an good looking Charleston themed bread sack for that fresh baked loaf that you plan to bring to the family lunch on Sunday? Well Ta Da!!! Problem solved. Here they are.