A Trip to Charleston, South Carolina

I've been up in Charleston, SC for the past week (mostly working) and got to do some tourist type travel this past weekend. I thought I'd share some of my photos with you of this lovely, historic town.

This first picture is of the Joseph Manigault house that was built in 1802. I took a tour of the interior, but since they don't allow flash photography (and I didn't have my tripod with me) I'm not too happy with the way the pics came out. If you get a chance and you love old homes you need to take the tour!This is another shot of the same home. This side of the house can be seen from Meeting Street.
On the weekend there is a fabulous farmer's market full of great food, fruits, vegetables, art work, live music, and many interesting things to see. You just never know what you'll find at one. I satisfied one of my cravings by getting some boiled peanuts. Yum Yum!
Charleston is full of many interesting (and narrow!) side streets.
The Yorktown is docked here and you can take a tour. I'm planning on doing that on my next trip here.
You can see the Yorktown from the Waterfront park. An afternoon rain storm moved in while I was there, but there are places where you can go to get out of the rain. I just love the way the clouds look in this shot.
This is the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. I took this from the Mount Pleasant side.
There is much more to see in Charleston. I'm planning on coming back in a couple of weeks and will try and post some more photos.

Spring Cruise Photos

Earlier this year I went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. I thought I'd share a few of my photos from that trip. This first one is the sunset from one of the lower decks of the ship. It's blurred, but I love the feeling of movement over the water.This next photo is from our first excursion in Mexico (no flu here!). We went to a cave that the Maya used. You could swim here or explore further into the cave system.
What trip to the Caribbean would be complete without a trip to the beach. This one is on the Caribbean side of Mexico.
From Mexico we then went on to Belize and toured Altun Ha. The adventurous could climb up to the top of this temple. Take it easy if you do, the steps are very old and very uneven -- but the view from the top is worth it.
We then took a ride down the River Wallace. It was very overcast, but I really enjoyed seeing all the wildlife along the river.
Unfortunately, all good vacations must come to an end. This photo is my favorite sunset picture from the trip.

Some Magnificent Birds

These are such magnificent birds -- I just wanted to share these photos that I took recently.

Hope to be back and posting articles again soon.

A Day with the Animals

I thought I would share a few photos that I took this past week while visiting the local animal park. I won't call it a zoo because they have worked very hard to give the animals as natural a habitat as possible. Many are endangered species that they are working hard to save. Unfortunately, we have not been good stewards of this planet.
This fellow looks like a zebra, but is really a relative of a giraffe - the okapi:Hippos love to hang out in the water:Meerkat's have their own TV show now:
These gentle giants have been hunted almost to extinction:It is always best to let sleeping tigers lie:

Nature Inside a Metropolis

Not far from my house is a creek that is being cleaned up by both the city and county where I live, and they have done a great job. This past week I had the opportunity to canoe along a portion of it with a group that was inspecting the cleanup progress. Looking at these photos, would you believe that I live in a very large metropolitan area? It just goes to show you that nature is still out there.

One should always expect the unexpected:

Nature is all around us. Try and take some time and look for the beauty of the natural world where you live. You'll feel better for getting out there. I know, I sure felt great when I got back from my afternoon on the creek.

Something Peaceful

Considering everything that is going on, I thought I would share a few flower photos that I've taken over the past year. There is enough bad news and depressing things to read or see. I don't know about you, but I needed a change of pace. I hope you like my photos.

Some Travel Photos

I have always enjoyed photography and try to take a camera with me wherever I travel, even if it is only my little point-n-shoot digital. Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite point-n-shoot photos with you. These first two were taken when I got to travel to the island of Terceira in the Azores on a business trip:
This next one is a sunset shot that I took in my front yard. Yea, it's not a travel photo, but it's one I like. I knew the light wouldn't hold for long and I didn't have time to set up my big camera and tripod, so I just grabbed the little camera and steadied it on the roof of my car.
These last two are from a cruise I went on last year. Once again I only took the little camera, mostly because if something happened to it I wouldn't be out too much money. But once again the little camera did OK. The moonlight photo was taken by holding the camera on the railing of the boat.

You don't need fancy equipment to take good photos, just open your eyes to the beauty of the world around you.

My Summer Pictures

Guess you could call me a water person since I love to take pictures of rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Since the northern hemisphere is now officially in summer I thought I'd share some of my summer photos with you.
The lake photo above was taken on Lake Adair in Orlando, Florida. I took this in the morning on my way to work.
This creek (shown above) is behind my house. It's very peaceful back there.
If you read my blog last week you know that I've just recently been reunited with my birth family. I took the flower picture above when my sister and I were on a bike ride. The photo below was also taken during our ride. I find it interesting that she also has a creek behind her house.

Ah, the beach. A magical place. This was taken on Anastasia Island which is south of St. Augustine. The beach there is wide and the surf is perfect. It is my favorite beach in Florida. Just be careful driving there because the sand is soft - I've gotten stuck more than once! Guess I need a 4-wheel drive.

Sunset Photos

Every photographer has favorite subjects. One of mine is when the sun is starting to go down. The range of colors shifts to the warm side of the spectrum and everyday things take on a whole new look. Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite images with you. Hope you like them.