More Summer Storms

The evening storms have been providing great photo opportunities lately.  I have a gadget that attaches to my camera that is supposed to trigger the shutter when lightning strikes, but for the life of me I can't get it to work, so these shots are the result of patiently waiting for a bolt, and tripping the shutter as fast as I can on continuous shooting mode.  When I'm done, I end up with hundreds of nothing images and one or two keepers.  Here are last night's keepers, this time looking out over the Stono River.

Storm over Downtown Charleston

Late last night a strong line of thunderstorms rolled through the Lowcountry.  I grabbed a couple of shots from the James Island creek bridge before hastily retreating from the wind, rain, and lightning.

Classic Drayton Hall (almost)

I have visited a few times lately, always hoping for minimal ripples on the pond so as to catch the reflection of Drayton Hall in the afternoon.  My plans have been thwarted by a stiff breeze or floating grunge, so in the meantime the next best thing is this gracious Southern lady framed by a Live Oak tree and Spanish Moss-laden branches.

Another Charleston View

I am always looking for new perspectives of Charleston landmarks.  Here is the Wentworth Mansion and the Grace Episcopal Church steeple with the backdrop of a classic lowcountry afternoon storm.

A Moment in Time

Visit to the North Charleston Fire Museum

When trying to come up with kid-friendly things to do on a hot day, check out the North Charleston and American LaFrance Fire Museum.  I expected a great collection of old fire engines but I didn't expect all the kid activities on offer.  This is not a very big exhibit and you will probably won't want to spend much more than a couple of hours there, but it is very well done and Gideon had a great time.

Plantations along the Ashley River

Here are a couple of less common views of Drayton Hall and the gardens of Middleton Place.  I had planned to do some aerial photography first thing this morning, and we covered some of the ground that I had mapped out (Vanessa's very unorthodox and non-technical flight plan) before making the call that it was just too hazy for nice sharp aerial images.  We bagged it after half an hour and will have to reschedule when this heatwave finally moves out.

St. Philips Church on a hot summer night