Contest Winner: Magnolia Cemetery Sunrise

 When I saw that the weekly Charleston Post and Courier photography contest topic was graveyards and cemeteries, I thought this is one I have to enter. Deciding which photo to submit was the hard part. 

I thought about the pictures I took last November when Magnolia Cemetery superintendent and fellow Carolinas Nature Photography Association (CNPA) member Beverly Donald opened the gates pre-dawn for our club members to take sunrise photos. 

Those of us who came out so early enjoyed a glorious sunrise in the dramatic setting of beautiful and historic Magnolia Cemetery.

I posted my ten favorite photos from the day (good example of a "listicle" list article that I have shared with my college students) and this is where I found the image I entered in the newspaper's contest. 

Edisto Island Fixer Upper- Glass Half Full or Empty?

This may be the saddest mailbox I’ve ever seen! 

Its “mouth” is open as if saying “I deserve better than this.”

The location is 7944 Steamboat Landing Rd. off Highway 174 on Edisto Island. 

The poor mailbox caught my eye a few weeks after a beach visit. Saturday during a drive out this way we stopped by so I could photograph this box and the property behind it. 

The old red house and trailer next to it are not much to look at either. 

Vacant and seemingly abandoned the property has been neglected for who knows how many years. 

The house is barely visible from the road. If not safe from the growth devouring it, a strong fence offers some protection. 

Beach Butterflies!

 It was our first time back to Sullivan’s Island last weekend in several months since the ban on chairs, umbrellas and basically doing at the beach what we and others enjoy- sitting down and hanging out. 

My beach posts this summer have been from Edisto Beach, which did not have such restrictions. Since hearing that Sullivan’s had finally chilled we decided to make a visit. This after we enjoyed an excellent lunch at Obstinate Daughter, a really good restaurant on the island. And we wanted to check if our “secret” free parking spot was still available and still free. It was and is, so that was good too. 

Charleston Smokestacks May Be Removed

 

I was downtown yesterday afternoon and found myself near the old smokestacks on East Bay near the Cigar Factory.

Recent Charleston Post and Courier articles have covered how the 135-foot stacks may be razed or reduced to half size due to interior cracks that could someday cause crumbling onto nearby homes (and there are many homes just across the street).

Labor Day Stingrays? No Way! Yes Way!

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer. But the hot, humid weather continues in the Charleston area.

Fall or autumn begins Tuesday, Sept. 22 and Daylight Savings Times ends on Sunday, Nov. 1. 

Edisto Beach was a pleasant place to spend part of this national holiday. The skies were overcast and it was a bit windy. The beach wasn’t too crowded. And one of the best things about Edisto is the free parking that is very close to the sand.

We may start going again to Sullivan’s Island now that beach chairs are allowed after months of the “keep it moving” ordinance due to COVID-19.

Edisto has been great this summer though the drive is longer. The atmosphere here is always relaxed and family-oriented.

Sanderlings on Sands of Edisto Beach

It’s easy to take the common beach birds for granted. They are all gulls and kind of look the same, one may think.

But a closer look reveals a wide variety of species and some interesting distinctions. A few weeks ago here at Edisto Island Beach I photographed some Willets, another type of Sandpiper (collective name "fling").

Yesterday it was these Sanderlings (collectively called a "grain").  As big a birder that I think I am I needed help both weekends to correctly identify these shore (no longer bore) birds.

At Edisto Beach, there’s not as much going on as say Sullivan’s Island where I’ve always enjoyed watching the big cargo ship going in and out of Charleston’s harbor.

Like Sullivan’s and our other area beaches, Edisto has its squadrons of Brown Pelicans flying their sorties. But now I’ve become more curious about the smaller birds seen feeding and frolicking along the shoreline.

Sunset Photo in a Magazine!

 I was excited when yesterday’s Post and Courier was delivered to see that it included a new issue of My Charleston, a magazine the paper produces annually.

My photos have appeared in it in past years. These are pictures I submitted for the P&C’s weekly themed photography contests.

So I was thrilled to see that this year one of my photos was used.

I took this image (above) several months ago with my iPhone coming out of Gold’s Gym on Ashley Phosphate Road where I work out.

In My Charleston my shot appears with seven others in a two page “Sunsets” spread.

Here’s the cover of the magazine touted as “The Post and Courier’s Guide To Life In The Lowcountry.”

It is that and more, a fine publication that I am honored to be part of!

Edisto So Chill on a Hot Summer Sunday

This deep into summer the beach at Edisto Island was not as crowded as previous weekends. The rather remote locale has been a pleasant getaway during this unprecedented year of the pandemic.

It’s a bit of a drive from our Charleston-area home but worth it with the free, easy and close to the beach parking. And again on this day, the weather was perfect despite a forecast of possible rain in the area.

(left) Fishers (or anglers) in the foreground, a child walks in the middle of an ocean groin and check out the squadron of Brown Pelicans coming in swift and low in the background.

Beach scenes. The clouds were impressive on this day. These photos are slightly enhanced with high dynamic range (HDR) processing tools.

The Willet is a common sight on local beaches. It’s a pretty little shore bird with a striking black-tipped bill.

 Laughing Gulls are also beach regulars. They look for handouts for humans. During mating season the bill is red. A group of Laughing Gulls can be called a "gullery" or "screech."

Look closely at the photo below. There’s a smidge of red at the tip of the bill.  Bird source material says these may be non-breeding Laughing Gulls.

ACE Basin Birthday Treat!

On Tuesday, August 11 I headed down to the ACE Basin for a getaway on a special day for me, a certain landmark birthday.

A fine dinner that night with Alesia at Hall’s Chophouse and a surprise online get together with my kids and siblings would come later in the day. But by 10:30 a.m. or so I was at the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area located south of Charleston some 65 miles from my house in a place called Green Pond, S.C.

It was a very warm day but it felt good to be again roaming the vast and remote nature preserve once the domain of plantations (and slaves toiling in the rice fields).

To follow are my photographs from this summer outing.

First is featured some of the birds I captured in flight. Seeing a number of the distinctive Swallow-tailed Kites was a highlight. A veritable kettle of kits there was!  That is one of the collective names for Kites. "String" could be a good one too, right?


They and their close relative Mississippi Kite were spotted circling above a field near the lodge structure at Donnelley.

Botany Bay’s Boneyard Beach

Edisto Island Beach has been our sandy sun spot this summer but Saturday we returned to an old friend not far from Edisto. But before I take you there, I want to mention how on our way we stopped for lunch at a wonderful restaurant along the way. Roxbury Mercantile is on Highway 174 in the community of Meggett, S.C. I had a pork barbecue sandwich that was delicious. Do want to go there again! 

Botany Bay (official name: Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area) has a unique look, nothing like the well manicured Edisto Beach community. Botany Bay is remote and rugged. It has what’s called a boneyard beach for the dozens of trees over the years that have fallen due to erosion, hurricanes and other storms.