Maternity Shoot at Middleton Place

Middleton Place is such a great place for portrait photography; lots of lovely soft backgrounds that are interesting, but that don't necessarily compete with your main subjects, in this case Mary and Jay.  Here are a few images from a shoot we did a couple of weeks ago.

Supermoon of June 2013

The moon is really difficult to capture when the sky is dark.  The reason is that there is such a difference between the brightness of the moon and the darkened sky that most cameras are not able to record such a broad spectrum of exposure.  It just emphasizes the amazing capabilities of the human eye, that with all the technological advances we have made with digital cameras, we cannot simulate what the eye sees.  That is why most of the time your moon looks like a washed out white disk and the sky looks black.  It doesn't stop me from trying however, so here are two images of the recent supermoon, one taken two days before it was full, rising in a late afternoon sky, and the other when it was full on Sunday evening, June 23rd.

Evening and high tide at the Charleston City Marina

Full "supermoon" rises over the James Island marshes and creeks

Downtown Hotel Shoot

So among other things this weekend (like chasing the Supermoon) we took a few photographs of a downtown hotel bar and cafe that has been recently renovated.  The clients needed a few updated shots for their website.  This kind of photography reminds me a little of landscape photography because it involves a lot of "composition thinking".  Because websites are delivered mostly in a horizontal format, all the images should be taken that way, even if it is decidedly vertically-shaped subject matter. Therein lies the challenge of where in the frame to place it, relative to its surroundings so that it looks pleasing.  I really enjoy this type of work.

Weekend Aerial Gig

This last weekend I needed to photograph some property out on Kiawah.  It was a beautiful day with great visibility so we had everything going for us. Here are a couple of the images snagged along the way.

Western tip of Folly Island (Folly Beach County Park)

Kiawah Island Ocean Course Club House

Family waving at us as we buzzed overhead on the way back

West Ashley Greenway, Savannah Highway near Ford & Bessingers BBQ

Reminiscing already

I don't usually post pictures of me, mostly because I'm usually the one behind the lens, but a friend of mine took these while we were cavorting in the Juneau icefields of Alaska recently and it makes me smile to look at them.  Wow, that was some trip.

A day in Portland, OR

This was the final day of my trip "out West".  It was not planned, since I had accelerated my return date, but my friend Marcia showed me around her adopted town, and so these images are a smattering of parks, food stands, fresh outdoor markets, the International Rose Test Garden, the Lan Su Chinese Garden, and downtown stores.  A 10,000 feet overview if you will.  The next morning I woke very early to catch the 6.30am flight back to Charleston, and gratefully touched down in my adopted home town about 13 hours later, with my baggage and on time.  Yes!!  Next major trip will be to South Africa again, in September.

Very creative young lady

Fresh eggs!

Fresh tarts

Millener's store window - great selection of elegant hats

Downtown park with floral display and music

Awesome Thai wraps for lunch

Personalized Chinese Calligraphy

At the Lan Su Chinese Garden

One of millions of gorgeous roses at the International Rose Test Garden

Marcia blowing bubbles for grandson Nico in the park where we had a picnic dinner with her family

Trip to the Oregon Coast - short and sweet

The plan was to drive the Oregon coast for about a week, heading south from Cannon Beach with an old friend, a photographer buddy who lives in Bend.  He has an RV and loves to travel with his dog, so he picked me up from Portland airport and off we went.  Our plan was derailed today however when his dog got sick - the kind of sick you don't need when you're all traveling in an RV.  The only thing for him to do was to take his dog home and offload me to make my own way, which would have been absolutely fine under normal circumstances, but after the Alaska trip and living out of a suitcase for 10 days, I'm ready to go home.  Tomorrow I will spend the day with other friends in Portland before flying home early on Thursday.  Here are the only images I have of the Oregon coast - the rest will have to wait until next time.

Ecola State Park and Cannon Beach

Haystacks off Cannon Beach, OR

Fergie, not feeling quite herself, but still a good looking dog

John and Fergie contemplating the drive home

Last touch Sitka!

Uploading one last image taken early this morning on a final walk-about.  The Rockwell Lighthouse, actually a hotel.

Final Sitka images before leaving for Oregon tomorrow

Sitka is a magical place - very "user-friendly."  Everywhere is accessible, the people are friendly, it's very hard to get lost, the weather has been great - a bit of everything.  People make jokes about the weather in Alaska, something like the jokes emblazoned across many t-shirts referencing a "drinking town with a fishing problem", but we have been so fortunate.  We disembarked from the Liseron yesterday and felt like abandoned children.  We had come to love our temporary boat home and the crew that made it all work so well.  Anyway, since then, we have walked all over the town, explored the Sitka National Historical Park with all its totem poles, observed all the fishing activity, etc.  Here are a few more images from our last two days here.  Tonight it's time to pack again, and on to the Oregon coast tomorrow.

Sitka National Historical Park

Sitka National Historical Park

Totem pole in Sitka National Historical Park

Waterfront View from our hotel, Totem Square Inn

A favorite boat tied up in Sitka harbor

St. Michael's Cathedral, Russian Orthodox Church

US Coast Guard vessels tied up in Sitka on the other side of the channel

More "catch-up" Alaskan images

I have taken so many images in the last few days and I really wanted to be able to post them as we went along, but since there was no mechanism for that due to non-existent internet service I am playing catch-up.  Here are some more, taking us up to yesterday - our last full day at sea.  The opportunity to photograph the humpback whale breaching was a wonderful gift.  Some of our crew who travel that route regularly throughout the summer have never seen this display. If I had to complain about anything, I would say that I would have preferred a soft evening light to have illuminated the water streaming from its body as it powered through the air :)

MV Liseron, The Boat Company's converted minesweeper

Curious sea lions 

Ford's Terror - famous for strong tidal currents

Nancy on an early morning kayak ride

One of countless rocky islands at low tide with seaweed clinging to the rocks

Sea plane landing alongside us when we were anchored in a cove for the night

Tidal flats at the beginning of Sea Lion Cove trail, Kruzof Island near Sitka

Humpback Whale breaching in Salisbury Sound

Showing off in Salisbury Sound, Alaska