My first edits from a collection of 'Low Country' travel photos.
I mentioned in my previous photography collection of my sisters dogs, that I'd given her my Nikon setup so she can continue to take great portraits of her pets. Well, I'm not giving up photography-- in fact I intend create full time, with photography becoming my primary income for now.
I'm fortunate enough that my father has seen my talent and passion for photography, and he has helped me buy the gear that I needed to take my craft to the next level, without fear of clients turning me down for having less-than-professional-grade equipment. After months of research and camera trials, I've chosen the Sony A7iii as my primary ground camera, and I'm thrilled with it so far!
This collection includes the first handful of edits from my first real outing with my new Sony mirrorless setup. I bummed around the Southeastern Coast camping and sleeping in my car, having the time of my life exploring exciting new scenery and creating images to express my inspiration.
Preview Grid, Savannah + Charleston collection #1. Please excuse this unusually selfie-heavy content: I don't have many images of myself-- which is especially shameful since I consider myself a photographer. I started to remedy that by taking many tripod images of myself this trip, I hope they don't detract from these travel collections too much.
My first sunrise after a long drive to the coast seems like a good place to start. Well, this is before sunrise, technically, but with enough bracketed exposures and some tuning it could pass for a sunrise behind this mossy tree. My photo adventure actually began with some astrophotography the night before, but I haven't included any starry images in this set.
Then I pulled out one of the drones to catch the sun creeping over the estuaries of Little Tybee Island, the coast of Savannah, Ga. This is an unsual edit... and the only aerial I'll include in this set. I mostly shoot video from the sky. A dark, mysterious taste of much more aerial imagery to come.
Now the sun is up, and I'm down by the beach rocking my #yanggang shirt. I don't consider myself political, but I feel Andrew Yang has integrity, speaks truth, and isn't possessed by any ideological biases or unsavory agendas, a truly exceptional presidential candidate in my eyes.
I'm damn tired, after the long overnight drive. But not too tired for a pier selfie.
I know, I know, it's completely out of focus! But trust me, the detail left unseen makes this impressionistic image is far more interesting than my in-focus takes of the same shoreline from the pier. A successful experiment in my eyes.
"Not Left, Not Right, Forward!" At the Tybee Island Lighthouse. Are you sick of the Yang shirt yet? This should be the last one.
"Exit Helipad Zone" Some day I'll check the area for flight activity, then prepare a drone for takeoff right in the center of one of these and take a nice top-down video of the vertical ascent, but not this day.
An overcast day is amazing for shooting, for so many reasons. With a heavy editing hand, you can really make the clouds look dramatic. This one isn't even bracketed or HDR... using those techniques you can really make clouds look ominous.
Let's head to downtown Savannah for a stroll, shall we?
"Keeping Up With The Joneses" Taken on Jones Street, Savannah Georgia. A buddy in my local crypto telegram group told me Jones Street in Savannah is where that phrase originates-- a reference to the nice houses and cars on this street. There were two of these BMWs, same model and exact same color, which left me wondering who was keeping up with who?
I believe this was also on Jones Street, but many of the nearby streets have a similar feel to "the prettiest street in Savannah", it could've been on another street nearby.
Let your travel eyes be so opened by the unfamiliar scenery that even a dirty roadside puddle holds intrigue.
Emo Kid pose? Maybe. There's a far wider range of expression than just "cheesing" for the camera. I appreciate sincerity.
On down the road, across from the dirty puddle we find the famous Colonial Park Cemetery. Even here is not safe from selfies.
I believe this cemetery is featured in the movie 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' with John Cusack. But I haven't seen that film in years. I do know it was shot mostly if not entirely around Savannah, and features many of the local treasures.
Onward! A short walk to Forsyth Park, downtown Savannah. Boy am I glad I found this park. With the right lighting, this feels like the most beautiful place in the world. I dream of going back to this park and spending the day just taking portrait photos for all the beautiful people in the park, with the amazing park scenery as the perfect backdrop.
Myself on a bench, still in Forsyth Park. Unfortunately the "perfect lighting" I was talking about occurred when I had surrendered to the sheer exhaustion following 24+ waking hours of traveling and taking photos. I found myself trying to take a nap on a blanket in Forsyth Park, without my camera, and still unable to sleep... frequently lifting my head to appreciate the beauty and watch the more active park goers during "magic hour".
The famous "Wormsloe Plantation" had just closed for the day, when I arrived for my first visit. Oh well, I went back the next day. If you google Savannah photography, you'll find many images of the tunnel of oak trees at this location. There are many such tree-tunnels around Savannah and Charleston, but this is probably the most-photographed one of all.
Another day, another park to shoot in. Not looking forward to comments about these kneeling tennis court images.
Sure, I'll throw one in with at least my hair in focus. With sunglasses, to boot!
Still not well rested, but this Saturday night was made for drunken misadventures, chatting up beautiful women, and a bit of meandering through the streets hoping nobody tries to take my camera while I shoot some long exposures. The blur of the tail-lights could be more satisfying, yes. This is the only night photo I'll include in this set, but there are thousands on my disk waiting to be edited-- maybe even some ill-advised footage of the nights drunken misadventures.
"So Far Away - Love You Forever Dad" It's a new day, and a new city. Welcome to Charleston, SC. Someone tied this ribbon on the fence by the ocean. I angled my shot of the ribbon to include the message but not the recipient, and posed to make it my own. Not to take anything away from whomever's Dad, but leaving the identifier off opens it up for other interpretations.
All I need is a box of chocolates. This was at Waterfront Park on Charleston's coast, right next to two fountains, one of them being "The Pineapple Fountain" (images of said pineapple to be posted at a later date)
Yeah, I walked around with my shirt open like that for an hour or so after I bathed in a fountain. Not the pineapple fountain, the one down the path which pummels you with 1600 lbs of water pressure from a circle of a dozen or so high powered water jets, which all converge in the exact center. I don't recommend crouching or laying down in the middle of that one, the pressure may not let you get back up. Also have footage of that to come at a later date, this is a fountain-free blog post.
The sun has set, but the sky is still LIT! This will be the last image, as I spent a few minutes too long shooting and came back to a parking ticket on my windshield. If anyone has information on what exactly the United States Custom House in Charleston is, do tell. I visited the wikipedia after I shot this but I only remembered reading about the construction and architecture.
And for my next trick: party photos! Bass music is dope, that's what the kids tell me. SHAQ (DJ Diesel) agrees. I'm back in Asheville, and all I want to do is shoot music events and portraits for tourists. I hope this goes well, my bank account is giving me that "excuse me, but wtf?" look as I'm scrambling to transition to earning a serious income from photography.
That set comes later. Tune in next week for wub wubs, womp womps & DROP THE BASS!-- in image form.