Paul Lester Photo

Just before sunset. Sullivan’s Island, SC
Incredibly, at least to me, I am working on month 5 in Charleston. What was supposed to be a 3-month gig has turned into 5, with no end in sight. Things are still very slow in Charlotte, bill rates are still very low, and the only game in town is Bank of America. If I were to B of A, it would be my 3rd time. It’s not something that I’m looking forward to, but that’s just the nature of the beast in Charlotte, NC.

Being away from home 4 nights/week has it’s challenges. I’ve tried to make this as positive of an experience as possible. I came about 1/2 of the way into the summer, August 4th. The weather was hot, humid, and downright unpleasant, with actual temperatures of 100+ degrees and heat indexes (feels like) of 110. Then, we transitioned into autumn, and now winter. This evening, when I took these pictures, it was 38 degrees and windy. Very chilly! I’ve been out taking pictures in all of it, trying to absorb what it means to me to live on the coast. Although it is nice, I still miss my waterfalls and tall trees, but most of all, my family.

Now, just the regular folks
The bulk of the tourists are gone and, in a way, I know what it feels like to be a resident. You’re glad for the economy of the area, but you’re glad to see them go, too. Especially if you are a resident of one of the heavily-visited islands, such as Sullivan’s Island, SC, where this was taken. Parking is at this time of year. Parking is also free at this time of year.

I spoke with this lady for a few minutes, as we watched the sun go down. She’s lived here all of her life and just loves it when the tourists go home. She said that then she can come back an enjoy the beach. In the summer, you have to compete for beach space, etc. Not to mention the ever-present noseeums, or sand fleas.

It has been an interesting time, I just wish that ‘The wife’ were here to share it with me. This is much more her thing, than mine, but I get a serious shot of pleasure when I see her staring out at the ocean, because I know that she is ‘home’. Who knows what this journey will bring. I’m just trying to take it a day at a time.

If you’ve ever worked in a darkroom, smells that you are not likely to ever forget are: the smell of developer, stop bath, and fixer. Also, there is context. Some places you just don’t expect to smell them, like at the beach!
I was at Fort Moultrie taking some pictures down near the beach. After taking a few shots there, I came back up on the outside of the fort. As the breeze blew, I caught a sniff of something. Developer? No. Not here at Fort Moultrie. It must be something that smells a lot like it. I continued to walk towards the smell. The breeze changed. This time, fixer???

As I rounded the corner, I saw Bill Steber. Bill had two nice 8×10 vintage view cameras mounted on tripods, several trays laying on the ground, a collection of bottles containing developer and fixer. In the back of his Toyota SUV he had a dark box and everything that he needed to make and develop his glass negatives right on the spot! His SUV was packed to the gills. There was only room in the front seat. The rest was packed with supporting gear. He said that we he gets home tonight that he has a few more steps to complete, not including making contact prints, that will take him a couple of more hours! Yikes! As you can see from the picture, he was sitting on the ground, pouring his developer back through a coffee filter, into the bottle.

He also mentioned that he’d been out since about 2:30 PM, it was about 5:30 at that time. He said that it was a productive day. He had gotten 5 shots! He had to quit though, because he was getting 6-minute exposures and it was getting too dark to see. Even the lenses that he was using were vintage!

I learned, also, that he has been photographing the Blues culture of Mississippi for the past 15 years! I would have loved to sit and chat with him about that. Unfortunately, he’s heading back to Tennessee tomorrow. I simply love the Blues and would have loved to hear about some of the people that he met. I guess that I’ll just have to settle for looking at his pictures.

I had gone to get some night shots, which I did, eventually, but I enjoyed talking to him more than I did clicking that shutter … and that’s unusual! He was a very nice guy. He does have some technology, though. So he’s not a total throw-back. He shoots also with a Canon digital camera. Well, no one is perfect! LOL!

I’m sure that I’m not the only one who meets interesting people when I’m out with my camera. How about you?

OK. I am fascinated by fog. I love it. I’ve just never been subject to 180 continuous miles of fog!!! From my house to Charleston is 210 miles. From the border of South Carolina to Charleston is about 170 miles.

This morning when I left North Carolina and headed into South Carolina, it was quite foggy. Visibility was on the order of several hundred feet at times. At other times, less than 200 feet, which meant that driving at, let’s say, the speed limit of 70 miles per hour was ill advised. Traveling at 102 feet/second doesn’t give much chance of stopping with only a 200 foot window of opportunity, now does it?!

I wanted to stop somewhere and take some pictures, but wanted more to be off the road. As I drove, I figured that soon it would break up, as fog banks tend to do, but it kept going and going and going. By the time that I reached the turn off for Interstate 26, some 90 miles later, I was still in the fog. Well, I figured that it would surely break up now since I was now heading 90 degrees off my previous path. I had been going south, but then started heading east. Nope. It just kept on. For another 82 miles it stayed with me all of the time.

When I got back to my apartment, it was still foggy. About 15 minutes later, the sun finally asserted itself and started burning away the fog.

That was some amazing journey!

He sings, too! (Click for larger image)

That’s my boy! Top left, back row, all dapper in his tuxedo. This evening his school had a Christmas concert featuring the lower, middle, and upper schools. I sat and watched the concert and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was only about 1 hour long, but fun nonetheless.

I had my Nikon D40 with me and, as it was quite dim, was shooting in a mode that I’ve become quite fond of for indoor shooting, particularly in dimly lit areas. Auto ISO. The above image as shot at hand-held: ISO 1250, 1/60@f/5.6, 66mm using my 55-200 mm VR.

I couldn’t wait to get home. I wanted to print one out and give it to the choir teacher. It came out much, much better than I expected. Even printed 12×6 on a 19×13 piece of paper you can hardly see any noise, unless you really go looking for it. The details in the faces are quite good. There are, of course, some solid black areas, such as the black tuxedo pants and dresses; however, I rather like it. The solid blacks, not seen so much on the photo, actually came from printing on the default ‘dark’ when using Epson’s Advanced Black & White printing. If I print on normal, the detail is restored.

It had been a while since I had printed anything … a long while, but it was good to get back. I’m happy to report that the printer didn’t have any ink clogs or issues. I’m sure that it dumped a good bit of ink, though, getting ready to print. Those heads moved back and forth for quite some time before it actually took the paper. I would imagine that it is pretty darn wasteful to print so infrequently.

Anyway, it was a fun time and it was also nice to produce a print after such a long hiatus! Tomorrow, it’s back to shooting basketball. This time with the video camera. Their team is playing an Australian team tomorrow evening. Hopefully we’ll send ‘em packin’ back to Australia with a loss under their belts!