Cutting it Close

I'm just past my 11pm deadline but, what can I say, I had to destress and find my mind to make this somewhat coherent. I've also been cutting it close in coming up with a topic to talk about.

And I still haven't come up with much. I'm restless when it comes to deciding what to post - and that comes down to deciding what to do with my free time. I really haven't been using it effectively. I'm stuck in a rut with my writing ideas. (Next week I will share one of my writing excercises with you- but prewarning that will be a late entry as I am working next Sunday too.) I'm excercising and such as I set out to do this year but it's tiring to talk about each week that I'm walking X and participating in X number of classes and such. Then I can not seem to settle enough to concentrate on my knitting and such but I have a list of crafts that I need to get too (Never mind that this list dates back to high school, that is completly beside the point).

So, rather you get my topic of rambling on my rambling. I've ponded multiple times about why I keep blogs, and this one now has an effective purpose of keeping everyone in touch with what's going on. But the main reason comes down to is it's the closest I've come to keeping a regular journal and I'm enjoying it. That means you get to keep reading whatever I choose to put up here and looking at my photography attempts.

That seems to be really what this week is about. I took a couple of hours on Friday during the sunny weather to take my photographs for the week and ended up with more than I planned but 2/3 of the photos are of water. I'll explain when we get to those photos.

I started this week itching to go out to take photos and various things (day shift for one, random incomplete chores for another, and weather - always a factor) kept me from doing this until Friday. With this itch I wanted to find something in the area that I had heard of but not been to for pictures. I needed fresh material.

I found that material in the Angel Oak. I found the directions online and took myself down to see this 1400 year old tree that so many talk about and enjoy. With only one turn around I found it and here a few of those pictures.

The typical shot of the Angel Oak looks like this:
The reason for this usual shot is due to the fact that once you pull into the park and get out to look at it, this is the approach to the tree.

But who am I to leave it at the typical shot.

The other side of the Angel Oak. A picture that doesn't do justice to the tree. Just under the branches on that side you will find this:
To my dismay though, I did find that many of the branches are supported:

You can see the two wood posts under that limb in this picture and if you look close enough you'll see the metal rods that go to upper branches in the background. It was a sad for me to see this as it made me think of ventilation and other "life support" measures that are used. (I guess that's just the nurse in me.)

But to give you the best picture of the size of this tree I'll give you the shot of me standing about three feet from the tree.
A little intimidating.

My next stop was the beach that gave me plenty of material and more than 2/3 of water pictures. Most of which will be deleted when I get around to it. I will show you part of the pictures now and the rest of the beach pics at the end of the post because... well, you'll find out in a minute.

These birds where to perfectly in line to pass up:
I am also intrigued by shells and such along the beach as can be seen in the next two pictures.




Finally I went to the battery and parked to see what shots I could take before the clouds rolled back in and the light failed me. I kept to the familiar area only because of the light. I ended up with these two being the best of the subjects.




Over it all, the theme of this weeks "seven" pictures is nature. I started with the Angel Oak, moved onto the beach combing birds, a shell, and a sea plant, found a flower struggling to share it's beauty, and a tree with the will to proclaim the triumph of a SC spring despite the announced season of winter. The seventh subject is dolphins and my obsession to photograph them at play.

I blame this purely on my sis Tameeka. There is no other excuse for it. I just want to see a smile on her face. When my family came last March and we were at the aquarium and the water front park, the dolphins that reside in our harbor played and splashed for her to see in person, but not close enough for me to capture well with the lens I had at the time.

Every now and then I go out to the same locations to try to get them playing and they never appear. It was just my luck that this time they did appear, although not where I expected them to. When I went to the beach I went to Folly with the thought of photographing the lighthouse (yes, again for those who have seen the Morris Island lighthouse on here before, since they are supposed to start the process to save it soon) and never made it to that far corner when I saw a splash of water just out from shore.

I then chased the dolphins and ended up with many just plain water shots as I turned to where they were a moment to late. But I ended up with some good pictures, better than any gotten before, and I thought that they were fairly close to shore. A lot closer that I expected them to be.

The following pictures are not completly in order, but since it doesn't matter that much and I can tell you what was happening, I won't move them. It's getting later than I thought it would as I write this.

A dolpin surafacing in the background as one plays in the waves closer to shore.

Still playing.

A fair representation of how close they were to shore. This is with my 200mm zoom lens on 180mm and I was standing in the waves enough to have them wash onto my ankles (yes, I am crazy; yes, I was walking the beach in sandals in February but the temp was as warm as I keep my house; yes, I am a nurse and "know better," I don't care.) to give you an idea of where I am in relation to the dolphins.

Success! A better surfacing picture.
Going back under now.

Another semi-surfacing picture.
Almost jumping, but didn't end up coming further out of the water than this.
Two playing together.
Surfacing to play in the waves.


I thought this was a really good shot and was a little closer to me than the first one I described for you.
Standing further away, (meaning my feet weren't getting wet) and watching the dolphins enjoy the waves.


And finally, just the waves crashing on the beach with the fin a dot in the background (one of the first actual sightings that told me to stick around)

I was trying so hard to get even better pictures that's why they accounted for so many that day. Such is life and I'm sure the next time I'm not suspecting to see them, they'll show up again and I'll end up using a whole 1gb card trying to get pictures.

Tameeka, I'll get these to you when I see you later on.

I'll try to check in (with crafting/knitting progress for those KR folks) again as the week progresses. Otherwise, Chad and I are in the same routine!