Another stop during out short visit to the South Carolina (SC) coast was Brookgreen Gardens, located across SC Highway 17 from Huntington Beach State Park — see my previous two posts for photos.
Brookgreen Gardens is one of the larger and best maintained gardens of this sort I’ve had the pleasure to visit.
We’d made a previous visit in fall season but this spring visit displayed the gardens strengths and beauty much better.
For me, one of the more impressive parts of the garden are the “bearded giants” — majestic oaks, covered by ivy and spanish moss. There’s also certainly abundant flowers, water elements, world-renowned sculpture and appropriate poetic quotes in tablet form for those seeking to recharge both soul and spirit.
There’s a historical side to the gardens. It’s borders include several old rice plantations – the overgrown rice fields are still visible. Of couse, with almost any historic plantation in the American south, there are sad stories of slavery. Worth a visit, if this is your “cup of tea.”
During our visit, it was a bright thinly clouded day…making for a wide dynamic range — from the bright featureless whites of the sky to the dark shadows found under the trees. According to Lightroom’s histogram none of the whites on these images are “blown out” even if my eye keeps telling me different. :-(
Amazing trees, Earl, and perfectly framed. The most impressive for me is #3, indicating that the branches might reach so much further, and #4 with the branches resting on the earth again due to their sheer size and weight.
Thanks, Markus. I spent many a long moment staring up into the massive foliage of these trees – – I especially like those two photos you mentioned as well.
Those are just about perfect conditions fur that kind of place, Earl. And to get a histogram with no blinking highlights wound be nearly impossible in any conditions. I agree with Markus that #3 is a good one.
Tom, did I also mention the high humidity level. :-) Later in the day when the sun did peak out it was like being in a sanna…but that’s the SC beach area. On a couple of my shots I had to adjust the highlights level in Lightroom down just a tad. Thanks!
The oaks are fantastic, Earl. Beautiful photos. I think I would love to spend a day there.
Ken, thanks. The heat and humidity usually starts to get to you after a few hours. The nice thing is the garden pass is good for 7 days so if you have the time you can break your visit up into several (cooler) mornings there instead of trying to do it all in one day.
I’m a sucker for trees wherever I go; the challenge for me is to capture the ‘feeling’ of the tree in a single frame. You’ve done a great job here!
Chris, thanks. These trees are so massive it’s almost impossible to capture all of any one tree in a frame while also showing any level of detail. That forces it to become more about the lines and flow of specific trunks and limbs, making it a little easier to frame effectively.
I believe as a group or sequence these photos work better then any single one individually would. That first photo of an adult (me) standing under several of them sets the stage for their giant size letting the rest of the photos supplement the “feeling” and mood of the setting.
As others have mentioned – Those are some great trees! Very well seen and photographed Earl.
Wow, I’m impressed with the size of the grounds. It looks like miles of walking. And, these trees were so captivating to me when visiting the southeast. And, I can feel the humidity. I’m partial to 5 and 6 because of the size they present. Those long paths stir me to start walking.