Black and white photos 2017

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/2017-favorites/

I’m an amateur photographer at most. The busyness of my life and my scattered interests has not made it easy for me to focus in detail on the more technical aspects of photography; but in some ways I’ve delved a little deeper into the world of pictures this year. A while back, I experimented with transforming some of my color photos into black and white. This simple act produced more than one aha moment as in many cases, I could actually see more depth in my photos in black and white than I could in color. At the very least, it altered the dimension in such a way that it gave me a different perspective on the experience I had when I took the photo. Some of my favorite transformations are below.

 

A Day in Charleston

Recently, I took a day trip to Charleston with a couple of friends. It was not our original plan, to be honest. We had originally planned to go hiking in Dupont Forest. Mother Nature had other ideas, however, and it rained at Dupont during the time of our trip. It did not, however, rain on the coast that day so we re-calculated and went to Charleston instead- which of course was still a lovely day.

 

On our excursion, we stayed around the downtown Charleston area. There is so much to do in that area that we found plenty of sites to see on our day trip. A friend of mine arrived prepared, having printed a map of downtown Charleston, and from there we made our selections. We parked near Waterfront Park and met at the Pineapple Fountain. From there, we wandered down to Rainbow Row then decided to tour the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon.

 

Afterwards, we started looking around for a place to eat. One of my friends was a vegetarian so we walked from restaurant to restaurant reading menus on windows until we settled on the Sweetwater Cafe.  I had a delicious tuna melt on sourdough with a side salad and sweet tea. My friends both had breakfast dishes. We discussed our next move over lunch. The City Market was close by so we decided to go there next. There were hundreds of vendors at the market with a plethora of unique and beautiful items, including the famed sweetwater baskets of Charleston. I bought a couple of small gifts. I might have bought more but I was traveling on foot and knew that I would have to carry the bags.

 

After the City Market, we went to visit the horses. Charleston, like so many historic cities, offers carriage tours. We had heard that the public was welcome to visit the horses-carriage ride or not-just to say hello so we found a stable and met this beautiful guy, who was resting when we stopped by.

 

The remainder of our trip was pretty much a self-guided walking tour to view old buildings that we thought might be of interest. We saw some churches

cemeteries

and an old prison.

We also saw some beautiful historic homes. One thing I loved about Charleston is that, even though the homes are beautiful, they aren’t always uniform. There’s a “Charleston style” that carries throughout the city, but I literally saw homes side by side of different styles and colors, and the effect was charming.

Before we ended our day, we treated ourselves to a Belgian Gelato. I chose chocolate hazelnut. It was delish! Full of gelato, we wandered back to our cars and prepared for the drive home. I looked at my phone and saw that we had walked 7 miles throughout the day. I guess we got in our hike, anyway.

Oak Island Lighthouse

Currently, there are seven coastal lighthouses in North Carolina. So far, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting three: Cape Lookout, the Oak Island Lighthouse and Old Baldy. I hope to visit them all.

I traveled to the Oak Island Lighthouse a few weeks ago. It was a Sunday afternoon, I wanted to get out the house, and I remembered that I’d been planning to visit the lighthouse, which was a little less than an hour’s drive from my home, for quite a while. As I drove through the rural route that would take me to the lighthouse, I remember thinking, I would never live out here, because there didn’t appear to be much to do. I would see things a little differently once I reached my destination.

The light from the lighthouse, located on Caswell Beach Rd on Oak Island, can be seen for 16 miles. It’s rather exciting to see it flashing in the distance as you approach the beach. The lighthouse was built in 1957 to replace a steel lighthouse on Bald Head Island (Bald Head and Oak Island are very close to one another) and when it was first lit in 1958, carbon-arc mercury lamps, which were used prior to incandescent lights, provided so much light that it was the brightest in the United States and the second brightest in the world. The light is currently powered by a 1,000 watt halogen bulb and displays 4 one second flashes then 6 seconds of blank. It stands 153 feet tall and has 131 steps that can be climbed to reach an outside balcony, although you must schedule a time to climb the lighthouse. It is not open during any set hours.

It is very easy to access because it sits just by the road. There is a tiny parking lot directly in front of the lighthouse with free parking for 30 minutes. I saw another public access parking lot just down the road. Across the street is a walkway onto Caswell Beach. After I poked around the lighthouse, I crossed the street to check out the beach. It was super quiet compared to the beaches where I live, and I saw several pelicans flying so close to the shore that I could actually make out their little pelican faces. I glanced behind me to see the flashes from the lighthouse, and it occurred to me how fortunate the locals are to live so close to such a quiet beach adorned with their own personal lighthouse. Ok, I thought, maybe I would live here.

Carolina Beach State Park

July 4th was a busy day for me. I couldn’t sleep and woke up before dawn. I used the time to watch the sunrise on the beach then I called my 75-year-old father, who I figured would be up, to go to breakfast. After breakfast, we drove down to Carolina Beach State Park. I’ve been wanting to check out CB park for a while, and now I want to go back.

Carolina Beach State Park is 761 acres large along the Cape Fear River and Snow’s Cut which is part of the Intracoastal waterway. There are 8 hiking trails scattered throughout the park ranging from .35 mile to 3 miles long: 6 miles of hiking trails total. All are sandy terrain and considered easy.

A marina provides access to boating and fishing. Campsites tailored toward both families and groups feature amenities such as picnic tables, grills and fire rings. There are some cabins available for reservation and restrooms with hot showers are located nearby.

On my trip to CB State Park, we hiked part of the Sugarloaf Trail which travels through the marsh along the river. We saw waterbirds along the way and several fiddler crabs crossed our path as we made our way along the route. I have intentions of going back with a picnic lunch and hiking the trail to the Sugarloaf Dune which I hear offers an excellent view.

Definitely check this park out if you are in the area. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

 

 

The Most Interesting Cat in the World

I’ve been craving new excursions lately in the way of exploring or hiking, however, life has been crazy busy.  The struggle to find time is real, my friends. But excursions are coming because I need them! In the meantime, let me attempt to entertain you with another Caturday Haiku in honor of Sir Poe Cat, who turned 5 yesterday; my favorite football team, the Carolina Panthers; and The Most Interesting Man in the World (the first one, not the new one, who-no offense to the new guy-can never be replaced).

I don’t always act

like a big cat but when I

do, it’s a Panther

If you want some giggles, click on this link for some of the best quotes from the Most Interesting Man in the World.

And finally, it’s July in NC and hot as blazes. Stay hydrated and Keep Pounding, my friends!

 

Fancy Feast

Caturday haiku

Feed me seafood pate and

tell me I’m pretty

 

Beach bunny

Little beach bunny

steals attention as we stroll

towards the water

 

This little fellow lives behind some condos at my favorite access point to the beach. He’s obviously being fed and cared for. He doesn’t seem fearful as we walk by on our way to the beach. I’ve seen him several times now and always look for him on my way to the ocean.

 

 

Natty Kats

Dapper natty debonair

dandies, those cool kats

sure know how to dress

Photo Courtesy of Pinterest

 

 

Reading with a Friend

It took me a while to settle on how I was going to approach this topic. I am blessed to have so many examples of friends, both human and animal. I chose the following picture accompanied by a 6-word story. I hope you enjoy.

 

Sunday morning reading with a friend. 

The Alarm

calls

Window light falls

The cat adjusts by my side

Monday

One more snooze…

(non traditional Haiku)