Theatre Courtyard at Twilight

Dock Street Theatre Courtyard, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


This is the courtyard to the newly renovated Dock Street Theatre in the French Quarter of Charleston. It is a place patrons gather during the intermissions of plays, concerts and other performances, and is perfect for a bit of fresh air, a cool drink and light conversation.
Not far from the theatre is Magnolia's restaurant, where Becky and I went for our anniversary dinner last evening. A loud shout out to our friend Edward, our favorite waiter, who entertained us with a fabulous feast never to be forgotten.
Take a bow Edward. Bravo!!!

25 Years!

Wedding Reception, Forest Park, Ohio  1986


Lucky me! On this day, a quarter century ago, I married my one and only love. She is the soul who makes me whole, and brings out the best of my being. To me, we make a tuneful tandem, a strumming lute and melodious voice blending together as one.


We spent our honeymoon in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, hiking, taking pictures, eating pancakes and pizza, taking pictures, etc.

Smoking Ridges, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee  © Doug Hickok


In our marriage we have journeyed together, through highs and lows,
balancing along ridges, venturing into valleys, and facing the fog of parenting.

Ridge Trail to Mt Craig, Mount Mitchell State Park, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok


Marriage is a thrilling hike through a wonderful but unpredictable wilderness...

Trail Marker, Tanawha Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

... on a path which we will continue to travel together
 for the next 25 years... or more.

Rocky

Rocky Outcropping, Thunder Hole, Acadia National Park, Maine  ©  Doug Hickok


Like a boxer standing firm after repeated whompings, this rocky outcropping of granite weathers the impact of incessant winds and waves along the rigged coast of Maine. Fractures along the joints give this eroding rock the visage of an old pugilist, veteran of countless bouts with the elements.

Divine Mercy Sunday

Amphitheater Steps, Lagiewniki Sanctuary of Divine Mercy,
Krakow, Poland  © Doug Hickok


In the Roman Catholic Church, today, the Second Sunday of Easter, is designated as Divine Mercy Sunday. My family had the opportunity to visit the Basilica of Divine Mercy in 2007 when we chaperoned for the Cathedral Girls Chorus of which our daughter was a member. While the girls were rehearsing, I had the chance to climb to the top of the tower to see what my eyes could spy...
and what I spied were the amazing patterns of the amphitheater and the yellow hues of the flora and flooring!

Cruising into Charleston

Cruise Ship and Ducks, Charleston Harbor, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


There are many ways to travel to Charleston.
You can drive a car over the Ravenel Bridge.
You can ride a cruise ship into harbor.
Or you can swim, like this duo of dainty ducks.
Which ever way you choose,
you'll have fun cruising'.

Blue Evening Promenade

South Battery Sidewalk, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Evening light illuminates a walkway on Charleston's South Battery. This images falls under the spell of this week's Favorite Photographer Friday selection, Pete Turner. Like Ernst Haas (last week's FPF pick), Pete Turner was an early master of color photography, and is esteemed as one of the 20 most influential photographers of all time. One critic described his work as having "a dramatist's sense of event, intense and saturated coloration, and a distinct if indescribable otherness."


Please take a few moments to enjoy the link to Pete Turner's work,
and have fun photographing this weekend.

Three

Italian Cypresses, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Three. Three Cypresses. Three Italian Cypresses. Three Italian Cypress leaning. Three Italian Cypresses leaning in a sky. Three Italian Cypresses leaning in a blue sky. Three Italian Cypresses leaning in a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

Clouds. White clouds. Fluffy white clouds. Fluffy white clouds in a blue sky. Fluffy white clouds in a blue sky with leaning Cypresses. Fluffy white clouds in a blue sky with leaning Italian Cypresses. Fluffy white clouds in a blue sky with three leaning Italian Cypresses.

Sky. Blue sky. Blue sky with fluffy...

OK, ENOUGH!

End. The end. The end of this story. The end of this story about...

 Three. Three Cypresses. Three Italian Cypresses...

AHHHH, I CAN'T STOP!!!

Modern Building Materials

Concert Amphitheater Canopy, Riverfront Park, North Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


This 21st century metal canopy shades the outdoor amphitheater at North Charleston's Riverfront Park, showing us man-made materials and textures quite dissimilar to the building materials of yesterday. Metal alloys and synthetics replace stone and wood. Though ever-changing, the sky will forever be the constant background to the evolving elements of construction.

This amphitheater is a feature of the The Navy Yard at Noisette, a long term attempt to build a new American city from the industrial remains of an old navy base.

Mountain Farm Building

Layers of Building Materials, Old Farm Building, Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
North Carolina  © Doug Hickok


Dating from the end of the 19th century, an old farm building at the Mountain Farm Museum in the Great Smoky Mountains displays a variety of building materials and their textures. Mountain folk used whatever natural resources they could to construct their farmsteads... stone, river mud, timber and bark, mixed in with a generous dose of blood, sweat and tears. For a hundred years pioneers used their skills and perseverance to eke out a rough living amid the harsh mountain wilderness of the Appalachians until the modern world gradually crept in and changed their lives forever.

Misty Monday - View From A Lighthouse Window

Mulholland Point Lighthouse, Campobello Island, New Brunswick
  © Doug Hickok


From a atop Mulholland Point Lighthouse, on Campobello Island, a view of the mist shrouded Bay of Fundy is framed by a window. On a clear day, you can see forever, and ever, and ever, and ever more... well at least all the way to Small's Cove, and Deep Cove, and Broad Cove, and maybe even to Chocolate Cove (there are countless coves in this part of the world). Oh, and did I mention Carrying Place Cove, and Lord's Cove, and Otter Cove, and...

Finding Little Treasures - Easter Edition

Easter Candy  © Doug Hickok

Sometimes one of the thrills of life is finding little treasures, like this assortment of multicolored malt eggs and jelly beans on Easter morning. For a person who relishes sweets and their tastiness, like me, this is striking it rich! 

YUMMY ! ! !

Wishing you a Happy Easter weekend full of delicious treasures.

Finding Little Treasures - The Original

Harbor Water Abstract - I

Sunrise on Charleston Harbor Waves, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved 
(Click on image for larger view)


Eye-catching early morning light on these harbor waves creates an abstract pattern of texture and hues.

Homage to Ernst

Sports Car Driver, King Street, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok

It's Favorite Photographer Friday (FPF), a feature I began on my blog last week where I link you to a photographer who has influenced my work in some way over the years. Today, I thought I'd dedicate my post to one of my all time favorite photographers, and one of the most influential photographers you may never have heard of, Ernst Haas. Born in Austria in 1921, he later became one of the first photographers invited to join Magnum Photo, where he began a long illustrious career. Haas is admired today for his pioneering work and innovation in color photography, especially with abstracts, reflections, motion blur, and highly saturated images. Many contemporary photographers make images in a style that Ernst Haas set the standard for decades earlier. Take a few moments to browse around his estate website and look through his amazing array of images. You may find yourself marveling at his ingenious vision. Perhaps he'll inspired you as much as he inspired me. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sign of the Times - Man Crossing High Above Street

Crosswalk Sign, Cincinnati, Ohio  © Doug Hickok


For some reason, I see this walking man just about everywhere I look. In big cities. In small towns. In the mountains. In the desert. He seems to be a ubiquitous man. He favors walking on this diamond shaped yellow sign whenever he appears, and is always frozen in mid stride, like a mime unable to move. In this instance he is crossing high above a street in downtown Cincinnati. Perhaps you have seen him too, in some form or another, wherever you live.


(This image was made a few years ago on Velvia 100 RVP 35mm color slide film,
pushed one stop for increased color saturation,
with a Nikon F3HP camera body,
and a Nikkor 105mm f2.5 lens,
while wearing a pair of old white sneakers,
 laced with red shoe strings,
tied in big floppy bows.)

Bridge Wednesday - Lines and Cables and Hues, Oh My

Tower, Cables and Light Posts, Ravenel Bridge, Mt Pleasant, SC  © Doug Hickok


Sorry, no pineapples or dinosaurs today. But I do have a modern bridge to get you over the mid week hump and on your way toward the weekend. This is the Ravenel Bridge which is often referred to as the Cooper River Bridge... hmmm... probably because it spans the Cooper River, not the Mississippi, the Nile, or the Amazon.
In this photograph, an arrangement of lines and shapes caught my eye as well as the blue hue of the view.


For another blue hue view of the Ravenel Bridge, see this post.

Pineapple Tuesday

Pineapple Fountain, Waterfront Park, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Here is another stylized version of the Southern hospitality pineapple. This one takes the form of a fountain featured in Waterfront Park, a pleasant greenspace overlooking Charleston Harbor. Although it appears to have the spiny horns of a triceratops from the Cretaceous Period, this is misleading. It is, in fact, a man made fountain of the Quaternary Period.

Misty Monday - Ancient Mountains

Budding Tree, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok


Right about now, Spring is inching its way up into the high ridges of the Appalachian mountains, some of the oldest on the planet, dating back to the Ordovician Period. On a misty mountain day, early leaf buds waken on this mossy limbed tree. 
Some things never change. This scene of vernal transformation could have appeared millions of years ago. The cycles of the seasons continue, like the flow of time. Gladly, Spring is easing into the colder reaches of the Earth. And gladly, pterodactyls no longer terrorize the skies.

Pineapple Sunday

Pineapple Gate, Saint Philip's Church, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


This elaborate ironwork motif over the entrance gate to Saint Philip's church is actually a stylized representation of a pineapple. For Charleston, the pineapple is significant because it symbolizes hospitality. Stories from 150 years ago tell of sailors returning to port with tropical fruits from the West Indies. They would often hang pineapples above their doors as a sign of welcome. These days Charleston is often voted best mannered city in the USA, and pineapple symbols can be seen throughout the town.

The Creatures Among Us, Part Two

Rebar Tangle, Old Navy Base, North Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Kraken


(Please see The Creatures Among Us, Part One)

Finding Little Treasures - The Original

Assorted Rocks, Hunter's Beach, Acadia National Park, Maine  © Doug Hickok


Sometimes one of the thrills of life is finding little treasures, like this assortment of multicolored rocks on a beach in Maine. For a person who relishes rocks and their rockiness, like me, this is striking it rich!

Wishing you a weekend full of little treasures.


Thought I'd start something new also. Calling it Favorite Photographers Friday, I'll post a link to photographers whom I admire or who have influenced my work to a certain degree over time. Today's favorite is Eliot Porter, one of the first to photograph landscapes in color.