Kathy & I made a late afternoon stop this past Saturday at the Little Glade Mill Pond along the Blue Ridge Parkway, not too far from the intersection with US21. The light was right, the colors were great and I mixed up the fuzzy and the sharp. I don’t get to pull out the 55-200 often, but it was just the ticket for this group of photos.
I’ve got a few more, so there may be a follow up post. Stay tuned!
We’re getting ready for a return to Hilton Head in a few weeks, so for some inspiration I decided to work on some of the files from our last visit in February. These are a few more of the “blurry” photos that always seem so popular.
Unless I get really motivated, it’s unlikely that I’ll do much of this type of shooting in late May, especially in the mornings. Sunrise is a relatively inhospitable 6:19am, which means I would need to be up and on the beach by 5:15am. And that is made unlikely by a sunset time of 8:20pm that tends to interfere with cocktail time and usually makes for a late dinner. I am on vacation, after all! 😉
Trying to get better at just posting pictures when I don’t have a lot of words. Whew….!
Some random photos from around Western NC a few weekends ago.
Public Art in Waynesville, North Carolina
Kathy & I took a quick jaunt over Easter to visit some of our friends in Belhaven and Washington, NC. It was a quick trip and we didn’t see everyone, but we did manage to buy some wine from our favorite Wine Guy, and I was able to take a few photos. We’re planning a return in July and will be sure to look up the rest (SN).
A couple of weeks ago I was able to take advantage of a “clearance” sale on the Fuji E-X2 and picked one up as a backup to my X-T1. I don’t do a lot of events, but when I do I know it is prudent to have a spare camera, just in case. Adorama had the E-X2 body and the wonderful 18-55 zoom lens on sale for what amounted to $200 for the body. As much as I would love to have an X-Pro 2, and as aware as I am that the X-T2 is right around the corner, I have placed a self-imposed moratorium on the upgrade cycle and am planning to stand firm for a while. But I still don’t have all the lenses, so…. 😉
So here is a little sampler of photos taken with my “backup” kit. No slouch for sure, especially with a nice lens. Looking forward to using it some more.
One of the things I love to do when we travel is seek out old railroad stations. They are especially prevalent in rural areas of North and South Carolina, and I have found them in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, as well.
One of the stations we pass by on a regular basis is the station in Branchville, SC. It’s on one of the “slow-cuts” we like to take when we are headed to Hilton Head and want to get off the freeway. I’ve taken pictures there before, and have been particularly interested in the old freight depot that sits across the tracks. It is in pretty sad shape, but a few years ago was given a new roof, and while I don’t know for sure I am hopeful that some funding will find its way there to complete the restoration. Both buildings are beautiful and reflect the good old days of American railroading.
According to one of the signs there, Branchville was on the first commercial railway, from Charleston to Hamburg, SC. Construction began in Charleston in 1829 and was completed to Hamburg in 1833. The distance was 136 miles and at the time was the longest railroad in the world and twice as long as any in the United States.
The railroad branched out from Branchville to Orangeburg in 1840, and Branchville became the first railroad junction in the world.
The Branchville Depot was built in 1877 and featured a dining room there trains would stop for breakfast and dinner. It claims the distinction of having had three former US Presidents dine there: President William McKinley, President Theodore Roosevelt and President Howard Taft.
The depot today is a symbol of Branchville’s rich railroad history and contains Branchville’s Railroad Shrine and Museum and a restaurant. It seems that we have never been there when either was open, but at some point I will be sure to get inside and look around.
We’ve been home a week now, but Kathy & I recently spent a week on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. It’s one of our favorite getaway destinations any time of year. It was a little early in the season and we knew we ran the risk of cold weather, but we needed to get away. So we went, it was nice and now we’re counting down to the next adventure. In the meantime, there are photos!
The beach is one of the few places that calls my name so irresistibly that I have no problem hauling myself out of bed before sunrise. Because I don’t have to get in the car and drive anywhere, I can stumble out of the bed, dress, grab my gear and be out to the beach in about 15 minutes.
One of my favorite things is taking advantage of the low light and great color to make motion blur photos. They have become a bit of a “signature” for me, and interestingly the motion blur abstracts are the photos that have sold best recently.
This is a mix of a few blurry and sharp photos from our week at the beach. I’ve got a lot more work to do but was overdue for a post, so here it is!
Kathy & I visited Hilton Head Island, SC last week, one of our favorite getaway destinations. I got lucky with the sunset on the evening of our visit to Harbor Town and thought it wouldn’t be a bad view for my desktop for a while. Enjoy!
Many of my readers are also friends on Facebook, so they have already heard this news. For the others, Kathy & I became grandparents for the first time on January 19! Edison Scott Dills was born to our son Scott and his wife Kristin.
I haven’t yet had a lot of opportunity to take pictures with my camera – I have A LOT of pictures that I’ve taken with my phone! This past weekend I had my camera and got a few shots I like. Many of them are blurry and out of focus – tells me I need a faster and closer focusing lens! Hey, any excuse is a good one!
For anyone interested, I have been keeping and updating a gallery on Google Photos of pictures taken with my phone. Feel free to take a look!
I mentioned in an earlier post about how I struggle between color photos and black & white photos. While the black & white versions are OK, I tend to see and feel in color so the color versions of my photos often win out over the black & white versions. Here are some sets of images from that same post, along with their counterparts. I’d love to hear some feedback on the pros and cons. I know that ultimately my photos need to reflect my voice, but I also know that I have lived a pretty sheltered existence when it comes to my experience with black & white photography.
