Tag Archives: 2020

Photography

Timing is Everything

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Sunset From The Patio

Monte commented on my last post about having been inside having dinner when a nice sunset was happening.  As it turned out, Friday’s sunset here was also pretty nice, but I missed it for the same reason.  I’ve often told non-photographers that many of the best landscape photos are taken when people are either eating or sleeping.  Of course, Kathy’s version of that saying is that a sunset is best observed through a glass.  Albeit not a glass in the form of a camera lens. 😉

I had my camera all ready to go on Saturday night but it turned out to be a colorless mass of gray clouds.  But I left everything out in the office to I would be ready last night.  When the first hint of pink started in the sky I went inside, grabbed my gear and headed to the patio.  But in the course of that 1-2 minute window the pink faded as fast as it started.  I did manage to salvage a bit of the last remaining hints of color as it faded.  First photo and last photo were about 12 minutes apart.

Sunset From The Patio

Transmission towers aren’t as nice a subject as palm trees, but they aren’t drift fences, either. 🙂

Sunset From The Patio
Photo Project: A Change Of Scenery

Sahara Dust Cloud Was A Bust

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On the beach – Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

The ominous sounding Sahara Dust Cloud passed through Charlotte over the last few days, including (I guess) today.  Yesterday afternoon was really hazy and smoky-looking, but it didn’t present the vibrant sunset that had been predicted.  Supposedly the sunset on Friday was pretty colorful, but that might or might not have been a result of the dust.  I was inside a restaurant having dinner anyway, so I can’t say.  Things look pretty clear outside now, dust-wise, although it is pretty cloudy.  The afternoon will show if there is any remaining dust in the air, and an air quality alert is in effect until midnight.

Happy Sunday!

Photo Project: A Change Of Scenery

Dinner Out With Friends

On the beach – Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

We survived our first mask outing last evening, not that we expected anything different.  We went to a local seafood place with some friends/neighbors and had a nice time.  It was only our second meal out from home, and it was nice to “test the waters” some more.  One thing’s for sure – it really clarifies the difference between cooking and eating at home and restaurant food, especially in terms of price and portion sizes.  It’s a reminder to keep the restaurant outings to a minimum!

I have four of these little vignettes that I’m planning to post through Tuesday – still drift fences (sorry) but a slightly different view – then I plan to end the post-a-day routine.  It’s been fun but it’s time for a break, so I’ll get back to my not-quite-daily occasional posts. 😉

Photo Project: A Change Of Scenery

Time To Join The Crowd

Drift fence shadows on the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Read on another blog earlier today:

“Wearing a mask is NOT a political statement. It’s an I.Q. Test.” 

Needless to say, that’s a little harsh.  Until now I’ve resisted the mask thing, but now our Guv’nor says we’re going to have to wear them for a while.  Despite my resistance I do believe in the science.  I’m just…stubborn.  Fortunately we don’t go too many places where it’s an issue, so it won’t have a huge effect.  Interesting how it’s easier to accept something when you’ve been told you need to do it, instead of just having it “recommended.”

Photo is another one of  those irresistible drift fences on the beach.  Sigh…. 😉

Roadside Finds

Roadside Finds: Blacksville, SC Train Station

Old train station in Blacksville, South Carolina that now houses the Blacksville Public Library

I mentioned this find in the previous post, and here are a few photos.  The rotunda design reminds me a bit of the station in Hamlet, NC but that station is much larger.  This station now houses the public library. I like to see these old stations repurposed and maintained as they should be, respecting their history.

Old train station in Blacksville, South Carolina that now houses the Blacksville Public Library
Old train station in Blacksville, South Carolina that now houses the Blacksville Public Library
Old train station in Blacksville, South Carolina that now houses the Blacksville Public Library
Old train station in Blacksville, South Carolina that now houses the Blacksville Public Library
Old train station in Blacksville, South Carolina that now houses the Blacksville Public Library
Random Thoughts

(NOT) The Big City

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Blacksville, South Carolina

I’ve never been to New York City.  I know it’s a really big city but have no concept of how truly huge it is.  Many of us who live in Charlotte like to think Charlotte is a big city, but it’s it’s just a small town with lots of people. An article in yesterday’s New York Times had a comment that underscored that point for me.

Pete Wells, the Times’ restaurant critic, was writing in “Restaurant Dining Is Back, if You Can Find a Table” about how restaurants responded to being able to open for outdoor seating. He indicated that the new rules went into effect on a Monday, and that by noon on that Tuesday 4100 restaurants had received approval for outdoor dining. 4100 restaurants! North Carolina probably doesn’t have that many restaurants in the entire state if you exclude fast food.  Amazing!

Blacksville, SC is another one of those “along the way” places we passed through.  This old store is across the street from the train station, which now houses the town library and will likely be the subject of another post. 🙂

Roadside Finds

Roadside Finds: Kline, SC Train Station

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Train station in Kline, South Carolina

There are rail lines all over rural South Carolina, and on our backroads travels we often find them paralleling the highway.  Every time we go through a small town, we look for a likely spot for a train station.  Many of them are long disappeared, but occasionally we come across one.  As we passed through the town of Kline, SC we came across this old depot.  Still in pretty good condition but could use a little TLC.

Photography

Same Meat, Different Seasoning

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ACROS+Red filter

The photo in my previous post was processed using the “Vintage 01” profile in Lightroom.  My default setting is usually an Import Preset I’ve developed using the “Camera Velvia” profile, with some of my own secret sauce.  The Velvia version with that subject came out way too saturated, so I started messing around with a few other treatments.  I created new Virtual Copies, changed to a new profile then made a few additional tweaks based on what I thought each version needed.

Original with Velvia Profile

No verdicts or preferences at this point, but it was interesting to see what the different options can do.

Vintage 01 Profile
Pro-Negative-Hi Profile
Classic Negative Profile
Roadside Finds

Roadside Finds – Murray Gin Mill

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Murray Gin cotton mill on SR 3/Whetstone Road near North, South Carolina

Kathy & I like to joke that “no one turns a 5 hour drive into a 7- or 8-hour adventure like we do!  Even going to the beach we like to take back roads and explore what we find along the way.  For this recent trip to Hilton Head we decided to take a picnic lunch and stop at Barnwell State Park, located a few miles off our usual route through rural South Carolina.  The route to Barnwell took us down a road we hadn’t been on before, and we passed this mill along the way.  I didn’t stop, and kicked myself several times before we were too far away to turn around.  I promised myself that I would stop on the way back, and I did.

I haven’t looked too hard yet, but have not come up with any kind of history on this mill.  I did find some indication that the name “Murray” appears on a number of cotton mills in the area, but nothing so far that tells me more.  I’m guessing that the mill is no longer operational, but I’ve seen places that look worse than this still churning out product once a year.

And yes, there is actually a town called North in South Carolina! 🙂