The First Annual Italian Festival, Summerville

This past weekend saw the advent of the first annual Italian Festival in Azalea Park, Summerville.  Although there was a pretty good possibility of rain, the crowds were not deterred and the event appeared to be a resounding success.  Here are a few photos of some of my friends who entertained the crowd with music (Cosmo di Folly), and folks who enjoyed it.

.. and a Downtown Charleston wedding

At least the reception was held downtown at McCrady's Restaurant.  A bride could not have wished for a prettier day or prettier surroundings for the wedding and the following celebration.  Congratulations Bryon and Jessica.

A Country Wedding

April is a popular month for weddings, and spring in Charleston can be unpredictable.  Liz and Brent got married at the Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation with strong storms forecast to move in during the evening.  They weren't very worried about it, sensibly aware of the fact that some things are just beyond anyone's control and they knew they would have a wonderful wedding regardless.  Fortunately the storm held off until after we had taken all the outdoor photographs we wanted, and as you can see, we had a lot of fun with it.  I will post scenes from a "Town Wedding" in a day or so.

Wrought Ironwork in Downtown Charleston

I had a meeting downtown yesterday afternoon to sign off on my tax return - ugh!  While I was there and I had a few minutes left on the parking meter, I took a few shots of some of the stunning wrought iron gates and other features within a few yards of each other on the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets, aka the Four Corners of Law.  What a legacy we have been given to protect and enjoy.

Laboratory Treasure Hunt

We are updating our website at work, so this afternoon I went on a hunt for abstract stuff that we can use for backgrounds and textures, etc. - design type raw material.  All our chemists and PhD's look at me as though I'm crazy, bending over and trying to focus on seemingly irrelevant things, but hey, one man's trash is another's treasure and all that.  Here are a couple of images that I came up with.  

Beautiful Boone Hall

I have a wedding to shoot soon at Boone Hall Plantation so I needed to do a little advance checking and scope out some special spots for photographing bridal portraits and other important shots.  Not that there is any shortage of beautiful backdrops;  pretty much anywhere you look would do.  Anyway, I took these while I was there.  One of Charleston's finest treasures.

The 2013 Annual Edgewater Bridge Run

The mail carrier had a little trouble trying to make her way through the revelers

Not to be outdone by the Cooper River Bridge Run, our neighborhood hosts their version of the "Welcome to Spring in Charleston" exercise opportunity.  The t-shirts could be confused with the real deal, except this is a 0.1km run; the length of the bridge over the Coburg Creek on the approach to Edgewater Island.  It has become a highly anticipated annual event, and the focal point of much community preparation and entertainment.  Here are a couple of images from this afternoon.  I think the winner was a kid who completed the run in under 10 seconds.

Some Nostalgia

I haven't written for awhile and it isn't because I haven't been taking a lot of photographs.  It's mostly that  the images I've been taking wouldn't be very interesting to most people.  So this evening I went back through my folders and found these that I took a few years ago of Mel Rauton's "Filling Station".  What a great collection of auto memorabilia; a life's work and certainly a passion.  I gave these two images a different look just for fun.