Travel Photography: Hurricane Matthew
By now most of the developed world has heard about Hurricane Matthew. The weather people are spouting that it has already devastated parts of Haiti and is brutalizing Cuba. Matthew is rumored to be picking up momentum, as they say, and gearing up to hit the continental U.S., Florida to be exact. If this is not news to you, well, keep reading below.
Just over a week ago my wife and I left Massachusetts with our two dogs and drove south. After a 22 hour trip with an over night in North Carolina, we arrived at Isle of Palms in South Carolina. Isle of P is part of Charleston, a fascinatingly beautiful city that we adore. We arrived to beautiful weather and I, personally, with hopes of creating some great images. The day before we left I purchased a Fuji X Pro2. I have been lusting after a X series camera for sometime now. I finally pulled the trigger and purchased one for the trip.
In an extremely bold move, I only took the Fuji. Yes, I only took the Fuji, with a 35mm F 2.0 lens. My bag consisted of the camera, extra memory cards, extra battery, and my notebook with pens. When I travel I write. I keep notes for blog posts as well as for general stories of my travels, some times making notes of things to see in the future or recommendations for friends and family traveling to that area. I will get into the camera and note books later in a follow up post. This is a short and sweet post. Before I continue, full disclosure, I also brought a few GoPros, my DJI Phantom 4, and my Osmo. So, I guess in a way, I brought more than just my new Fuji. However, primarily being a still photographer, the Fuji X Pro was my only still camera of choice.
I will fully discuss the Fuji in the next few blog posts, once we are back. But for now I will share 1 photograph from our trip.
It is 11:39 and Sue just went to bed. I will be following her shortly. We are waking up and heading out at about 3 am. The Gov of the State of South Carolina has give an executive order, a mandatory evacuation of the coastal towns and cities. We are currently on an island, the wrong place to be during a hurricane of this magnitude. We were due to leave in 3 days, on Saturday. We are now being force out of our rental, again, more details when I do my full travel post. The night air is soft as the palmettos gently flex their tops in light wind. The roads are mostly empty, where as days ago there would be a steady stream of cars on both sides, zipping around the island. During the day golf carts would cruise by. Some with teenagers at the wheel, some with women and a dog as their navigator, some, just a group of guys out cruising around with a few drinks in hand.
Beautiful houses that line the streets and the beaches are boarded up. Those who linger risk their lives, knowingly rejecting any form of emergency services. Almost all gas stations have been sucked dry of their precious fuels. Most stores have been cleaned out and people have been disembarking the area for hours. There was a round of people that left yesterday, fearing the need to evacuate very early. We chose to stay a day later after the captain of a boat tour we took suggested we let the first group leave. He thought it would serve us well to leave very early on Thursday morning. That is the plan and it is breaking our hearts. Like I said, I am going to be discussing our travels at length, so this sort of prologue severs as a vent to our frustration as well as a means to introduce the stories that I will be sharing when we arrive home. It has been a rather near tragic trip for us, for a verity of reasons, and as I prepare to shut my computer down and head to sleep for a few hours, I think of those who are already suffering due to the devastation that has occurred, and for those who have left their homes in haste to find shelter and safety. For us we are heading home, leaving behind someone else's home. It is not an easy thing to do, fee, and just turn a blind eye. At the moment we have no choice but to head home. In a few days from now, hundreds of thousands of people might not have homes to return to. That is very sad to know, that while you flee to your home, others are fleeing from theirs. Our hearts go out to those already affected and to those are will be affected. We love Charleston and the surrounding area and have hopes of returning in the Spring, hopefully to a city that has not been leveled or damaged to much.
If you are evacuating, safe travels. If you are reading this from the comforts of your land locked home, keep us in your thoughts as we navigate out of the area.
Travel Photography: Charleston South Carolina
Charleston embodies the south and southern living. There is a rich history that can be seen, tasted, heard, and enjoyed in all parts of the city. I am spoiled, as we all are, by such travel shows like Guy Fiery's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Such shows are as entertaining as they are informative. My wife and I have made a point that when we travel, we are going to eat at the places we see on Guy's show. This trip to Charleston, we had neglected to think of doing that, probably because that was before we became obsessed with his show. We did however get a chance to try a well known restaurant, Poogan's Porch.
A culture can not exist without its people. People are the creative force that designs the food, art, and music that make up each region of the world. When I photograph someone I have an instant connection with them as well as I can understand them better. This is irregardless of age, race, or gender. The same can also be said for when I photograph the places I travel to. I try to experience the music, food, architecture, and art as best as I can. One of the things I fell in love with is the rich, vibrant, saturated colors of the buildings. The colors reminded me of Bermuda and some regions of the Bahamas, bright.
Whats better than food and art? music. Country music all sounds the same, just like a lot of other styles of music. But there are some artists that embody the places around them and become an element of that region by the sounds they create. One of the best ways to absorb the sounds of an area, get very close, so close that you can feel the tones, the sounds, each strum of the guitar or hear the sound of the singers lips opening and closing. Get close and take it in.
The area around Charleston is just as beautiful. We rented a car and made a point to visit Angel Oak. I am pretty sure the tree is older than the dirt that its roots are firmly planted in. Other things that come out of the ground are vegetables. Colorful, beautiful, natural vegetables. Crossing the bridge from Charleston we headed towards Sullivan's Island. Along the way we stumbled upon a farmers market that was part of a larger fair.
The south is known for a few things, BBQ is one of them. I wanted to find something authentic. I am not sure where we stopped, Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ, was authentic, but it was pretty damn good.
Charleston is a wonderful place to visit. For New Years eve I wanted to take a trip, like we have done in the past, but due to some work related events, we couldn't take the time away. When I had suggested the idea, I suggested Charleston. When you find something someplace that inspires you to go back, you go back. My wife had said why go back when we could have gone some where else. Charleston I know, there was a great Thai restaurant that I would love to get back to again and for a holiday trip, a few days away, Charleston is the perfect destination.
Travel Photography: Charleston South Carolina
I am 90% sure that I have not posted any photos from my travels to Charleston South Carolina last year. In May of 2013, my then girlfriend, now fiance, took me to Charleston for my birthday. It was my 30th and she wanted to do something special for me. Had never been in an airplane before that trip. So it had a lot of meaning.
Charleston is very historic. There is a vibrant, visible history that some cities can not even claim. Among the historic images one can come across on their walks through, there is a culture that makes Charleston a very lavish place to vacation and visit.
Without providing a narrative for every day we were there, like I would like to do, rather I chose 5 images to show what I saw. These are 5 randomly chosen, spur of the moment choice that I think one could say, Charleston is interesting. I will give a one sentence blurb for each photo.
The architecture in Charleston is ornate, charming, often very lavish.
After a day and a half of the intoxicating aroma, I was finally able to ask a local what the flowery bush was that emanated the fragrance. Confederate Jasmine.
During a tour of Charleston, we were told that the homes that do not have a steel fence were the ones that donated to the Civil War, with the expectation they would be returned after the war was over.
Poogans Porch is widely known for their food and their hauntings. Alligator
This little boy was cooling off in a beautiful, well visited fountain located next to the wharf by the river.
While my photographs are mere snapshots of what can really be seen in Charleston, they still capture an essence of the city. Charleston is one of those places were you could spend weeks documenting the life, culture, and ambiance of the city. In the last 18 or so months I have taken mental trips back to Charleston. On a good day, I can remember the taste of Alligator.