‘Four Hole Swamp is a small blackwater river that is a tributary to the Edisto River in South Carolina. The swamp rises in Calhoun County and flows 62 miles (100 km) to the confluence. The river is noteworthy for its unusual braided pattern; it has no well-defined channel but instead has multiple channels that start and disappear, maintaining the flow.’ (Wikipedia)

The usual reaction to photographing a place like this is to shoot wide. There’s so much happening how else could you show such a unique place. I’ve done that plenty of times.

However looking close, the details, can be even more interesting (in reality you need to be standing there to see it). Since I’m ‘from away’ it’s easy to get lost in the view finder.

The first photo below can tell an interesting story. This is a Cypress Tree knee, an above ground root which is everywhere here. There’s not a nature photographer here who doesn’t have bruisers from banging into them.

View this large and you will see a few local residents. Small flying ‘May Flies’ are clinging to the root. I think all the images here have them. It’s a swamp, people are outnumbered by most everything.

These next two photos are of Cypress / Tupelo tree trunks and knees. The swamp water has a sheen of oil on the surface. Tannin oil leaks from the trees all through the swamps.

Of course there had to be an image of Spanish Moss. When I first came down here I knew this was the right place to stay as soon as we saw the Moss.

Huge trees eventually come down. But in a short period of time they turn into new trees again.

Last here is a wide shot. It can be so dense a photographer can walk right past a Barred Owl, that was within arms length, and never see him. Another photographer (Ellen) just a short distance behind saw this and got a great shot of the bird.

Four Hole Swamp, Harleyville, South Carolina.