Signs Of Spring

Great Blue Heron
Magnolia Gardens
2/26/2007
for Tuesday

There is a night heron there, too. They appeared to be engaging in a stand off. Heaven only knows what this blue heron was saying.
They may still be there, neither one was moving when I left.

I did, I saw signs of spring.
I hope to share some of that later on. Just the presence of these two herons is a spring thing.

ginger

Afternoon Walk
3/4/2007

we went down this trail to overlook the harbor this afternoon.

The thing I have the most trouble photographing are trees and woods. I hardly ever try, if I do, they aren't worth working up.

This afternoon I lucked out, and I have this shot of the trail walking in that I really like.

What struck me the most was how unspringlike it was. Not only was it chilly and breezy today, this woods looked dead. It ought to look very nice when the new growth starts to come in. I noticed one bush with the beginning of spring...I really enjoyed the light play on the bare trees, though.

A Shout OUT,
spring starts in March.
3/5/2007

Great Blue Heron
3/5/2007
for Wednesday

Photographing A Magnolia
Cemetery Ghost
3/6/2007

Bill said,
"She thanked me for capturing her soul so she could take proof of her return back to the "other side"

not much backstory. I was photographing flowers, felt a "presence" and there she was beside me. Never have seen her before. I smiled, she didn't, I said, "hi", she didn't. Next thing, I turned around and she and Bill were like this. I snapped the shot just in time. Then she left...........
maybe she was just shy......or maybe she was a shy ghost, I just like the shot of the very old Magnolia Cemetery. A few new graves of family members of the original family, but in general she wasn't dressed in the clothes one would expect from most of the "residents" of that cemetery.

Some people find bluebirds, I found this.........and no backstory.
However, that is my backpack, Bill carries it all the time, it is a Crumpler and worth every 200.00 dime. Really dirty by now. As comfortable as it could be.

g

Alone, a heron fishes

You all, this is part of the Magnolia Gardens Rookery. To get here I/we walk down a trail in the woods, not short, not terribly long.
Then Bill sits down in his chair, if he is with me, and I walk to this road......and I walk up and down it until dark. Or I walk back to another path, and walk up and down it, always scouting.
A luxury is to sit on the side of this road and wait for an egret or heron to fly by me.

Until 5 PM, the plantation area is known to be open and occasionally a train thing, with tourists, will come up this road. That is the only traffic other than the tourists on foot. There are more, it seems, every year, but it is still not crowded and I am often there alone.

Yet, after 5 PM, fewer and fewer remain, the birds know, they really know, and they come out as this heron has done.

It is a magical time. I am reluctant to leave. Yet the shooting becomes more difficult, the path back grows black as it is without this last light. I don't do it anymore unless my husband is with me, as I am still afraid of the dark, smile.

This was truly last light, my legs were tired, my husband could no longer read and was anxious to leave, but the magic and I, we lingered........

Deep in the woods
flowers still grow
they are Magnolia flowers
growing on the rich soil
of the dead.

g

Magnolia Gardens Cemetery
3/6/2007

Sweetgrass Baskets
3/10/2007

You all know about the sweetgrass baskets made from African culture in days of slavery, the art, and it is an art, is passed down in families to this day.

Those of us who care hope that this art will never die. It is becoming more difficult to find the materials in the marshes to make these baskets. And the country roadsides where they have been sold for years, they have become highways.

The man who is carrying these baskets back to his van, he told me much. I wish I could have heard more. He had a wealth of baskets (they are not cheap, after all, each is made with the same care as the ones that are displayed in the Smithsonian). I asked if he had made them all, he said that he and his family had, I heard that. They go all over the south selling the baskets. The world is changing from the slow country roads outside of Mount Pleasant.
The people who make the baskets are trying to adapt. May they forever be able to find the grasses in the marsh (we talked about that part, but I could not hear what he said).

ginger

Man reads about Philip Simmons, the blacksmith who made Charleston's gates.
On the left I have added a photo of Philip Simmons signing his name to an inside page from the book. It is a collage technique in Scott Kelby's PS CS2 book.

Mr Simmons is one of Charleston's most loved and respected citizens. Though I do not think he is active as a blacksmith anymore, I think he does have an apprenticeship program going so the art will not be lost.

He gave a talk, which I did not arrive in time for, then he signed books. I had taken a photo of him two years ago. I gave him one, and he signed one for me.

He has a gate in the Smithsonian, too. That is interesting as the baskets in yesterday's daily also are represented at the Smithsonian.

I bought that book that the man is reading two years ago. It is called "Catching The Fire" Philip Simmons, Blacksmith.

Please see photo of the book signing at this link:
http://upacreekphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2462906/1/135318738/Large

ginger

Night Heron
from the Monday
before last. stayed home today.
my new laptop was put together. Phone calls were made. And as a matter of fact, I still have a bunch of stuff to do and don'tknow when I will get out again. But I am not a proficient typist on this yet, and it is hot.

anyway, I chose a photo I had access to that was among my most recent.

He was a cute little guy. Actually, he was a little guy, there were two, the other one was much bigger. I am not crazy about night herons, but this one was kind of cute.

ginger

Standing Duck:
I couldn't get a flying duck,
I am not sure what a sitting duck looks like, but I brought
you a Standing Duck.

ginger
3/13/2007

Woodpecker Enjoying A
Spring Tree at
Boone Hall Plantation.
3/14/2007

This is not where I expected to see a woodpecker. But it is the
season for them..........and the
perfect tree.

Please see where I was:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2462906/1/136108808/Large

Cedar Waxwing
Boone Hall Plantation


The only thing more you might want is TWO Cedar Waxwings:


http://upacreekphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2462906

Must Be Spring.....
somewhere.

My first robin photo in
years. My first "good" one
ever.

These little birds are more
difficult for me than any shore
bird or wading bird, or flying
big bird. I have never shot
"little" birds before, or at
least not to this extent, or this
well. They may look easy, but
just to have a robin is wonderful
for me, but to "get" him......well
that is a spring miracle!!

Happy St Pat's day, isn't it
St Pat"s?

Another Cedar Waxwing, you all might want to see this, pretty.

http://upacreekphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2462906/1/136558380/Large

ginger

6PM on the quiet nature trail
at Magnolia Gardens: Lights (sweet),
Camera (yup), and action!

motion blur by ginger

Too High,
Can't Get Over It........

Big Live Oak climbing tree at
Boone Hall Plantation. Kids
love it!!! This was a
determined little girl.

ginger

Of interest. It is never crowded by
this tree which is in the large plantation
grounds, and by the water. I love to watch each family approach. It appears that each discovers it anew and makes that tree theirs. They climb, put their babies on the large branches, take pictures for memories, then the tree is alone again until it is rediscovered. Once a child sees it, he/she always climbs it while the parents watch and smile.

Another spring!

FOOTPRINTS

Little Blue Heron
Dressed in a duotone
he fishes at Pitt Street Bridge
with sparkling footprints
kissed by the sun.
3/19/2007



The same photograph
in color.
I like them both,
choosing just one was
too difficult.

http://upacreekphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2462906/1/137319418/Large

Bringin In The Catch (fish)

Pitt Street Bridge
3/20/2007

Snowy Egret

Below is a link to what I called
Buds Of Spring
flowers to remind me of my grandmother's colors,
as I remember them.

http://upacreekphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2462906/1/136739567/Large

Snowy Egret
Pitt Street Bridge Series

by ginger
(It was natural, it is in other photos from that day and the day before. Very low tide, tidal pools, mud, green stuff. All natural, tricky lighting.)


Gosh, thanks all. I saw an unusual egret shot on dGrin's egret fest, I have nothing with which to do an egret like that, but it inspired me to stay up til 4 AM trying out egret shots with dark backgrounds. I do like this one best.
Thank you, though!!!
ginger

He Flew Away
above the grasses
of Pitt Street Bridge
marsh.

(Now if someone had just been there
to take a photo of me in the pluff mud.
and the grasses. I made my own blind down
there by the creek. I could feel the water seeping "in". But it was more than
gorgeous!! ginger again)

ginger

the season of Love
and butterflys and
flowers.

3/23/2007

There is still
a small world
with flowers
and butterflys.

Path by the side of a stream
in the woods. Leaves under
foot from the fall of the
seasons. Green in the trees
for the spring of the year.

I love the new growth of green,
such a pretty and fleeting shade.


In the foreground are roots from
a large tree. A beautiful place
but I am a bit old for such
foolishness, sad to say. I made
it back, barely.
g

Woodpecker On The Edisto Trail
South Carolina

the first bluebird I have ever seen, and the best shot I could get.

ginger

Let The Sunshine In


Have a good Thursday,
ginger

(no filters, a straight shot at f22 to get the starburst.)

The Waiting

In summer this pond is full
of Ibis, Wood Storks, Snowy
Egrets and other wonderful
birds.

ginger