Winter trek, Part II: Savannah in daylight

Subsequent Photo Potpourri posts from our stay in Savannah will focus on visits to three Savannah attractions -- the American Prohibition Museum and two fine arts institutions -- the Telfair Academy and Jepson Center for the Arts, two of three attractions that are part of the Telfair Museums. (The third one, the Owens-Thomas House, was closed for interior repair work when we were there). So almost all of the new outdoor photos I took during daylight hours while we were in Savannah occurred on Feb. 1, the last full day we were there.

On previous visits, we had stopped at two of the city's most renowned eateries for fried chicken and southern cooking, Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room (cash only) and The Lady and Sons. This time around, we checked with several people to ask if we had missed any other "must try" friend chicken/southern cooking restaurants, and we received resounding endorsements from The Olde Pink House.

So on Feb. 1, with our time in Savannah expiring, we decided to make a visit there for lunch before strolling through the old historic district and, again, River Street. The exterior of The Olde Pink House is (thankfully) pink, as shown in the photo leading off the post. I'll delve into our meal there in depth in a later post, but I will say that my friend chicken was excellent. (Lee Ann wasn't in a chicken mood; she did the fried liver thing, one of her favorites).

To see a larger, sharper version of an image, simply click on the image. To view a full gallery of photos taken outdoors in Savannah during daylight hours on this trip, click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: All photos here were shot with a Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di PZD VC lens equipped with a polarizing filter. All compositions were bracketed for three exposures, some of which were melded into one frame using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. Most images in this post, however, were one of the single frames.

Above is the view of the Savannah River through a small opening near the start of the historic district at the top of the bluff. In this view, you can see a pedestrian bridge (foreground) to shops along the upper commercial strip and, across the river, portions of the convention center (left) and the Westin Hotel (right) on Hutchinson Island. In the two photos below, there is a tightly cropped section of the island (first below) and a full view of the convention center (second below).

Above: View of a boat on the river from one tiny opening in the bluff overlooking the riverwalk.

Above: The stone walks, roads and steps to the riverwalk are something worth stopping to appreciate.

Above: One of the trolleys making its way east down River Street. 

Above: I took this photo mostly for the benefit of my granddaughter Lizzy. Another reason: Lizzy's has a great deal on frozen margaritas -- $3 (until 4 p.m., I think). And it's a substantial serving. Even better, Savannah has an open carry law (for alcohol, I mean) as long as it's in a transparent container. 

Above: I photographed the Waving Girl (real name: Florence Martus) from all angles on my first visit last year, but I felt compelled to do it again this year. Her daily greeting of ships that passed through the port of Savannah for 44 years -- according to legend, she did so in hopes of being seen again by a sailor with whom she'd fallen in love -- is a remarkable story. 

Above: Taking a break in the cool of an afternoon breeze ... perhaps to people watch? 

The riverwalk has an extended tunnel at one point, although water from heavy rains still manages to get in and pool at various low points in the pavement. The shots above and below are some more reflection compositions. Photos two through four below focus on a lengthy glassed area of storefront in the tunnel ... and the window washer who was doing his job that afternoon.

Above: I liked this structure for the windows, balconies and flags above the first level. A closeup of those red outdoor tables are shown below.  

Above: The object here was to see how compact the compression of signage would turn out in this section of the walk. 

Above: This pub's invitingly bright entry caught my attention.  

Above: In addition to using this as an example of materials composited you'll find frequently on building facades along the riveralk, I liked the geometric pattern of the balconies here.

Above: I'd seen River Street before, so when I returned on this trip, I was looking for new perspectives. I guess you could call this a "looking upward" view. 

Above and below: At one point in the afternoon stroll, I became fascinated with the undulating path of the brick pavement, which sparked these compositions.  

Above: On Hutchinson Island, this gazebo piqued my interest. I walked around till I could position the Georgia Queen steamboat, docked across the river, right in the middle of the structure. This is an high-dynamic range (HDR) version of the composition, which I preferred only slightly. I'd have liked it better without the chromatic aberration, which I struggled to minimize in post-processing. But it was largely unavoidable: Even though I shot this with the sun out of the picture, piling on three exposures (which happens in HDR software) in a back-lighting composition is still bound to include some discoloring. 

Above: I processed this composition as both a single frame and an HDR image. There wasn't much difference after I boosted shadow details in the this single-frame version, which I ended up preferring a little better. 

Above: In my previous visits to Savannah, I hadn't noticed this street corner mirror opposite The Lady and Sons at Whitaker and Congress streets. So I found a workable perspective and took this shot. You can see the restaurant's sign in the middle of the mirror.

You're certain to come across street performers and musicians at several points along the riverwalk. The combo you see in the photo above and next two below were particularly good when we came upon them on an early afternoon swing along the walk. They were singing spirituals and classic blues. When I made a second swing later to hopefully catch some dynamic sunset color, I came upon the guy in the wheelchair by himself (third photo below) at a different location along the walk. I'm sure I saw him at the same spot when we visited in March 2017. The guitarist (fourth below) was playing on the plaza of an eating establishment, so I'm sure he was a hired musician. But the flutist (fifth below) was another freelancer, playing at yet another point.

Above: These homeless gentlemen were lounging in a covered area of a plaza along the riverwalk.

Above and below: During my stay in Savannah this time, I tried on several occasions to capture different compositions incorporating the City Hall dome. I presented a few in yesterday's post ... here are two more.

Next up: The American Prohibition Museum

Previous posts in this series: 

Savannah at night