Pawley's Island Sunset Series - Part 1

We all have places in the world that resound deeply in our souls regardless of where we happen to be in the world either geographically or emotionally. 

(Click in an image to view in higher resolution)

The South Carolina Grand Strand area surrounding Pawley's Island is such a place for me. Initially it was a fond memory of my childhood when my family would make the trek from New York City to South Carolina to spend time with family at the beach.  Memories of those times will always hold a special place in my heart as they were shared with loved ones who have since passed away. 

As an adult living in Texas, I had little chance to make my way back to Pawley's until a spring break trip in 2008 with my wife and children to visit my brother who had rented a house there. Needless to say, old memories were rekindled and a whole series of new memories and relationships began to blossom. As a result, Pawley's has become a regular summer vacation spot for my family over the past few years. It's well worth the 20 hour drive from Dallas at the end of my school year to bask in the beauty of the South Carolina coast between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. I have also developed a great appreciation for the history of the area that ties me back through relatives on both sides of my family to tumultuous events in history ranging from the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina in the 1960's  to the 1860's and the America Civil War. (Here's an earlier post relating the Civil War history)

This past summer, I paid particular attention to the beauty of the late afternoon light as the sun began its long summer sunset over the marshes to the west of Pawley's Island proper as well as the extended color casts in the clouds over the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. The beautiful color ranged from the familiar warm glows of sunset to some striking deep blues as the sun would sink below the horizon and my patience was rewarded with the cool tones of fleeting  twilight. 

While the late day light of the Pawley's area is incredibly special to me for a range of reasons, every spot on Earth has the chance to be bathed in such light each day. The secret for us is to be alert to such possibility and seek it out -- for it is in seeking that we shall all find the beauty that lurks on the margins of our days and our lives. 

Come back next week for a second look at more sunset images from the area! 

Goodbye Sweet Friend!

Click any image to see a larger version!

I recently heard the news that the beloved silverback gorilla at the Dallas Zoo, Patrick is being transferred soon to the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. While a huge favorite of visitors for 18 years, Patrick was not social with other gorillas at the zoo. The move to Columbia is designed to enhance the social structure of the Dallas Zoo’s gorilla troop while giving Patrick a chance to form appropriate bonds with a new troop in South Carolina. It is a mystery why he usually prefers solitude to the company of other gorillas.

I’ve been lucky enough to photograph Patrick several times and think this is a good time to share some of those images. You’ll clearly see that Patrick is quite a personality! This gives me a good reason to hit the zoo in Columbia next time I am in South Carolina!

THANKS PATRICK! 

2012 COUNTDOWN - THE WINNER!

THE 2012 COUNTDOWN - THE WINNER! 

Over the past week we've counted down the most popular 25 images of 2012 as determined by how members of the Blue Lion “Pride” responded to them during the year on various social media sites.  If you happened to miss any of the previous countdown posts just click on them here!

• Part 1 – Images 25-22
• Part 2 – Images 21-18
• Part 3 – Images 17-14
• Part 4 – Images 13-10
• Part 5 – Images 9-6
• Part 6 – Images 5-2

The Most popular Blue Lion image of 2012 is:

#1 – INLET SUNSET

This photograph was taken from Garden City, South Carolina looking west across Murrell’s inlet to the village of the same name. I had gone out the night before in hope of shooting good sunset shots, but was greeted by a rather pedestrian sunset. A chance visit to the town of Garden City the following day let me realize there was a great vantage point across the inlet that would afford a much better view of the setting sun. This image was the result!

If you are in the Dallas area this coming summer and would like your children to get an introduction to Nature Photography, I will be teaching several weeks of Nature Photography Camp in June and July. I will post details when they become available in March. If you’d like to see some of the work of my “Nature Photography Campers from 2012 please click on the following links:

• Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Morning Session

• Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Afternoon Session

• Nature Photography Camp Week #2 Morning Session

• Nature Photography Camp - Week 2 Afternoon Session

Thanks so much for all your support and encouragement this year. I am looking forward to an exciting and productive 2013!

Reliving the Civil War through Digital Photography

In my photography experience, I've always been interested in nature and the natural world with minimal interest in shooting people / portraits. If you look through my website over at www.bluelionphotos.com, you’ll see very few images with humans in them – Until recently!

Ever since I was a boy and we visited Civil War battlefields, I have had an interest in that huge and tragic conflict. This was enhanced by family stories of my great-great grandfather who I knew fought along the South Carolina coast near Georgetown. Upon further research, I can state that Hugh Milton Stackhouse fought with the South Carolina 4^th Cavalry regiment in Company E. 


The history of the unit is:

COMPANY E, 4TH SOUTH CAROLINA CAVALRY was originally organized in Marlboro County in the latter part of the year 1861. The Company left Marlboro for Georgetown, South Carolina, January 22, 1862, and in the spring of 1864 were transferred to Virginia and became a part of Butler's Brigade of Hampton's Division.

(from:  A History of Marlboro County, South Carolina by J.A .W. Thomas Reprint sponsored by the Marlborough Historical Society
Gateway Press, Inc. Baltimore 1989
Originally published Atlanta, 1897
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 73-181859
International Standard Book Number 0-8063-7985-5)

Once this unit went up to Virginia in 1864, they fought in the Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, The Siege of Petersburg, and finally surrendered with the Army of Tennessee.

We know that Hugh Milton Stackhouse survived the war and went back to South Carolina to become a State Senator later in his life. We have a short (2 page) typewritten recollection of his time guarding the coast of South Carolina from the Union Blockaders  and he details how his unit & the Union sailors met and exchanged personal items at various times. I also know that his brother, Robert Boyd Stackhouse was wounded in Virginia at the Battle of Haw's Shop and died after the war from long term effects of those wounds.

Given my personal history, I had thought I might like to photograph modern day reenactors, but living in Texas, I never had the opportunity present itself. (Admittedly, I did not seek out much!) However, last month I was at a restaurant in McKinney, Texas and met a young reenactor who was taking a break from his small encampment neat the downtown square. He informed me of the encampment and the skirmish planned for the next day. I had a great time photographing this small skirmish and once I saw my modern color images, I felt they did not look “real” since all Civil War images are black & white! As such a started to learn how to transform my images into more authentic looking “1862” style images with grey scale or sepia toning and appropriate wear and tear.

"Scouting Report"

(click in the image to see the high resolution version)

"On Watch"
(click in the image to see the high resolution version)

"FIRE!"

(click in the image to see the high resolution version)

My next several posts here will feature images from this session as well as another I shall share in a future post. 

Wild at Wingswood - Come Join Me!

This weekend I am excited to be able to head to South Carolina to help out my good friends at the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw (near Charleston) as they hold their yearly fundraiser "Wild at Wingswood". For the second year in a row, the esteemed Jack Hanna will be on hand to lend his vibrance and passion to the proceedings. I am lucky to be able to attend and serve as photographer for the events this weekend. On Saturday (10/29) there will be a family event from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm that will allow nature lovers of all ages to get to see the Center's amazing raptors (birds of prey) in live flight demonstrations as well as a chance to meet the legendary Jack Hanna. For more details about attending click HERE.


Saturday night is the "Big Event", Wild at Wingswood which will feature live local music, amazing food from some of Charleston's top chefs, live flight demonstrations, as well as both live  and silent auctions. I am honored to have two of my images featured in the auction. Blue Lion fans will recognize my image "Focus" from other blog posts - this is a Tawny Eagle I "shot" at the Center in 2010.



   The second image that will be auctioned is one I took at the Center this past June. This is a very elegant Golden Eagle with a look that illustrates the intensity of  all birds of prey.



If you happen to be in the Charleston area this weekend, I'd love to get to meet you and share this spectacular gem of a conservation organization with you!  In 10 minutes from now I'm off to the airport to begin my journey to Awendaw!
CHEERS!

Avian Condo

This week's SKYWATCH FRIDAY post is the view of a silhouetted birdhouse from Pawley's Island, South Carolina. Talk about prime real estate!

Click in the image to see it in the original gallery

Wordless Wednesday

Shrimper's Solitude

Click in the image to see it in the original gallery.

Click here to see other Wordless Wednesday Entries!

Photo of the Week - November 21, 2010

Greetings friends!
This week was a good one here at Blue Lion Photos! This week's Photo of the Week, my Eurasian Kestrel, was by far the most popular image on the website as it was my first image to be featured on the front page of a newspaper! The photograph was used to help promote the Center for Birds of Prey's (CBP) fundraiser with conservation legend Jack Hanna. Here is the photograph as it appeared on the front page of the Moultrie (South Carolina) News.



Here is the larger version of the photo:



It seems the usefulness of this image for the Center for Birds of Prey will live on as I have recently granted permission for it  to be used in a book that will describe the CBP and other interesting South Carolina points of interest. I will keep you all updated when it is published  next spring.

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!