FOTO FRIDAY… Farewell

In landscape photography, there are many well known icons. Photographers flock to these icons, and they are icons for a reason. They might be beautiful, they might be unusual, or, perhaps, they cause an emotional response. Sometimes, they are all three. Such are the trees at Botany Bay.

Although I’ve shared a favorite from this location before (see HERE), I feel the need to share one last time.

This past week has been a tough one for landscape and nature photographers. On the west coast, some kids lighting fireworks started a fire that has devastated the Columbia River Gorge; an incredible and iconic place that I had hoped to visit and to photograph one day. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will recover in my lifetime. In Glacier National Park, wildfires tore through sections of the park, destroying one of the historic backcountry chalets, and many acres of it’s beautiful mountains. These fires are still burning. And, on the east coast, we had hurricanes.

I took these photos when I was taking a photography workshop in Charleston, South Carolina in April of 2016. The main reason I signed up for the workshop was because we were staying at Edisto Island – south of Charleston, and the location of Botany Bay. Botany Bay’s nickname is Boneyard Beach – due to the prevalence of dead trees – most fallen, but two standing tall in the water. It really is a magical site to be there for sunrise, watching the sun dancing behind these trees. Unfortunately, last year, Hurricane Matthew came through, and took a tree with it, leaving just the one. This tree was such a symbol of strength, and I haven’t met an east coast photographer who didn’t know about her.

This past weekend, Irma – one of the most powerful hurricanes ever, came ashore in Florida. For days, they were predicting landfall near South Carolina, so when the forecast changed, the locals breathed a sigh of relief. What they didn’t realize was just how strong Irma was – bringing huge storm surges all the way up the east coast. And, this time, our tree lost it’s battle. I’m just happy that I was able to see and photograph these trees, before Mother Nature took them back.

Prints of this and other images are available for purchase.
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