Category Archives: Cemetery

Birds, Cemetery, Charleston, Marsh, OM System, Spoonbill, What I Saw, Wildlife

Spoonbill Up High In Live Oaks

October 29, 2026 Ted Jennings - TPJ Photography 11 Comments

Some of the largest Live Oaks you can imagine are along the banks of the old pond in Magnolia Cemetery / Umbra Plantation.

Because the marshes are right here these tress are the go to home for all types of wading birds. Roseate Spoonbills stay here after feeding in the shallows of the Cooper River.

These trees are huge and thick allowing the Roseate Spoonbill a safe roost. This side looks over a big pond. The other side of the tree provides no access to sleeping birds. This keeps them far from nosy photographers 😂😂.

Specs; OM-1 (1), OM 100-400 II, Lightroom, Topaz.

I carried my old OM-1 (1) this day to test the results of a firmware update. All was fine, even though I didn’t pay close attention to the instructions. After all, real men don’t need a manual! (And can then spend time rebuilding the custom settings).

Cemetery, Charleston, Film Filter, Historical, Landscape, OM System

The Urn

October 29, 2026 Ted Jennings - TPJ Photography Leave a comment

The Urn has always been part of funeral art and design going back to the Egyptian burial practices. The other day while walking through the old cemetery outside of Charleston I made an effort to photograph ones I came across. The result was interesting.

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The Urn

Specs; OM-1 (1), Olympus 40-150 r, OM 100-400 II, Lightroom, DxO Filmpack, DxO Silver Efex, Topaz.

Cemetery, Charleston, Film Filter, Historical, Landscape, Monochrome, OM System

Buried 1860 / Bonfils Photography 1860

October 26, 2026 Ted Jennings - TPJ Photography Leave a comment

In the style of Felix Bonfils, (1831–1885).

I photographed this simple headstone, surrounded by hand made brick, the other day. There was not much information except for the date 1860. There was little to the image but I liked the scene for that reason. An unknown person buried here in 1860 just makes for an interesting image and story (to me).

I wanted to finish the photo in an old style. The date 1860 is how I described a film filter I have saved in DxO Filmpack a while back. That was the connection for this photograph…and long story 😂😂.

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One of the early photographers, Felix Bonfils, began commercial photography in 1860 at the Levant in Lebanon for the French Army. Later opening Maison Bonfils photography studio in Ottoman Syria, now Lebanon.

Bonfils became the name and style in photo history known for the thousands of detailed albumen prints, stereoscopic views, and architecture and landscape photographs across Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Greece, and Turkey. Below is one of the styles described as a Bonfils photo. I use this film simulation often when I want old looking photographs.

Specs; OM-1 (1), OM 100-400 II, Lightroom, DxO Filmpack.

The combination of the OM-1 (1) and OM 100-400 II is not something I would usually use for this image however I ran a Firmware Update on both and wanted to test the results. All worked fine, in spite of me (another long story)

Cemetery, Charleston, Historical, Landscape, OM System, What I Saw

Orange Cone – For Earth Below, Keith Goldstein

October 26, 2026 Ted Jennings - TPJ Photography 6 Comments

Like many good street photographers Keith Goldstein, click here ’For Earth Below’, has a theme/project that he follows during his street shoots. Being in NYC he picked the ever present orange traffic cone. An invisible item in plain sight it’s amazing how many places and uses the cones can be found.

Yesterday we wandered around the old cemeteries and I stopped by baby Rosalie. The grave site is one of the last 1800’s plaster face casts surviving. Making a plaster cast of a deceased relative was a practice for a while. Below is her actual face in the head stone designed like an old baby carriage.

For years the tradition of leaving a small gift for a deceased child has been going strong on this rural grave site. It’s probably out of hand now, tourists come to cemeteries around here on ‘Ghost Walks’. I suspect they are leaving gifts.

Orange Cone - For Earth Below, Keith — Orange Cone – For Earth Below, Keith

One of the recent gifts were a few small figurines and… the ever present (miniature) orange traffic cone.

Seeing the cone I immediately thought of the web site ‘For Earth Below and Keith.

The grave of baby Rosalie Raymond, Charleston, South Carolina.

Cemetery, Historical, Landscape, OM System, What I Saw

Found On A Walk, Marsh, Once The Ebenezer Baptist Church

October 18, 2026 Ted Jennings - TPJ Photography Leave a comment

Along a ridge, looking over miles of open marshes, are old headstones, some grave sites.

I’ve taken a few images from here before. As time goes by the stones slowly fall to the ground and brush. A few have been cleaned by the state wildlife rangers.

How they came to be here is confusing too. The Ebenezer Baptist Church was once down here. Now the ‘why here’ is a mystery. A few people farmed the woods here, maybe 100 years ago. Before that it was part of the old Mary’s Island Plantation property. But still nothing really here. Certainly not enough to have it’s own church.

And yet.

Found On A Walk, Marsh, Once The Ebenezer Baptist Church

About 5 miles up the dirt road, and maybe another half mile on asphalt is the ‘new’ Ebenezer Baptist Church.

However, turns out it’s really not that new. The original Church was picked up and moved from back here in the marsh/swamps and placed on the state road. A while back the walls were covered in brick to support the old building. I also saw a new metal roof added maybe 8 years ago. I think I would like to see the inside of this Church.

I read all this on the internet, so it must be true.

Cemetery, Charleston, Historical, Landscape, Marsh, OM System, Swamp

Only Child, Head Stone

October 17, 2026 Ted Jennings - TPJ Photography 6 Comments

The only part that’s really legible is the inscription ‘A Mothers Only Child’.

This sits away from any other stones.

We went to the cemetery district, Magnolia Cemetery, yesterday. We were there for maybe 15 minutes. This is marsh/swamps, here that means mosquitoes. They were beyond aggressive.

There was a reason this area was picked for all the different cemeteries in Charleston. It had one plantation and a trillion bugs.