Interesting weather....
A few days ago I hosted an out-of-town photographer friend and we rallied through a rainy, foggy weekend.
Got sort of damp but never really soaked. We deftly stepped inside the
Sand Dollar Social Club on Folly Beach as a cell of tremendous rain slowly passed, dumping torrents of water down from the sky.
My white Saturn was parked at the curb and, as I watched, the gutter filled, then overflowed toward the front door.
Inside, bar regulars were recounting the many time such a storm had hit at high tide and a barrier had to be put in place to keep out the watery invader.
This was happening at low tide and fortunately, quickly subsided.
It was too wet for a chance to hike out past the washout surfing part of the beach to the end of the island.
Wanted to have my friend try some shots of the iconic lighthouse, sitting out from shore on the "missing" Morris Island.
Back in the 1930s, my folks had rowed out there and the lighthouse keeper gave them a tour and a walk around the grounds - when there still was property - and of his house.
But, while the weather kept changing, there was no rain at
White Point Gardens.
Here he got to share our splendid views of the many oak trees.
Did not get to show him
Angel Oak but we toured the historic Market area and saw many souvenir paintings and photos of that huge, rugged 1,500 year old woody survivor.
Throughout the weekend, we dodged rain, endured fog and low clouds and spent a lot of time indoors.
I wanted him to be dazzled as the sunlight made the cables on the Ravenel Bridge give the appearance of full sails in the harbor.
That is what the designers planned and we certainly have seen that effect on bright, shiny days.
Instead, he snapped this shot while I kept my eyes on the road.
This was taken with his iPhone camera.
Then, as I drove, he fiddled with built-in processing controls and created this high-contrast
"sketch."
I like the raindrops on the windshield.
I wish he had been in town a few days earlier.
A bright moon in the afternoon sky was a bit unusual for me to capture on New Year's Eve..
Different from the usual night view, seen against a coal black sky.
The tree branches in the foreground were a bonus too, not usually seen in a night photo.
It also was clear.
No rain nor fog.
(Click on the photos for more detail.)
Keep in mind, I did NOT take the photo on the Ravenel. Both of my hands were on the wheel, eyes watching the road and traffic.
We are polite and want our visitors to be safe.
*This is my 799th posting on my 8-year old blog. Hmm, works out to about 100 per year.
My tracking program show viewers in all 50 states, two U.S. Territories (Guam and Puerto Rico), and 167 foreign countries.
Hope something neat and worthwhile happens for my 800th one!
Labels: " 1, 500 year old Angel Oak, daytime moon, Morris Island Lighthouse, Ravenel "sketch, Sand Dollar Social Club
Filtering The Image...
The camera can catch an image we don't really see.
When you use a slow shutter speed - maybe 10 seconds - waves crashing onto a rock jetty become misty and moody.
But a camera will overexpose if you do this on a bright and sunny day at the beach.
Ah.... the secret is to use a dark
Neutral Density filter. Think of it as sunglasses for your camera.
This was taken at my camera's slowest ISO (what used to be called film speed) with the smallest aperture opening (f/8 is the best I can do) and a very dark ND 3.0 filter. For a long, long 10 seconds.
My Photography Group had an outing Sunday to Folly Beach to learn about these tools.
Our teacher was
Rudy Lutge, a talented and very patient man who said
"Let me run through this and please hold your questions until the end."
Rudy gave a succinct and step-by-step tutorial.
He showed us how to create images of smokey water swirling around wooden groins and boulders at The Edge Of America
My small Canon S90 is called a Point & Shoot (P/S) as opposed to the much larger DSLRs by Canon and Nikon.
The members brought an array of high-end equipment, tripods and a selection of filters and other accessories.
I don't even own a bag to carry such items. My camera usually hangs on my belt.
Today I had it attached to my tripod so I was able to
"play with the big boys."
The longer the exposure, Rudy explained, the softer the moving water will appear.
Long enough and even the waves will appear as glassy smooth. My camera is limited to a maximum long exposure of 15 seconds.
Rudy checked on each of us to reiterate the steps to success.
I later found that half a dozen members had gone directly to the light house at the end of the island.
We had gathered near the Summer Place paid parking lot at the dead end cul-de-sac of Ashley Avenue.
A few dared to park on the street - a challenge to the many beach parking rules and regulations.
We had included the
Big Three: 1. Park in the same direction as the flow of traffic; 2. All tires completely off the road and 3. 15 feet from a fire hydrant.
We are not sure if we violated a warning sign as we worked our way down the beach toward the Morris Island light house.
The "any time" was extremely intimidating. Guess we could plead ignorance.
I usually can claim that.
It was fun as photographers would show off what they had just snapped.
Those handy lighted screens on the back of digital cameras usually are clear and distinct but it's a bit different on a beach in bright daylight.
Still beats shooting film and not being sure of what will develop later.
Because we started around 4:30 in the afternoon, we kept an eye on the clouds to see if a spectacular sunset was in the offing.
Not too likely. But there was no rain either.
By adding a polarizing filter to the ND filter made the clouds register nicely as a backdrop to the sea oats on the dunes.
Later I realized I also showed the rooftop of a beach cottage.
Hey, it was bright and the screen was hard to see.
I do want to show another view that was softened because of Rudy's instructions.
It was a fun and educational outing.
Members are now uploading their shots to a
ND album for the event.
We create one for all of our adventures and invite you to take a look.
Unless you check out using ND filters, this might be the only time you can view the misty waters off Folly Beach.
Enjoy.
(Click on the photos for more details.)
On Folly, park with care and obey the rules.
Thanks for stopping by.
Labels: circular polarizing filter, Edge of America, groins, Morris Island Lighthouse, ND 3.0 filter, rock jetties, sand dunes, sea oats
Who Do I Know That Has A Plane?
Ever hear the expression
"If you don't own a boat, at least have a friend who owns one."Obviously that could apply to
private airplanes as well.
Or have a buddy who received a VIP plane ride
"Flying High Over Charleston" as a birthday present. And he invites you to come along! Yes, we both had our cameras for the 70-minute flight.
On this beautiful day I hopped in the back seat and the pilot Jim Ellison made sure I was safely strapped in.
We were each given a headset and microphone so we could listen to the tower and speak to each other.
The
Birthday Boy of course sat in the Co-Pilot seat up front.
Wow. The
Morris Island Lighthouse really has no Morris Island.
It doesn't seem so desolate from the beach but it sure looks lonely when you fly over.
Especially at high tide.
James Island got connected right after I moved back to Charleston but I had not seen it from the air.
Engineers make nice curvy lines.
I also did not realize how our marinas had grown.
Hmm. That would mean lots of boat owners.
And, speaking of golfers down on Kiawah Island... well, they certainly have a mighty fine looking Ocean Course.
The pilot flew us over
The Sanctuary and even pointed out a "house" that's on the market for $12 million.
People who own airplanes probably shop for property by air a lot.
Flying along at about 110 miles an hour and looking down from 1100-1200 feet was quite a treat but soon we had to turn and head back home.
Usually when I fly into Charleston International on commercial planes, I have no idea if we are landing on runway
130 but now I know that's the compass heading to line up for final approach.
I heard the pilot talking about that on my headset.
(Click on the photos - twice - for more detail. I shot these on my
Canon S90 at 1/1000 second and moved the f/stops around for back light, etc. Thanks for visiting my blog.)
Labels: Birthday Boy, Flying High Over Charleston, headset, James Island Connector, Jim Ellison, Morris Island Lighthouse, Ocean Course, The Sanctuary
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