Tag Archives: Sony Alpha 6500

Grove House: Rear

August 17, 2018 Ellen Jennings 1 Comment

Like many plantation homes in the south the front of Grove House faces the water where all traffic would have originated when the house was built in 1828. This is a view of the back of the plantation house, taken from the Live Oak lined drive.

The pond where I photographed the water lilies in yesterday’s post sits in the circular turn of this drive, just in front of the ground floor entry arches.

Below are the Live Oaks lining the driveway leading away from the back of the house.

Today Grove House is home to the offices of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge.

Animals

Down on the Farm

August 9, 2018 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

The draft horses had a short work day at Middleton Place today because of the heat, about 90 degrees F (30 degrees C) by noon.

Landscape

Pond View

July 29, 2018 Ellen Jennings Leave a comment

The tree in the center of this image is where I spotted the Black-bellied Whistling Duck featured in my earlier post. The duck was a bonus as I wanted to take some landscape images as the sun went down. The water was smooth for reflections and the light just faded quietly away.

The water here seems higher than last summer. There are very few water lilies compared to last year and many of the trees around the pond perimeter show little sign of life at a distance.

July 28, 2018, about 40 minutes before sunset.

Landscape

View of Rice Field Pond: Black and White

July 24, 2018 Ellen Jennings Leave a comment

It was one of those mornings that started with a spectacular sunrise then the clouds closed in. When processing my images I liked this scene through the rice trunk and tried black and white to give the colorless sky and water some mood.

Trunks are rather ingenious yet simple wooden device used to control water flow into and out of the fields.

Landscape

Sunrise Over Marsh

July 17, 2018 Ellen Jennings 12 Comments

There was a little fog rolling around the edges of the marsh as the sun inched its way up over the tree line.

The thick cloud bank at the horizon muted the colors.

When the sun had cleared the distant tree tops high wispy clouds mixed the blues and oranges in a delicate palette.

Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, July 15, 2018.
Sony Alpha-6500, Sony 20mm F/2.8 Lens

Wading Birds

Juvenile Green Heron

July 8, 2018 Ellen Jennings 12 Comments

This juvenile Green Heron was just sitting in the water. He eventually splashed a little, but he seemed content just to be wet on this hot June day.

This pool is part of a pond / fountain system of moving water in a Charleston city park. This tree is at the edge of a small island in the pond that houses a Green Heron rookery. The water is cloudy so you can’t see bottom to tell what color it might be painted but may be the cause of the odd color.

The heron eventually climbed out of the water and shook off before settling down in the shade.

Sony Alpha-6500, Sony 55-210 MM lens

Wading Birds

Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in the Fountain

July 7, 2018 Ellen Jennings 2 Comments

I liked the illusion that this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was standing in a vast pool of rippling water.

Yellow-crowned Night-Herons — Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

He was enjoying a little dip and splash on a very hot Charleston day.

A view from the other side shows the heron was standing at the edge of a fountain, just where the water dropped into a pool below.

Sony Alpha-6500, Sony 55-210 mm lens.

Landscape

Pond Changes

June 16, 2018 Ellen Jennings 5 Comments

This little pond doesn’t get much attention at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, probably because it isn’t lined with flowers like some of the others. I always liked to stop by looking for turtles and wading birds that found it attractive.

Staff cleared years’ worth of fallen trees and limbs from the water and tidied the edges last fall. This made for a great reflection , but I haven’t seen much in the way of wildlife there since.

April 12, 2018.

Landscape

Brewing Storm

June 8, 2018 Ellen Jennings 9 Comments

The birds exited. And then came the rain.

View from Pitt Street Bridge towards Ravenel Bridge, Charleston, SC

We got our gear into the car just as the first rain drops hit.

Landscape

The Long White Bridge April and June

June 7, 2018 Ellen Jennings 6 Comments

A scene that includes the “Long White Bridge” at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is hard to pass up no matter how many times I’ve taken it.

Neither of these shots, taken about eight weeks apart, have much for colorful flowers and there isn’t a bird in sight but the reflections of the old trees in the still water intrigue me.

Click on the images for a larger view.