Lowcountry Summer Storm

My new thing - a bird feeder

A new interest of mine is garden birds, ever since I decided to buy a bird feeder.  The first thing I learned was that this would have to be a squirrel-proof design, since we had far more squirrels in our garden than birds.  I must say this seems to do the job because the squirrels found it first and you could see them trying every which way to figure out how to access the seed, but now they have given up for the most part and have to be content with gathering the spilled seed on the ground.  The birds took about a week to find the feeder, but gradually the word is spreading among the community.  I also put a bird bath near the feeder so now I set up my camera nearby, sit a distance away and use a remote trigger to activate the camera.  What fun.  Stay tuned for more and hopefully varied bird pics in the future.

Weekend trip to Greenville

I had set aside this weekend to visit Matt in Greenville.  He's been living there since January and I hadn't been there yet, so I left work early on Friday, picked up the dog and hit the I-26, hoping to avoid Columbia traffic as I went through.  It was an easy drive.  Matt made me comfortable and welcome in his best bachelor way and I enjoyed being shown his town.  It is really a very nice place to live.  We went downtown and he treated me to a great dinner at the Lazy Goat Restaurant overlooking Falls Park.  Next day we spent time at the Farmers Market in the town center and later walked with the dogs through Cleveland Park. I was impressed by how much has been invested in making Greenville so "people friendly" and the residents are all out and about, taking full advantage of all the great facilities it has to offer.  Later we drove to Campbell's Covered Bridge (through a violent thunderstorm) so I could photograph it. Thanks Matt and Ace for a great weekend!

Falls Park, downtown Greenville

Ace being restrained from duck hunting in Falls Park - bad dog!

Waiting for us to come out of the coffee shop

Campbell's Covered Bridge in Landrum - a short drive away

Campbell's Covered Bridge - black and white

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment Reenactors

This evening after work I went out to Sol Legare Road to the Seashore Farmers Lodge #767 to take some photos for my friend James.  

James, Ernest and Joe are very actively involved in keeping the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infanty Regiment alive. Thursday, July 18th is the 150th anniversary of their ill-fated 1863 attack on Confederate Battery Wagner, Charleston Harbor and reenactors come from far and near to commemorate this event.  It was the central them of the movie "Glory", a Union attempt to capture Charleston where the Civil War began.

The regiment was one of the first official black units in the United States during the Civil War. The 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment, recruited from freed slaves, was the first Union Army regiment organized with African American soldiers in the Civil War, though many had fought in the American Revolution and the War of 1812 on both sides.

I processed the images in sepia tones to give them an old fashioned look.  I think it suits the subject matter much better than color.

Ernest

James

Joe

A Celebration of Evie

It was a year ago exactly that my daughter Leigh went for her 20 week scan to find out whether her baby was a boy or a girl.  We had planned a celebration for that night, friends ready to gather and a blue or a pink cake on standby depending on the outcome.  It turned out very differently, as they were told that their baby girl was showing indications of brain, heart and digestive abnormalities.  The party of course was canceled as the family processed this turn of events.

Today our Euphrates Eve at almost 8 months old has two major surgeries under her belt but is a happy and healthy child.  We ordered a pink cake and celebrated with family members yesterday, the party that was a year overdue.

Her first taste of icing!

Big brother Gideon with sparkler

Evening Stroll in Downtown Charleston

The plan was to do a "rain shoot".  You know those paintings you've seen with lights reflected in puddles and lots of different colored umbrellas.  The weather forecast certainly supported the plan, with flash flood warnings and 70%+ probability of rain, but nature does as she pleases and it didn't work out that way.  Plan B was general Charleston cameos, tucked away places that you don't always pass by, so we walked a few alleys, braving the squadrons of mosquitoes that threatened to carry us away.  Here are a couple of the images.

A Romantic Charleston Wedding

There's so much romance in a Charleston wedding.  Over 20 years ago, we lived next door to a family with three girls much the same age as our two kids.  We shared meals, kids (Chantal always preferred our brand of Cheerios), good times and bad, and then sadly watched them relocate to Columbus, Ohio.  Recently Christiana met the man of her dreams and decided she wanted to get married in Charleston.  It was a joy and a privilege for me to photograph the event and catch up with their lives.  Here are a few of the images from yesterday's celebration.

Happy 4th July 2013!

We spent an awesome family day at home with the kids.  Just add water (and food) :)

Quiet week at Work

This 4th July week has been quiet and it's getting quieter.  Many folks have taken off and are spending time with their kids on summer vacation. There's really very little going on in my department.  To occupy my time, I took my camera and macro lens, grabbed some safety glasses and spent an hour or so wandering through our various laboratories, looking for some fun detail stuff to shoot.  We are updating our website so we need the imagery anyway, so it was a good time to do it.  I'm going to have to get really creative tomorrow ...