The rocks were being replaced on a jetty that sits between a salt marsh and fresh water. For some unknown reason the wading birds were fascinated by the process.
Murrells Inlet, South Carolina
B&W, Great Egret On A Jetty
Tag Archives: Monochrome
Apply Your Own Social Commentary Here
You might think of this as wildlife street photography.
My take is;
‘The moment you think maybe you’re not paranoid.’
Sunrise, Black And White
The original idea was shoot Pelicans riding the wind at dawn.
That didn’t work out too well. We had a nice location and set up, the Pelicans gave no help at all.
We did get two days of wind and clouds at dawn. I’ll take it 😁.
Monochrome Little Blue
We spotted this heron at the end of the day. He was knee deep in the swamp under a thick overhang of Live Oak branches and Spanish Moss.
Little Blue Heron.
Black And White Morning
Many of the local roads in the ACE Basin go right through the center of the big marshes.
Pretty amazing.
Marsh Morning, Sepia
Early morning landscape. Bennetts Point, South Carolina.
Drayton Hall, In The Cellar
Recently we went to nearby Drayton Hall, an 18th century rice plantation. This is the only plantation house on the Ashley River to survive intact through both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, it is a National Historic Landmark.
The Ashley River runs down to Charleston and is the home of many of the largest and oldest rice plantations. These include Middleton, Magnolia, Runnymede, as well as Drayton Hall. The Ashley River was the ‘highway’ of the plantation era.
Built circa 1738 there is a need for constant maintenance and research. I had no idea there was an ongoing ‘dig’ in the cellar area. It was also open for visits. It seems when adding a stabilizing jack it was discovered the original terra-cotta tiles were in place. Also moving a few tiles uncovered a storage area under pavers.
When I found we could enter the cellar out came a few short lens with wider ‘f’ stops to compensate for it being a cellar..’ AKA dark.
Below are images shot from the central area with light from the open doors and windows.
The closed doors here lead to the side of the building. Front and back doors were open for air and light.
Below is the open back door. The tree line seen is on the banks of the Ashley River. We mention shooting on the Ashley, and the marshes there, often in this site. Most times it is from behind Magnolia Plantation which is just a few miles up river from that tree line.
As I shot the cellar I knew the final photographs would be black and white. The format makes the images so much more interesting and the details much cleaner.
Drayton Hall, Charleston, South Carolina.
Found On A Walk
This morning we decided to go to for a walk in the old cemetery area outside Charleston. In town there are many church grave yards, however the old cemeteries are just north a few miles, on what was once plantations land.
The Soldiers Ground section is for Confederate States military (some exceptions). We have just celebrated veterans day and I expected flags to placed on many graves. They were.
This is the first year I remember seeing very few southern battle flags. The battle flag is the cross and stars associated with hate groups and is banned except on private land.
Above is the flag of the actual Confederate Country formed after secession standing besides the grave of an unknown sailor.
I love to shoot in the solitude of the military cemeteries, but have been increasing uncomfortable where the battle flag can be seen. The ‘stars and bars’ flag I’m more comfortable with.
Unless I find it makes people uncomfortable.
The headstone belongs to one of the many unknown sailors buried in this cemetery. During the US civil war Charleston was under a blockade. Multiple ships were lost on both sides in the towns harbor and surrounding waters.