Commentary:

Charleston in South Carolina is not your typical USA town. Steeped in history and tradition, the charm of Charleston is quite agreeable. A stroll down South Parade well illustrates the point; beautiful traditional houses and manicured gardens along the sea front are simply stunning. Were it needed, old fashioned street traders selling traditional wicker baskets in the down-town market emphasise the point as do the ‘old south coach’ rides that abound in the area. Charleston has an undeniable quaint, olde world ambiance. Yet Charleston has a thoroughly modern side as well; the brand spanking new Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge, a stunning new twin-towered suspension bridge, shows this admirably.

Photographically, my few days in Charleston over the summer of 2009 were stuffed with rich pickings. As well as the aforementioned houses, market and bridge, a trip around USS Yorktown, a WWII aircraft carrier was another great photo-op., not least from a HDR perspective. The residential communities beyond old town Charleston were surprisingly rich with photo ops. as well. How many back gardens do you know that have ponds that come complete with alligators?!

But it was on a jetty at dusk that I unexpectedly can across a cracker of a scene. Shooting the sunset from the jetty using the jetty has a make-shift tripod wasn’t unusual in itself. A gig or so of shots later I spun round to leave only to see another scene that just had to be captured; a river, a jetty, a boat, a river-side house and some simply gorgeous dusk light. The moral of the story, be prepared to improvise and look over your shoulder on a regular basis.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300, 12 - 24 AFS f4, 1/1.6 secs @ f4, ISO 640, centre-weighted metering, manual exposure, with support from a Charleston jetty.

Keywords:

Charleston, South Carolina, river jetty, night-time photography