Thursday, August 3, 2017

Myrtle Beach is not really known
for its giant gorillas ... at least not yet?

What, you were expecting a beach picture to lead off a post about Myrtle Beach?

I thought so. So predictable! Hey, you've seen plenty of those, and besides, I have a few of those sprinkled below.

What you might not have ever seen or known about when you've heard or thought of Myrtle Beach -- and might find interesting -- is that there is a Hollywood Wax Museum there with a gigantic gorilla clinging to the side of a skyscraper on top of the building. So you could appreciate its size, I tried to provide some perspective by including the cars in the parking lot. I assure you, it's very real. And it's not even along the noted boardwalk.

I happened upon the museum by coincidence and, in fact, did not even stop there to check out the inside. I simply pulled off the road, maneuvered away from an intersection laden with utility poles and wires to get an unobstructed view, composed, made a few pictures, then left.

Otherwise, I did minimal shooting on this trip to Myrtle Beach. Well, it was minimal for me, anyway. I spent four days in Myrtle Beach (and for the record, most of those were also on the mostly or partly chilly side again), and I'm sure my photo volume there wasn't even a third of what I took over the same course of time in four days at Charleston, where weather conditions weren't much better.

As usual, click on any image to bring up a larger, sharper version. This is particularly useful if you access the blog using a mobile device. Click on the link in this sentence to view a full gallery of the images I made in this shoot. 

Photo geek stuff: I shot all of my photos with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di PZD VC lens equipped with a B+W polarizing filter. I bracketed all compositions for three exposures to allow for melding in high-dynamic range (HDR) software in post-processing. Several of the images in this post were treated that way. 

I got up early on two of the four mornings we were in Myrtle Beach so I could get some sunrise shots. On both attempts, I missed the start, but I did really like the cloud and color pattern in the one I managed to get (above). On one of the afternoons, an interesting cloud pattern with contrasting colors moved through, and that's what you see below. 


Medium- (above) and long-range (below) perspectives of one of the piers at Myrtle Beach. In the photo below, notice how the umbrellas start off blue from the pier, then switch to red. 


Above: A parasailer over the water not far from one of the piers. 

Above and next third below: Slices of the boardwalk at Myrtle Beach. The second photo below proves that the walkway really is made of wood, unlike the "boardwalk" we came upon at Virginia Beach, which was concrete. Portions of the Myrtle Beach boardwalk featured a snaky course (third photo below).




Above and below: Pictures seem to go without saying when I came upon these high-rise window washers at a hotel along the boardwalk.


Above: On my wild grass shots along the beach, I go back and forth on whether to focus on the grass or the background. This time, I went with the grass blades. 

Myrtle Beach's boardwalk (and many of those elsewhere) are known for their amusement rides, and these photos of shots of Myrtle Beach's Ferris Wheel.  


Above and below: Two more examples of commerce along or near the boardwalk.


Above: One of several courts in a sand volleyball complex along the boardwalk.

Above: A view of the ocean from the sixth floor of our hotel. 

Above: One can profess love at the beach, knowing full well the declaration will wash away -- at the latest -- with the next high tide.

Above and next seven below: If you were holding your breath to see if I would really present some beach and ocean water pictures, exhale now. 









Next up: Culinary indulgences
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