Amateur Photography

Every now and then, you just get a great shot. I took several photography classes in college, and lately, as I think I want to pay more attention to my art, photography is becoming more and more interesting to me again. I have a great little camera that my parents gave me for Christmas last year... thanks Mom and Dad. We have so much fun with it! These are a few of my favorite shots of late.

Oscar, in his full ham glory.

The Zebra Discovery again.... but I LOVE the colors and the lighting in this shot.

Spring Island, the St. Francis of Assisi statue, surrounded by moss covered Live Oaks. Just beautiful.

I walked RIGHT up to this Great Heron at the saltwater lagoon on Hunting Island. He just stood there, he is so used to people. At low tide, these and many other species of birds hunt in the lagoon, and people fish and cast. The birds have become accustomed to people. Wild.

Submerged, fallen trees on Hunting Island. Tragic and sad, but beautiful.

I love this photo of my kayak, with the storm brewing in the background. The foreground seems so alive with the water rippling in, and the colors in the kayak and the marsh grass play off of each other. I liked it.

I think shrimp boats and their riggings are visually interesting.

I was a little surprised at how visually interesting this was to me. I just like the many levels of coiling going on.

Sometimes simple is beautiful.

Kayaking and Sea Turtles at The Sands

The sun was shining bright when we took to the river on Saturday for a short kayak excursion from the Sands, a small strip of beach near our house in Port Royal. Though we ran into a brief yet exciting wind and rain storm, as evidenced from the ominous looking clouds here, the day was mostly beautiful.

I thought it was almost amusing that the Zebra on the beach, surrounded my sand and water, looked like it was in the middle of Africa somewhere, so I snapped this shot of Josh paddling toward the beach.

We paddled from the Sands, down past the Ports Authority and to the 11th Street Shrimp Docks, which are still woking docks. If you can see them, there are two pelicans atop the masts of the Wild Hogg (directly behind me). What better place for a pelican to fish from than the mast of a shrimp boat?

Once again, you might be able to see those pelicans atop the masts. What a great place to paddle. The shrimp boats look SO MUCH BIGGER from the water than from the docks. Perspective really is everything.

I just liked this shot, with the kayaker (Josh) paddling toward the boats, which with the masts and riggings always appeal to my photographer's eye, and the clouds building in the background somewhere over Battery Creek.

All in all, our kayak adventure was again a unique and fun experience. Things got really interesting when we headed back in. The storm came in so fast. We had one kayak up on the Zebra, and were carrying my kayak in when a burst of wind whipped sand into our faces and blew the 65lb kayak OFF the roof rack. We decided to wait it out in the car and then load the gear. The storm lasted only a couple of minutes.

We eventually managed to get the now very sandy kayaks back on the Zebra and strapped down, but we were soaked and covered in sand. We decided to rinse off in the water and walk around and explore while we dried off... and I am so glad we did!

As we are exploring, we come across this baby sea turtle hatchling, who is in the middle of the beach, totally disoriented as to which way the ocean is. At first, we were not even sure if he was alive. He looked dried out, and honestly, dead. When we bent down over him to check out his markings, he flinched a little bit. Honestly, I was not sure what to do. Here is this beautiful hatchling, baking on the beach. After a little googling, we went into action.

So google says if the hatchlings don't find the water on their own, you can bring them to the water's edge and see if they will make a run for it. This little guy was barely moving. According to our diligent Crackberry-infused research, we could try putting him all the way in the water. It was amazing. He came right to life as the water washed over him. His instincts took over, and he swam around a little bit, and then he turned right out to sea, and took off. They say only 1 in 1000 will grow to adulthood, so I hope this little guys makes it. Isn't nature cool??

The Zebra

The Zebra... a bedtime story.

A few years ago, we bought an old Land Rover Discovery from Corey and Christina McClimans. It was a great car. We called it the Black Rhino... it was tough as nails. But it was looking a little rough. It still ran great. The solution???

The Black Rhino had some auto botox, and emerged as The Zebra.

Ice Cream!

So who doesn't love ice cream??? I do, Josh does. Most of you do. ALL of our dogs do. We went to Bruster's for cones, and got Oscar a doggie dish. He scarfed his down, and went for mine.

As I was watching Oscar eat my cone, I realized that he and Josh kind of looked alike eating the cones.... and despite my laughter, I was able to capture a photo.

Is that not funny????

Stockton's First Kayak Trip

What's a day on Hunting Island without Stockton? We feel so lucky to have this great resource only 15 minutes from the house. Hunting Island is so much more that a state park. It is a true escape from the real world, and it is so close to home.

We brought Stockton out to the tidal lagoon and put him in the kayak. He rode in it ok, but did jump out a few times. I think he jumped out more to cool off that to get out of the boat. Regardless, he did very well on his first kayak trip.

After his big paddle, in and out of the boat, we brought him down to the beach for a little walk and a romp in the waves...

He is honestly the best behaved dog ever. Even though he had to take a bath when he got home, I think he had a great day. He slept for the next 24 hours.

Beaufort Shrimp Festival

The 15th Annual Beaufort Shrimp Festival:

So we started the day and the festival with the 5K run through history, which took us out over the bridge to Lady's Island and down Meridian Road. What a great way to start the day!

Josh aboard the Research Vessel Bulldog. Even in SC, my Gamecock can't escape the Dawgs.

Sushi-like perfection: Southern Graces' Southern Shrimp Sushi, and our choice for best in festival.

The delectable Southern Graces booth.

Can you say Southern Shrimp Sushi??? Southern Graces made this amazing sushi inspired delicacy.... shrimp and grits rolled in seaweed, and deep-fried to mouth watering perfection.

Me aboard the Research Vessel Bulldog.

Check out the handsome man in front of Port Royal's own Wild Hogg. This is a pretty awesome shrimp boat.

Shelley and the F/V Gracie Belle, the pride of the Sea Eagle Market fleet, Beaufort, SC. If you have eaten seafood at my house, chances are it came off of this boat.

We looked like a couple of tourists... but who cares. The waterfront is beautiful, and I loved the working shrimp boats downtown for the festival. I so appreciate where I live.

The Bark's Barkers

Magnolia at Lake Murray.

Dixie Grace at Lake Murray.

Stockton at Hunting Island.

Oscar at home.