In the center of Charleston there is an alley running between two historical buildings, now retail stores, in a busy shopping area. The alley has been there since the 1770’s.
A walk through the large iron gate brings you to an old hidden peaceful graveyard.
Center Of Town, Charleston
The church here was unofficially named The Archdale Street Meeting House. The Circular Church had out grown it’s space so a second meeting house was built. Ultimately it became a separate organization.
Center Of Town, Charleston
The old graveyard is a snap shot in time off the busiest street in Charleston.
These images are all about finishing the process. The photograph starts the flow, then depending on the subject post processing completes it. Not that all my, or others, photographs get heavy editing. But some will require it.
Shadows And Light
These are images that I had set aside for a rainy day project. It rained, got cold, hence the project.
Shadows And Light
Basically the photo was shot in a RAW format, light and contrast updated in Adobe Lightroom, NIK was used for some shading, and finally a bit of fine tuning again in Lightroom.
Not as complicated as it sounds. Over time I have created my own custom ‘themes’, or presets, in all my editing software. I start with a custom set and fine tune from there.
Pon Pon is the name of a nearby local river for which the chapel was named. Pon Pon is from the Yamassee native american tribe originally in the area.
Pon Pon, Big Bends
The area was burned in the Yamassee wars, 1715, rebuilt and destroyed again in 1832. The grave sites are from local plantations that continued to use the old graveyard.
The Chapel is only accessible through dirt roads, however at one time the old road was the major route between Savannah and Charleston.
The Yamassee, as well as Creek, Cherokee, and around 50 other tribes associated with the western US actually were from the South Carolina and Georgia area. The Spanish and British enslaved members of various tribes forcing them to move south into Florida. Finally treaties were made and the tribes resettled in the US west.
This may be one of the most photographed places in the Lowcountry. While people associate the church and graveyard with Charleston is actually closer to Beaufort, South Carolina.
Prince William’s Parish Church, Sheldon Ruins
The traditional understanding is that Prince William’s was burned by the British in 1779 during the Revolutionary War, rebuilt in 1826, and then burned again in 1865 during the Civil War by the Federal Army under General William T Sherman’s orders.
Prince William’s Parish Church, Sheldon Ruins
The church was built as a ‘chapel of ease’ in the English Georgian style, using the Roman Tuscan or Doric order, between 1745 and 1753. Chapel of Ease being a church building to provide members with a place of worship in rural areas where the main church is too far.
Inside the ruins of the church lie the remains of Colonel William Bull, who “greatly assisted General Oglethorpe in establishing the physical layout of Savannah, Georgia. Bull surveyed the land in 1733 to form the basic grid pattern of the streets and squares.” The ruins may be the halfway mark between Charleston and Savannah.
These are the final cut (at least I think so) of the shoot at St. Matthews in Charleston. I have finished the photographs in a few different formats and styles, but that’s part of the beauty with an old church like this.
Founded 1840, St. Matthew’s, Charleston
The light here comes from all sides, and even behind the alter (hidden windows) making it easier than some other churches for capturing details.
