Obligatory Charleston Snow Capture

OK, so this is not art, but when it snows in Charleston one is sort of obliged to record the event because it may be another 10 years before it happens again.  I had plans to photograph a specific country church in the snow, down Highway 17 in Hollywood, not too far from home since I was rightfully concerned about driving on icy roads, but when I peeked out from under the covers at the sparse dusting of white on the lawn, I decided it just wasn't worth risking life and limb to go there.  I did the next best thing by taking a couple of photos from my front porch.  Actually one photo is of my neighbor's yard, since I had forgotten to switch the sprinkler system off and it melted most of our snow earlier in the day.

Downtown Walkabout

It was overcast but mild on Sunday evening so I decided to do a walkabout of a few areas in Charleston for some new image inventory.  Here are a few from some of the places I stopped.  Most are old favorites that I re-visit, always trying for a fresh angle, better light, or just maybe something unexpected.  It's great to get out and walk anyway, and what better place than Charleston.

Philip Simmons Heart Gates, Anson Street

Porter's Lodge, College of Charleston

Favorite Gates, 8 Legare Street

John Rutledge House Inn, Broad Street

Family Boerewors Production Night

When we left South Africa almost 25 years ago, the one thing we knew we couldn't live without was boerewors (literally translated from the Dutch "farmers' sausage").  It is a traditional South African sausage, flavored with a unique blend of coriander and other spices, ubiquitously available in every grocery store.  The solution was obvious - we had to secure a supply of the spices and learn how to blend and produce it here.  This we have been doing for a long time. Our kids were enlisted at a young age and allocated a task on the production line, be it packaging the finished product in ziplock bags for freezing, cleaning the skins, or stuffing the ground beef and pork mix into the grinder.  We are now on to the next generation of trained helpers, as these images testify.  Viva Boerewors!

Still a little young, but not by much

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Another fabulous Lowcountry Sunset

I noticed from all the Facebook photos last night that many people enjoyed yesterday's sunset.  It was spectacular, and it always makes it just that much better when the water reflects the sky and you get the benefit of the double whammy!

Family Wall Calendar

I love making calendars from some of the many images I have taken throughout the course of the year.  This year I had a request for a wall calendar from a family member, so I had some fun designing this just for her. Great Christmas gift for next year if any folks need ideas.

Winter Weekend in Annapolis

Last weekend we decided on the spur of the moment to fly to Annapolis for a family member's surprise 50th birthday party.  It was the same weekend that got buried in buckets of snow and ice.  This caused chaos throughout the country with people stranded in airports everywhere and many without power.  We were fortunately not unduly inconvenienced by all that, and as you can see were able to extract the prettiest and most fun aspects of the winter weekend.  Happy 50th Birthday Suz!  Thanks for having us Bill and Janine - don't tell me your house isn't purple :)

My Christmas card for 2014