Water & Earth

Gate Ironwork and Brick, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


 Ironwork rolls in aqua circles, like sea waves over the terra cotta bricks of a theatre wall.

Outdoor Weekend

Runners, Waterfront Park, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Canon 5D Mark II camera, 24-105mm f/4 lens at 97mm, 1/80 sec, f/8, ISO 100)


Charleston is in the running for best outdoor city in the U.S. So far it is ranked in the top 10 at number five. Boulder, Colorado is in the lead, with Portland, Oregon second. This is a contest held by Outdoor Magazine and participants vote through Facebook.

If the weather is nice where you are this weekend, I hope you enjoy the great outdoors of early summer.

And LasT but not LeasT... Happy Birthday, LT!
Don't forget to wear your sparkLing Tiara!

A Road Taken in New Brunswick

Birch Forest Road, Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada  © Doug Hickok


There is a familiar poem by Robert Frost that discusses roads taken and not taken. It's true life offers an endless array of choices. We make them practically every moment of the day. Sometimes choices are easy, sometimes not. Regardless, they usually come with expectations of a particular outcome.

Yet, along the road taken, you're sure to find the unexpected as well. And occasionally you'll find the unexpected to be surprisingly pleasant. This was so when my wife and I chose to drive down this quiet forest road in New Brunswick, where we were soon rewarded with a beautiful sylvan scene. Some folks call this kind of discovery serendipity. I call it looking closely at the road map... and as photographers often do, imagining the possibilities.


Quick take: This short article poses the question, "What kind of picture taker are you?"

Bridge Wednesday - Padua

Prato della Valle, Padua, Italy  © Doug Hickok


The picturesque city of Padua is the oldest city of northern Italy. Tradition says it was founded by the Trojan prince Antenor in the year 1183 BC.

Pictured above is the canal of the Prato della Valle (Il Prato), the elliptical public square built over the remains of an ancient Roman theater. This canal is lined with statues of town luminaries and surrounded by beautiful palazzi dating from the 14th century.


Padua's famous university (1222 AD) had among its professors Copernicus and Galileo. The school also boasts the world's oldest botanical garden (1545 AD). Artists such as Giotto, Donatello, Mantegna and Canova have contributed to the city's cultural legacy. The great architect Palladio was born here... and so on and so forth.

The neighborhood I live in (a suburb of Charleston) was developed only about 40 years ago (circa 1970 AD). Before that it was primarily woodlands and wetlands. The only known luminary was the Swamp Thing (see this post for details).
Hmm, no wonder America is called the New World.

Big Red

Porcher-Simonds House, East Battery, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


One of Charleston's most popular sights is the row antebellum mansions that perch above East Battery Street, overlooking Charleston harbor. Many of these houses display tall multi-story columns that are visible from several miles away.

The Porcher-Simonds House (1856), pictured above, was designed in an architectural style reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance, complete with Ionic capitals and an ornately decorated pediment.

The red palmetto tree flag, called "Big Red", is a variant of the blue South Carolina state flag. It was flown by Charlestonians, just after the Declaration of Succession of 1860, as a symbol of state's rights and resistance to encroachments of the federal government.

Misty Monday - Change

Near Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee  © Doug Hickok


Change is constant and inevitable. But change is often difficult to accept when it's unwanted. The once beautiful Carolina Hemlock forests that graced the mountains of the Southern Appalachians are disappearing. The beautiful lacy branched conifers are dying from the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive sap-sucking insect. As you can see on closer inspection, some of the trees are only skeletons now.

Yet, as the hemlocks perish, nature adapts and evolves. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, a different ecosystem of flora and fauna will take the place of the hemlock forest and thrive. Change will continue, and a new forest will emerge, one with a beauty of its own.

In this way, nature's example gives the human race hope. As our planet and our lives constantly change, we'll both adapt, and thrive in a new and, I hope, beautiful way. Unless of course we're unable or unwilling to change. Then it's a different story. Then, we'll become the next hemlock tree.


 

Gas & Bass Harbor

A Bass Harbor Church, Bass Harbor, Maine  © Doug Hickok


The small Tremont Congregational Church, in Bass Harbor Maine, has a food pantry program where they ask for donations of non-perishable goods to help local families stressed by the escalating costs of fuel. The difficult economy has hit the fishing industry particularly hard in this area, with the rising costs of gasoline to power their lobster boats being a major reason for struggling marine businesses.

Tall and Skinny - A Metaphor for Life

Narrow Passage to a Secret Garden, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


This view through a tall skinny opening, down a narrow passageway, reveals a beautiful garden. The passage is a piazza that belongs to one of Charleston's old antebellum mansions which opens along Meeting Street. Normally the doors to this mansion are closed, keeping the garden hidden from view.

You may be wondering what the rest of the mansion looks like. But if that bit of knowledge is withheld or unknown, then this narrow view becomes a kind of metaphor for human knowledge. Or more precisely, the lack of it. Because, so often our knowledge of life is limited to what we can see, what we think we know. We make decisions everyday based on our "view down the passageway." As Hamlet famously said, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Verily I say. Verily.

Dock Street Theatre and Spoleto

Balcony, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Pictured above is the Dock Street Theatre bathed by the warm light of early morning. This weekend is the last weekend of Charleston's Spoleto Festival USA, and this historic theatre is a featured venue of the famous international arts festival. Events this weekend include a presentation by Ireland's Druid Theatre of their play "The Cripple of Inishmaan", an opera by Spoleto founder Gian Carlo Menotti called "The Medium" and several Chamber Music concerts. These concerts are favorites of festival goers, and will include works by Beethoven, Schubert, Paganini, and Farrenc.


Today's Favorite Photographer Friday selection is another fabulous National Geographic photographer, Michael Yamashita.   Mr. Yamashita has an uncanny ability to capture exceptional light and atmosphere in his travel images, mostly from Asia. You can see samples of his images on his official website. He has a fascinating photo blog as well.

Thank you very much for all your visits and kind comments!
Hope you have a nice weekend!

Exit Stage Right

Walking Shadows, Savannah, Georgia  © Doug Hickok


"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
-William Shakespeare-

A Storm Broods on Mount Hood

Mount Hood in Summer, Oregon  © Doug Hickok


Mount Hood is a remarkable landmark. It is Oregon's tallest mountain (11,239 ft), visible up to one hundred miles away. It is covered by 12 glaciers or permanent snow fields and is the only mountain in North America with year round snow. The ancient cone-shaped volcano is estimated to be the one most likely to erupt in Oregon.

When we visited Mount Hood a few years ago, I made this image using a 300 mm lens mounted on a Nikon F3HP camera, with Velvia RVP 100 slide film, pushed one stop.


We also searched high and low for a view of Bigfoot (aka Sasquatch), but found only foot prints. We weren't 100% sure of who or what left them. For all we knew, they could have been my foot prints, since I normally wear big, ape-sized hiking boots with hairy toes. I know it sounds far fetched, but it's true.

Today, Eye See Red II

Red Canopy, Taco Boy Restaurant, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Canon 5D Mark II camera, 24-105mm f/4L lens, at 105mm, 3.2 secs., f11, ISO 100, tripod)


There are certain hues that catch the eye no matter where you are.
 One of those hues is red.
The seam of a canvas canopy on a Folly Beach restaurant offered an opportunity for a simple color abstract, one which couldn't be ignored.


Quick take: What's it like to parachute off a mountain? Take a look at this 2 min. video and leap into your day with a thrill! 

Monday Morning Sunrise II

Docks on Folly River, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Canon 5D Mark II camera, 24-105mm f/4 lens, at 100mm, 1.3 sec at f/11, ISO 100, tripod)


A sunrise along the Folly River at low tide - boat docks and fishing platforms line the edge of the tidal marsh, leading toward the glowing light in the east.

The cycles of our lives, like the cycles of nature, often have a pattern, an order,
an up and down rhythm like the tides of the sea. Mondays are Mondays. But Tuesdays
are sure to arrive on time. And so the rhythm of the week continues unabated.

San Vitale Sunday

Ceiling, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy  © Doug Hickok


Dating from the year 548, this early Christian church is one of 8 buildings in Ravenna that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Although begun under the rule of the Ostrogoths, it was completed during the reign of the Byzantines, and is one of the few churches to survive undamaged from the period of Emperor Justinian I.

I was traveling with the choir of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Charleston) when we stopped in San Vitale to admire the beauty of the church. Shortly after, the choir director assembled the singers for an impromptu piece (Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium) at the alter. I'll never forget that moment, because I've never heard such magnificent music! The combination of the talented singers and the acoustics of the church made the voices sound etherial. For a moment I thought I was in heaven.

This image of the interior shows the ornate dome from below. The light being quite low, and not having a tripod, I set my camera in the middle of the floor with a wide angle lens pointing upward, and made a long exposure of about 30 seconds. The photograph was made on slide film which rendered the mostly ambient incandescent lighting a glowing warm color.

Useful Phrases for the Day

Two Busts in Two Windows, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok

Two heads are better than one.
(Nevertheless, she's still always right.)

Walking Man Sign, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok

Yo! Surf's up!
(But first I need a doughnut!)

Curbside Sign, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok

"Here you must not!"
 (Scoop your poop!)

Geometry Lesson

Shapes, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok


A study of shapes on aqua.

The Blue Hour

Shrimp Boats at Dawn, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok 
(Canon 5D Mark II camera, 24-105mm f4 lens, at 32mm, 3.2 sec, f8, ISO 100, tripod)


Dawn or dusk. The blue hour of twilight is my favorite time of day to photograph. Whether you're shooting film or digital, the cool tones of the light spectrum are easily recorded. This image shows a pair of shrimp boats at dawn reflected in a tidal creek near Folly Beach.


I'm often fascinated by the psychology of color and its emotional impact on the mind.  Blue is traditionally a color of calm and tranquility, but can also be a color of sadness.  Like so much in our world, color is subjective. Its emotional impact is relative to the surroundings.




Quick take: If you're interested in really retro photography, National Geographic has a cool feature article about Abelardo Morell's camera obscura photographs.
Maybe you can try this at home. Enjoy!

A Mountain Stream in Late Spring

Mountain Stream, Tanawha Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok


To dip your toes in the refreshing waters of a mountain stream
 is to experience a touch of heaven.

"Deos fortioribus adesse."

Roman Forum, Rome, Italy  © Doug Hickok


"The gods are on the side of the stronger," said Publius Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56-117), a senator of Rome and historian of the Roman Empire. This statement was true of the mighty empire, from the 8th century BC to the year AD 476, when one of the world's greatest civilizations rose, thrived, and declined in a span of about 1000 years. At the height of its power, the dominion of Rome spread 2.5 million miles across the Mediterranean region, and into northern Europe and Asia.


Pictured above, the Roman Forum was the heart of the empire and the oldest part of the city of Rome. This photograph of its ruins illustrates both a visual and historical depth, showing more than a millennium of years in one view.

The ruins from front to back are, the Arch of Septimius Severus (AD 203), the Column of Phocas (far right, AD 608), the Via Sacra (cobblestone path near steps, circa 5th century BC), the Basilica of Julia (steps, BC 54), the Temple of Castor and Pollux (3 columns, BC 484), and in the distance the ruins of the Palatine Hill (BC 510 - AD 576).



Quick take: You can buy the newest Hasselblad 200 MP camera for only $45,000! Act now while supplies last.

Misty Monday - To Shoot

Docked Boats, Northeast Harbor, Maine  © Doug Hickok


The question Hamlet asked was, "To be or not to be."
The question a writer asks is, "to write or not to write."
The question a painter asks is, "to paint or not to paint."
And, the question a photographer asks is, "to shoot or not to shoot."
Sometimes a subject is just too photogenic to pass-up and screams for attention. Such was the case for this naturally beautiful setting on the quiet misty waters of
Northeast Harbor, Maine.

I HAD to shoot!