The Ravenel / Cooper River Bridge

If you ever go to Charleston, you will not miss the Cooper River Bridge.
It's huge.
It's unique.
And, it's in a very visible location.

Underneath the bridge is a very nice, well-maintained Memorial Park.  It has playground equipment for the kids and a beautiful setting for the adults.

One evening, Annette and I went to the park and hung out until dark.  We saw families, couples and an exercise class that was sitting on their butts, lifting their feet off of the ground and using both hands to swing a weight back and forth.  That should help the abdominal muscles!

Anyway, we waited until the sun set and the lights on the bridge came on.  These are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge) at Sunset 

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge) at Sunset 

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge) at Sunset

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge) at Sunset

Oh, yeah, by the way, we also walked the bridge during the daylight hours.  I had read somewhere that the bridge deck was 195 feet above the water surface!  I was OK until we got to the first tower.  At that point I could feel the bridge move with every car that went by.  I don't know much about the fatigue life of concrete on steel beams, so I was starting to freak out.  We turned around and went back!

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge)

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge)

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge)

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge)

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge)

The Ravenel Bridge (a.k.a. the Cooper River Bridge)

Sunrise, Sunset

Generally, when a normal person goes on vacation, it is a break from work and the work routine of getting up early and making the commute.

Not so for Annette and me!!!

We were up for several sunrises.  In fact, we commuted over an hour to try to get to a photo opportunity before the sun was up.

Here are some pictures:

The Pier on Isle of Palms

 Obviously, for the image above, we were in place before the sun actually rose above the horizon.  And then we continued to shoot after the sun rose for the picture below.

The Pier on Isle of Palms

For the three stark images below of the remains of trees near the ocean's edge, we hurried to get to the spot, but it was an hour and fifteen minute's drive from where we were staying and then it was a 15 minute walk from the car to the beach by the trees.  We didn't quite make it in time.  Annette was very disappointed.  However, we were able to salvage a few shots.

Botany Bay Plantation Boneyard

Botany Bay Plantation Boneyard

Botany Bay Plantation Boneyard

The two images below are shots of the huge houses along the battery.  We were there just after sun up and before there were cars parked on the street.  I have to tell you, it was cold!

Enormous House along the Battery

Enormous House along the Battery

I wish I could do that!

In April, Annette and I went on vacation to the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina and the neighboring area.  I will eventually get some pictures up from the trip.

But there were a couple of occasions on the trip that Annette was able to do what I cannot.  She happily and cheerfully approached people and asked to take their picture.  We arrived in the area on Saturday and on Sunday she started.

We were in Waterfront park in Charleston and there were a lot of people out in the Easter finery, including a cute young couple.  Let's call them Jane and the Seersucker Man!  Jane had on a pretty blue sun dress and her escort had on a Seersucker jacket along with shirt and tie.

Annette had her eye on this couple from the moment she saw them.  Finally she approached them and found them to be great kids, who were very willing to participate in an impromptu photo shoot.  Annette took some pictures with her camera and with Jane's camera.  You can see an overall shot below.

Jane and the Seersucker Man

After we left them and as we were walking through the park, we saw some young kids doing cartwheels.  Annette talked to them and got pictures of them and their cartwheels.

When we were at Shem Creek, Annette approached a guy who was fishing and took several pictures of him.  The guy was willing enough that, when we were both in the  parking lot, he came up with his email address to make sure that Annette would send him some pictures.

One morning during the week we got up before sunrise and went to the pier on Isle of Palms.  We were taking pictures when this group of young girls came walking by.  It turns out that they were a softball team from upstate New York.  They were taking pictures of each other and Annette volunteered to take pictures of the group with their cameras.  Then she got some shots in with her own camera.  Here is a picture of the arranging of the group.

Softball Team Photo

But, Hey! I got some pictures of people.  It's just that I did if from afar and did not have to actually ask if I could take their picture.  Here is what I mean...

Cadets

The National Mall at Night.

Normally, I am a big chicken!  When I go to a large city, like Washington, DC, I want to get out of town before night falls.

But last night, Annette and I tried and experiment.  We left after work and went in to Washington, DC.

DC is only 1 1/2 hours from Hagerstown, where I work.  So, my thoughts were,  if we left at 5:00, we could be on the mall by 6:30 and try to capture the great evening light through sunset and into the twilight.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go astray.

We had to stop and get gas and something to eat.  So that took time.

We were going to eat in the car, but we were in our little, two-seat convertible and the limited room would make eating a feat.  So we stopped at the rest area and had a little picnic.  That took time.

Last night was right in the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival, so we figured that there would be a lot of people downtown and that there would not be a lot of parking, so we dicided to take the Metro.  We got off of the highway at Shady Grove and some how missed the turn to the Metro.  So that took time.

Then we go back on the highway and went to Rockville.  At the Rockville Metro station, I pulled into the drop off area and had to circle around again to get to the correct parking lot.  So that took time.

Then the Metro is slower than driving a car at 70 mph, so that took time.

Last night the sun set at 7:24.  We came up out of the Smithsonian Metro stop at just a few minutes before 8:00!  I remember coming up the escalator into the open and looking up.  The sky was such a deep, rich blue!  Unfortunately, that meant that the sunset was gone.

But we did our best.  We got some shots of the capital and of the Washington monument.  But we did not go to the tidal basin, where the most abundant cherry blossoms are.

We briefly talked to another photographer, with his camera on a tripod and he said to make sure we got the two planets in the picture.  I don't know where the two planets were, but his camera was pointed towards the Washington Monument with only two "lights" in the sky.  So I assume that they are the planets.  (I hope you astronomy buffs can forgive my ignorance!)

Washington Monument with the planets

Annette recently got an early birthday present for me; an 11-22mm lens.  So I had to try it out.  I used the lens in this next picture and, even though I was quite close to the monument, I was able to get it all in the frame.  Oh!  And I got the planets, too!

Wide angle shot of the Washington Monument

 Photographer's trade-off:  To get the exposure I had to choose between two choices:
1.  Using a high ISO, which would allow a faster shutter speed to freeze the flags, but would also add noise/grain to the image.
2.  Using a lower ISO and a longer shutter speed, which would reduce the noise but would show the flags as blurry.
Obviously, I chose the latter.  Another photographer may choose differently.

These next two pictures are very similar, so you have a choice.  Let me know which one you like best.

The first one tells a little bit more of a story.  You will notice that there is a large truck coming up the dirt walking path on the mall.  That seemed unusual to me.  As I watched his progress, I found out that he was delivering supplies for the set up of an installation for the crowds that are still coming to the Cherry Blossom Festival.

The second one is a little tighter shot and keeps most of the people out of the frame.

We didn't leave the mall until 10:00.  Because we had to take the Metro (at the same time that a Capitals hockey game let out) and had to stop and pick up my car at work, we didn't get home until nearly 1:00 a.m.!  I'm getting too old for late nights!

Mom's Birthday Gathering

I looked forward to it for weeks!  It went by so quickly and now it is gone.

On March 11, 2012, my family got together to celebrate my mother's birthday.  It was so great to see my brothers and sisters and their family.

I remembered looking back through photos of family gatherings from the past and how much those times meant to me, so I made the effort to get everyone outside for a group photo.

Although it is a snapshot, it still means a lot to me, and I hope it means a lot to them.

Members of the Clayton E. Garthwaite Clan

By the way, my mother's birthday present from 46 years ago was present this day.    (That's my brother, the taller guy in the blue shirt towards the left.)   Happy Birthday, Bundy!!! 

Although I counted 24 people in the picture above, there were at least a dozen more missing, including my two boys!

Then Annette took the camera and had some fun with the little kids.  Haven was very expressive, as you can see in the two pictures below.

Say what?!?!?

But the time flew.  We only had four hours together, but I will look at the pictures and remember it a long time.

Carlisle at Night

Looking back through my catalog of images, I see that the last time that Annette and I were out shooting was the beginning of November.  That's three months of photographic inactivity!  Wow!

Last night we finally decided to shoot and it felt good.

The Harrisburg Camera Club is trying a themed competition for the March event.  The them is outside night photography.  Fortunately, they set up a photo shoot to give an opportunity to get out with fellow shooters and get a night shot.

The venue was downtown Carlisle.  It makes an impact when 12 or so tripod toting people wander through the town pointing their cameras at everything in sight.  Some guys asked some of the group who we were and what we were doing.  He said we were the talk of the town!

Here are a couple of the shots that I took.  They are vastly different!

Speaking of different, no wonder they say that two photographers shooting side by side will come up with very different shots of the same subject, when I go three very different shots and I am only one photographer.

Downtown Carlisle on the Square

I had to wait a while to get this shot.  I did not want any cars coming toward me.  Their lights would have been way too bright!  But I did want cars going away or crossing in front of me so that I could capture the streaks.

Abstract Neon at Night

The abstract pictures that I took last night were actually the most fun! I need to do more!

Bar Light

I usually do not do photojournalistic type of stuff.  But I liked the light fixture and the lettering is an indicator of the times.  You know...It wasn't that long ago that a person could smoke in any bar or restaurant.  Restaurants had Smoking and Non-Smoking sections.  Now it is a selling point that you can smoke in this bar.

Shadows and Light in Harrisburg

This past Sunday, Annette and I joined a group from the Harrisburg Camera Club on a photo shoot in downtown Harrisburg.  Annette and I were running behind so we joined the group after they had made their way up State Street and were moving toward North Street.

It is difficult for me to see pictures of the city.  I guess I can't see the forest for the trees?!?!?!  So I choose to concentrate on details.  You'll see what I mean in some of the photos below.

We were lucky on Sunday in that we were on North Street at the right time of the day at the right time of the year so that the sun was in line with the street and raked across the front facade of the buildings.

Here are some pictures from the outing.

In the picture above I was trying to capture the shadows of the vines and the tenement appearance of the building (my apologies to the owner of the building!).

 In this picture, the sunlight was almost parallel to the surface of the grate.  The damaged part that was pushed out, caught the light and created a shadow.  With the light raking along the surface, even the small flakes of paint cast a shadow.

Can you imagine what this is???  It's a mundane object.  But isn't it cool the way the light rakes across the object and the little bumps cast long shadows?

I think everybody at the photo shoot took a picture similar to this!  But the light was so fascinating!  I liked that the sun was just hidden by the wall and created a glow around the edge of the building.  I like the way the sun was almost parallel to the ceiling and painted it with a special light.  I liked the way the texture of the stones in the column cast shadows.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Until next time...