Amazing!

Young Chelsea Contemplating Life, Folly Beach, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Film Photography)



Life is precious. It passes too fast.
Our children grow up seemingly in an instant.
Then they are gone, pursing life's adventures.
Our daughter has grown into an amazing woman.
Today she is embarking on a new life adventure... marriage...
 not surprisingly, to an amazing man.

Curving Steps

Curving Staircase, Hunting Island Lighthouse, Hunting Island, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view)



Inside Hunting Island Lighthouse, a staircase vortex
 offers a curve for abstract photography.

Throwback Thursday - Psychedelic Nature

Little Miami River, John Bryan State Park, Yellow Springs, Ohio
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view. Kodachrome Film.)



Aging film can produce unusual color. This image,
 shot on Kodachrome film back in the 1980's,
 shows purples, blues and aquas that seem to be
straight out of a psychedelic dream.

Jasmine Door

Door and Confederate Jasmine, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Sweet scented Confederate Jasmine blooms profusely
 around this single house entry in Charleston's Historic District.

Picturesque Palladian

Drayton Hall, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



The ancient live oaks around Drayton Hall provide perfect
 framing for the historic and picturesque colonial mansion.
It is a classic example of Palladian architecture in North America.

Misty Monday - Lone Paddler

Lone Paddler, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



Paddling among the waves near the Folly Beach Fishing Pier,
 a solitary adventurer braves a cold, misty sea.

Bernini Angel

Bernini Angel and Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view. Velvia slide film.)



An elaborately sculpted angel by the Italian Baroque artist
 Gian Lorenzo Bernini makes a fine counterpoint to the
 simple rounded form of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome.

Surgeon's Warning

Tobacco Field, near Maggie Valley, North Carolina
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view. Velvia slide film.)



Curving rows of tobacco march across a field
on an Appalachian farm near the Great Smoky Mountains.
This pretty view belies the fact that this is where addictions begin.

Abandoned

Deadwood and Morris Island Lighthouse, Folly Beach, SC  
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



Dead trees along Folly Beach offer interesting
foreground detail, with the abandoned
Morris Island Lighthouse serving as a backdrop.

Beneath the Palms

Garden Path, near The Battery, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



A stone walkway leads past sego palms and palmetto trees
 in this enchanting Lowcountry garden.

2014 Spoleto Festival USA

Detail, Porch Ceiling and Molding, Sottile House, Charleston, SC  
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)




The image above was selected as this year's Spoleto Festival USA
ticket brochure cover. It's an abstract detail of a
porch ceiling (green) and its elaborate crown molding.
Shown below is how the artists at Stitch Design Co. rotated
 and cropped the image to fit their design. 

2014 Ticket Brochure Cover



Spoleto Festival USA begins this week in Charleston.
It is one of the world's largest international art festivals
 and lasts a little over two weeks.
You can see a copy of the entire ticket brochure here.

A Graphic Oak

Angel Oak, John's Island, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view. Velvia slide film.)



A sprawling limb of the ancient Angel Oak
 provides an ideal leading line into this photograph.
The giant live oak is estimated to be about 500 years old.
I am excited that this image was recently featured
on the National Geographic Travel blog.

Misty Monday - Above the Ridges

View from Clingman's Dome, Tennessee  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved (Film)



Morning fog veils Appalachian mountain ridges
 as the rising sun illuminates their softened edges.

Home on the Range?

Mesquite Tree and Rock Formation, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



An old mesquite tree stands in the front yard
 of what looks like a gargantuan rock house.
I wonder what giant lives there?

Hansome George

Window Display, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Velvia slide film. Click on image for larger view.)



George Washington never looked so good.

A Myriad of Anemones

Tide Pool, near Cape Perpetua, Oregon  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Velvia slide film.)



I used a polarizing filter on my lens to clear the water's surface
 of reflections so that this myriad of sea anemones could be seen
 in the tide pool.

Throwback Thursday - Twilight Mood

Lantern and Gate, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, SC  
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved (Velvia slide film.)



Ornate designs and bold colors can be found all around Charleston.
But it is twilight that enhances the mood.
This image was shot on film, years ago, before the restoration
 of the Dock Street Theatre was completed.

Abandoned in Time

Abandoned Structure, Western Kansas  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



An abandoned building sits alone on a stretch of empty prairie
 in western Kansas. Once there was life here,
but time has faded all memory of it.




 

Early Morning Shadow

Porch Chair and Shadows, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



A chair casts an intricate shadow pattern on the wall of a Charleston piazza.
The peacefulness of early morning on a lowcountry porch is
one of life's simple pleasures.

On Patrol

Alligator and Azaleas, Middleton Place, Charleston, SC
(Click on image for larger view.)



A young gator patrols the Rice Mill Pond at Middleton Place.

Happy Mother's Day

Garden Gate, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



For all the wonderful mothers in this world,
 may your children open the gates of their hearts
and show you all the love and appreciation you deserve.

Happy Mother's Day Gramomistel!
Becky and Doug love and appreciate you...
and can't wait to see you!

2014 Commencment

Randolph Hall, College of Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)


Pictured here is Randolph Hall at the College of Charleston.
 Today, in front of this campus landmark, undergraduate students
 will commence to graduate after four long years of hard work...
 and fun!

Piece of the Puzzle

Shadows and Reflections, Gondolas, Venice, Italy  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Velvia slide film.)



There are plenty of beautiful vistas to photograph in the incomparable city of Venice, Italy. But I am the kind of photographer that tends to hone in on details... impressions or abstractions that show an archetypal piece of the whole puzzle. This image shows the prows of two gondolas and their reflections in the waters of a canal, an unmistakably Venetian tableau.

Throwback Thursday - Point of View

Azaleas and Pedestrian Bridge, Magnolia Gardens, Charleston, SC  (Film)



When my wife and I first moved to South Carolina back in the 1980's,
 I was fortunate to have worked at Magnolia Gardens for a couple of years.
 On my time off, I would walk the plantation paths, with camera in hand,
 and learn the tricks of garden photography. For this point of view,
 I climbed up a ladder to peer over the masses of blooming azaleas.
This gave me a clear view of the colors and the old pedestrian bridge
  that is a landmark of the gardens.

Ornate Fence Post

Fence Post, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok All Rights Reserved



A fence post in Charleston is never a dull affair.

Cool Path

Hiking Trail, Mount Mitchell State Park, North Carolina
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



A quiet path meanders up Mount Mitchell's forested slope.
 In summer, when the temperatures in the lowlands are unbearable,
 a quick trip to Mount Mitchell will surely cool your body
 as well as your temperament.

Photographer's Best Friend

Live Oak Branches and Reflections, Charles Towne Landing State Park, Charleston, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Backlighting may be a photographer's best friend,
especially the way it can transform and highlight a subject,
such as this overhanging branch at Charles Towne Landing.

Above the Street

Finial Detail, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



Charleston has plenty of fascinating views at eye level.
 But, above the street interesting sights also abound,
such as this finial detail atop a tall entry gate.
To get near enough for this shot, I climbed a step ladder...
then held out my camera to get even closer.
Luckily, there was enough oxygen
in the atmosphere at that height for me to breath!

Mailbox

Mailbox and Vines, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



It must be a pleasure for the postman to deposit letters
 in a mailbox like this one everyday... one bounded
 by luxuriant displays of verdant vines and purple blooms.

Painter in the Garden

Painter at Work, Middleton Place Gardens, Charleston, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



Spring not only brings out colorful blooms in the gardens,
but also the artists who paint them.




 

Throwback Thursday - Primeval Forest

Mountain Stream, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, North Carolina
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved (Film)



This is a photograph that I made back in the 1980's
 at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, which protects
 one of the last stands of virgin forest in the
 Eastern United States.

Joyce Kilmer wrote a famous poem called "Trees",
which begins with the familiar lines...

"I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree... "