Piazza Reflection

Window Reflection, Orange St., Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


The balustrade and column of a piazza (porch) is reflected in this window from a Charleston single house across the street.

Another Parking Garage to Contemplate

 Parking Garage Stairwell, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Here is a detail from another parking garage in Charleston. This one poses no metaphysically challenging questions, as did the previous blog entry. Or does it? You may well ask, "Where do the steps lead?" And that's a good question to contemplate. Where do the steps lead? Metaphorically speaking, we can only suppose where our steps might lead us. Only time will tell us the answer.


Until then, here is some cool photography to think about...

A Picture That Poses Too Many Questions

Archdale St. Parking Garage, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


A pattern of rectangular lights and multiple railings atop a parking garage make for an interesting arrangement of shapes and lines. And look, there are no cars to spoil the image either! What? No cars in a parking garage? What does it mean? Is it purely coincidental, or does it presage something deeper and more profound? If there are no cars in a parking garage, does that also mean there are no people driving them? And if there are no people driving them, does that also mean there are no people? And if there are no people, does that also mean I don't exist? And if I don't exist, then I never made this picture? Nor wrote this blog? Hmm. I'll need time to think about this one. But wait! If I don't exist, then I can't think. On second thought, maybe it's better that I don't think. Argh, this is getting way too existential for me!


Location note: This photo was made on the 5th and top floor of the Archdale St. parking garage. That's why there's so much sky. And probably why there's no cars too. Who wants to park on the top floor when they can park on the bottom floor. Anyway, the view is nice.

Reflection of Palmetto Trees

Pond, Kiawah Island, SC  © Doug Hickok

A row of palmetto trees is reflected in a golf course pond on Kiawah Island resort. One word of advice though. If you slice your Titleist into the water, don't go fishing for it. There could be alligators lurking in the shadows!

Impression of a Sunrise II

Charleston Harbor, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Using a quick downward camera movement and saturated colors, a sunrise on Charleston Harbor becomes an impressionistic rendering, and a foray into experimental photography.

Impression of a Sunrise I

Charleston Harbor, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Using a long, sweeping motion, I panned my camera across the reflection of a sunrise on Charleston Harbor, creating an abstract image of subtle light and color. But only after lots of tries did I make an image I was happy with. One of the beauties of digital photography... you can shoot, and shoot, and shoot, making experimentation affordable.

From the Archives - Time Heals

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington  © Doug Hickok


Made from Velvia slide film, this image was shot about five summers ago. Even then, after 25 years from the day Mount St. Helens erupted and ravaged the surrounding mountains and valleys, the land showed signs of recovering. Areas of forest blowdown grew masses of wildflowers. Scars from mud flows slowly healed. And a lone tree was determined to pioneer a new beginning. Life is a persistent force. And time heals.

From the Archives - Eye in the Sky

Union Terminal Ceiling, Cincinnati, Ohio  © Doug Hickok


The art deco style of Cincinnati's Union Terminal train station offers fascinating designs to gaze upon. This is a photograph of the geometric pattern on the terminal ceiling, which is directly over the heads of the one million visitors who walk beneath it every year. The terminal has been in use since the 1930's, but was converted into a museum in 1990. Nevertheless, it's still used today as an Amtrak stop where you can board a train to Chicago or Washington, DC. And the sensation that you're being watched as you pass below the "eye" is simply unadulterated paranoia, even though there are hundreds, no, thousands of hidden security cameras everywhere you look. And the dark suited man standing next to you is listening to every word you think. And he knows your favorite color. And where you live. And, and, and...


 

3 for Thursday - Ravenna, Italy

Street Lamps, Ravenna, Italy  © Doug Hickok

Door Knocker, Ravenna, Italy  © Doug Hickok

Doorway, Ravenna, Italy  © Doug Hickok

Seen above are a trio of images from Ravenna, the former capital of the Western Roman Empire, and home for several years of romantic poet Lord Byron, who worked here on his masterpiece, the epic poem Don Juan.

From the Archives - The Blue Nun of Jasna Gora

Monastery of Jasna Gora, Poland  © Doug Hickok


The 14th century monastery of Jasna Gora shelters Poland's most sacred icon, the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. It also contains many arched passageways that create settings for nicely framed photographs. In this image, a blue clothed nun walked past just as I happened to press the camera shutter. I never saw her face, and to this day I wonder who she was. Where was she from? What kind of life did she live? And most importantly, I wonder who her favorite football club was?

From the Archives - If Life Was Like A Gondola

Blue Gondola, Venice, Italy  © Doug Hickok


If life was like a gondola, it would be simple and stylish, with artistry in the details.

If life was like a gondola, it would glide along smoothly and serenely, with sweet serenading songs to sooth you.

If life was like a gondola, there would be unmatched beauty all around, with a kaleidoscope of colors to astonish you!

If life was like a gondola, you could dock at a cafe along the Grand Canal, and enjoy a sunset while sipping creamy cappuccinos, and savoring succulent chocolates. (Yum. No, wait, that's a double yum!)

That would be the life.

From the Archives - A Rainy Night in Rome

Near Palazzo del Laterano, Rome, Italy  © Doug Hickok


This image shows a range of muted colors flowing together, as seen through a rain soaked window at dusk. That, or my eyes were watering from a fit of sneezes. And yawns. It was a long day.

From the Archives - Serendipity

Road Cut, Cherohala Skyway, North Carolina  
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved  (Click on image for larger view)




Sometimes beauty is found in the least expected places. In this instance, it was found in a road cut on a mountain highway in western North Carolina. Such serendipity is one of the true joys in life.


Photography note: This is a found scene that I almost passed-up. While driving by, I happened to glance over and notice the colors and textures, but kept going. I was impatient to reach my next destination. But the little voice in my head kept saying, "Go back Doug, go back and take a second look" After several miles, I finally turned around, and drove back. I found a safe place to park, jumped out, and made the picture. Sad to say, it wouldn't have been the first time I passed on a potential shot because I was  rushing to be somewhere else. But this time it worked out well.

Happy New Year From Charleston!

Reflection of Saint Michael's Church in City Hall Window, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok




Happy first day of 2011... y'all!

From the Archives - The Blue Gold Tree of Happiness

Cataloochee Valley, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok



If there was a Tree of Happiness, and it was a tree of Blue Gold, I think the Blue would signify Peace and Harmony, and the Gold, Love and Companionship. Like the beautiful color combination of Blue/Gold, the elements of Peace/Harmony and Love/Companionship are complementary, working together like the Sun and Moon, or Yin and Yang, or Rodrigo y Gabriela, or peanut butter and jelly. They are essential for nurturing and growing our own Trees of Happiness. With this in mind, may your own Blue Gold Tree of Happiness flourish in the coming New Year!

Sunrise at Botany Bay

Botany Bay Plantation WMA, Edisto Island, SC  © Doug Hickok


A short hike to the boneyard beach at Botany Bay takes you to an almost surreal place, one of a slowly dying sea island forest. Countless years of relentless tides and damaging storms have eroded so much of the protective beachfront that the woodlands are being inundated by the encroaching sea. Yet, the tangle of dead wood and the haunting shapes of stranded trees make for fascinating photography. And, if Long John Silver ever needed an adventuresome place to bury his pieces of eight, or if Salvador Dali ever wanted fresh material for his phantasmagorical landscapes, then the boneyard beach at Botany Bay would be the ideal spot.

From the Archives - Old Salem Tree Shadow

Winkler Bakery, Old Salem, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok


Winter is well underway in the South. The air is colder but the sun can still warm-up afternoons. On bright days, the light angles a little lower, and shines a little sharper. Colors can be more saturated. I love this kind of light. In this photo, it's late afternoon, and a large bare tree projects its shadow onto the corner of a bakery in Old Salem. It was near here in 1766 where Protestant missionaries from Moravia (a former province in the Czech Republic) settled to begin their new life in the New World. Today the Town of Salem is preserved as though still in the 18th century, an enclave surrounded by the modern urban landscape of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It's a wonderful attraction and well worth a visit to anyone interested in American history, and our connection to the Old World. The Winkler Bakery continues the tradition of baking fresh breads in a wood burning oven. And, boy does it smell heavenly! Here's a link to learn more about Old Salem.

Universal Pattern

Beach Sand Pattern Abstract, Kiawah Island, SC  © Doug Hickok


A close-up of dendritic patterns on a sandy beach left by the ebb and flow of tides mirrors other patterns found in nature, perhaps like those of jelly fish tentacles, or the network of veins in an eye ball, or the roots and branches of a weeping willow, or a network of dry river beds on a desert plain, or a summer electrical storm, or the topographical map of a mountain range, or foul flames from the River Styx, or...

Winter Pond Reflection

Wetlands near Savannah, Georgia  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved 
(Velvia slide film)


Our Lowcountry has many wetlands with still waters ideal for photographing reflections and their eye-catching patterns and shapes. This image was made in the Savannah River floodplain near the border of Georgia and South Carolina. Although you're not likely to see narwhals and belugas here, you might see a yellow-bellied cooter. And, although you're not likely to see puffins and kittiwakes, you might see a red-bellied woodpecker. By now, you may have noticed many of our native wildlife species have multi-colored bellies. There's an easy explanation. The food they eat contains a rainbow of colored dyes to make its appearance more alluring, more appetizing. So, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that one day you might also see a mauve-bellied mockingbird, a fuchsia-bellied fox squirrel, a peach-bellied possum, or a spumoni-bellied skink.

IT'S SPRINGTIME IN CHARLESTON!!!

Washington Park, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Just kidding...
really it's SNOWING!