Nature preserve compact, a quick visit

When we checked into our hotel at North Myrtle Beach on March 20, I had my Canon 6D slung around my shoulder. I'd made a point to carry it with me as much as possible when I was out of the car, to protect against theft but also so I wouldn't miss unexpected shots.

The concierge noticed the camera and asked if I was a photography enthusiast. When I said yes, he mentioned a place up the highway (U.S. 17) that he thought I'd like to check out for pictures. His description of the place was vague -- he said something about it being scenic, but never mentioned that the area actually had a formal name. When I looked on the map and saw the place he was talking about was near a point where House Creek funnels into the Atlantic Ocean. I figured it could be worth exploring. So, the next day, Lee Ann and I checked it out.

It turned out that the the area does have a name -- the Heritage Shores Nature Preserve -- and that it's almost adjacent to the Cherry Grove Boat Landing. In fact, you have to drive into the boat landing area (and parking lot) to get to the preserve, then walk about two blocks to reach the entrance to the preserve. If I had to quibble about the attraction, I had two beefs: 1) It's very compact (you can walk the circular trail -- and see most everything designed to be seen -- in less than an hour), and there were few moments when you weren't reminded that civilization was not very far away; 2) the boat landing signage is almost entirely devoted to the boat landing. There is very little to inform and/or help visitors who come just to tour the nature preserve.

It also turned out that you aren't able to get close to the confluence of House Creek and the Atlantic Ocean from the preserve as I had hoped. I could see the confluence from afar at the eastern-most point of the preserve, but none of my photos of the confluence -- even using the maximum 300 millimeters of my zoom lens -- did it justice. The photo leading off the post is one the best (in my opinion) of showing the confluence, which -- if you can't tell for sure -- is in the center of the photo where sky meets water.

What photos I did get you see in this post. As usual, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, just click on the image. To see a full gallery of my photos from the nature preserve, visit the gallery at my site at SmugMug.com.

Photo geek stuff: I shot everything you see here with a Canon 6D equipped with a Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di VZD VC lens using a polarizing filter. I bracketed all shots for three exposures, melding a good number of all three for each composition in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software, using a fixed aperture (8.0) and adjusting my ISO and shutter speed where needed, which only happened in very dense shade.

The most significant "find" we came across in the preserve were these cactus plants, which I did not expect to see anywhere on the East Coast. The one below was obvious to me, but Lee Ann told me that the small ones above are red and orange because they are new (as if all green ones start off in these odd colors). I'm no cactus expert, and I couldn't confirm that what she said is true (i.e., that green cactus plants start out as red or orange). What I did find out when I went hunting around on the Internet is that there are red and orange colored cactus plants, and I did see starts of green cactus plants that were, indeed, green. So perhaps Lee Ann was trying to pull a fast one on me. I suppose I'll hear about that when she reads this post. Hey, we're always looking to find new things to talk about ... 

The preserve's size is so compact, we were always reminded that civilization was close at hand. If it wasn't the large, noisy water vessel (above) chugging past the nearby neighborhoods, then it was a couple work crews on House Creek (below) hauling large pipes in the direction of the ocean, "destination unknown," to quote Conrad Aiken, who I mentioned in a previous travel post about Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah.

Above: The preserve has lots of ponds and streams, so there are ample bridges along the trail system. This is the longest, and it is near the entrance, which from this view is on the far end.

Above and next three below: Composing images using water as the focal point was a logical strategy in the limited-acreage preserve. 

Above: A portion of the path we followed and some of the wooded area along it.  

Above: This water fowl was one of the few species we saw in our whole time in the preserve, but the preserve is such a contained, modest-sized area, we weren't there for very long -- doing a leisurely stroll, we spent perhaps an hour and a half, possibly two, there.

Above: I suppose I was getting desperate for something creative when I thought to take this picture, but ... the branches caught my eye momentarily, and I pressed the shutter, and ....

Above and below: We had exited the preserve and were walking back to our car in the boat landing parking when I came upon these people fishing off the piers along House Creek.  

Above: A moment of reflection while following the trails in the preserve.

Next Up: The East Coast trip reviewed in food and beverage

Previous posts in this series:

Part I: Savannah's Forsyth Square

Part II: Savannah's old-city neighborhoods 

Part III: Savannah's Riverwalk

Part IV: Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery

Part V: Tybee Island, Ga.

Part VI: Revisiting Charleston, SC, and its charms

Part VII: Nature's splendor can be found at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston

Part VIII: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens' swamp preserve a photographer's delight

Part IX: North Myrtle Beach: Chills along the water

North Myrtle Beach: Chills along the water

People usually to go to the beach when it's warm and to enjoy the ocean and sand in the feet, to sip tropical cocktails and to soak in the sun.

After our visits to Savannah and Charleston last month, we spent a week with family in Cary, N.C., where balmy southern spring weather (70 degrees) turned outright chilly (50s) on one of the first days there. We had hoped the cold system would move out before we headed to North Myrtle Beach, S.C., the following week, but alas, it lingered.

And lingered.

It was chilly the whole time. I think temperatures may have hit a high of 60 or 61 on one of the four days there, but ... at least it didn't rain. We still walked the beach several times, although the first night, we did so wearing cold-weather attire. A couple of hardy souls braved the cold to take a dip into the ocean and the hotel swimming pools (the poolside hot tub was particularly popular), we did not. And the poolside tiki bar was not open. March must be out of season, I guess, even for South Carolina.

We did make a trip to Heritage Shores Nature Preserve, which was recommended by the hotel concierge when he saw me with my camera slung over my shoulder (more on this in the next post), and the city's relatively new branch of Duplin Winery. That became of interest because we had enjoyed a visit to the winery's home site in Rose Hill, N.C., in 2015.

We were very close to also venturing south to Myrtle Beach itself to tour Brookgreen Gardens, an outing that -- from what I could deduce from promotional material -- might have lured us into a long day akin to the one we spend at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. At the last minute, we decided to put off Brookgreen Gardens at least until we return to Myrtle Beach later this year. Instead, we took it easy for a day.

In recent years, I've photographed sunrises at Wrightsville Beach and Atlantic Beach in North Carolina, but I hadn't gotten any in South Carolina ... and I hadn't gotten any from an extreme elevated position. So I made a point to take a few on March 23 from the seventh-floor balcony of our hotel room. I was a bit tardy, however; I missed the actual solar slip above the horizon. I got my gear together in time to collect myself and grab the photo you see leading off the post. My vantage point was the balcony of the seventh-floor room in our hotel.

As always, click on any picture to pull up a larger, sharper version, which is particularly important if you access the blog from a mobile device. To view a full gallery of my shots at North Myrtle Beach, click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: I shot everything you see here with a Canon 6D equipped with a Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di VZD VC lens using a polarizing filter when outdoors. I bracketed all shots for three exposures, melding a good number of all three for each composition in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. In some situations where using HDR software was impractical (such as the bird photos and sunrise), I processed shots using single frames.

Above: Perhaps the most interesting time I had while shooting pictures along the sand at North Myrtle Beach was exploring the kinds of shots I'd get while shooting directly into the setting sun on the first full day there. I certainly expected silhouettes, and when I had images up on my screen during post-processing, the heavy haze in the background gave images like this a kind of zombie movie feel. I don't know; maybe I was reading more into it than I should have .... 

Above: If you've been to Myrtle Beach, you are familiar with the heavy commercialized shoreline. North Myrtle Beach (above) isn't too far off, if it's not already. It doesn't have the amusement rides just yet, though ... 

Above and below: I wasn't kidding about the chilly weather. As you can see, people bundled up for their walks along the beach. 

Seagulls again were a main attraction (or at least "presence") in North Myrtle Beach, just as they were at Tybee Island ... and probably just about every beach along the East Coast. I was fortunate to capture the shot above just as the lead gull turned to its left to give me this view. The two shots below are more examples of people entertaining themselves by throwing food bits to flocking gulls. The first shot below is a radical crop of the original; there were far more gulls off to the right. The second one below was looking into the sun, so I worked to bring out detail in Camera Raw and Photoshop Elements 15. 

Three years ago I photographed a dog alongside its owner at Atlantic Beach, N.C., a photo that turned out to be one of my favorites from my visit there. So I decided to include in this post a couple shots of dogs I came across at North Myrtle Beach. The canine in the above photo was retrieving the circular toy in its mouth and returning it to its owner in a "game" of toss-and-return that I'm sure all dog owners know. Below, the idea to juxtapose the dog and owner with the game of sand volleyball in the background was a no-brainer for me.  

Above: I could have opted to put the people in the background as the focus in this composition, but being in an impish, thinking-out-of-the-box mood, I decided to let the gull in the foreground take that honor. Yes, I have concerns that because the gull is so small and in the bottom corner, it might not command the attention it should to be the focal point. I'll let you be the judge. At least the foreground isn't compromised by the layer of haze permeating the people.

Above: I"m not sure I'll ever be fortunate to photograph something like this again -- a gull in the bokeh blur immediately above -- and seemingly bearing down on -- the small bird serving as the focal point here. 

Above: On the "warmest" day in North Myrtle Beach, a few brave souls tread into the raft pool. More popular throughout the day, every day, was the hot tub in the foreground.  

Above: The beach looking north from the seventh-floor room balcony. 

Above: On the walk to Duplin Winery, we came across this striking tree in an undeveloped area between the beach and main highway (U.S. 17).   

The outside of Duplin Winery (above), the merchandise sales area inside (first below) and people in a tasting room, sampling a handful of wines (second below). 

Next Up: Heritage Shores Nature Preserve


Previous posts in this series:

Part I: Savannah's Forsyth Square

Part II: Savannah's old-city neighborhoods 

Part III: Savannah's Riverwalk

Part IV: Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery

Part V: Tybee Island, Ga.

Part VI: Revisiting Charleston, SC, and its charms

Part VII: Nature's splendor can be found at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston

Part VIII: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens' swamp preserve a photographer's delight

Swamp preserve a photographer's delight

A few dozen acres of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (MPG) near Charleston, S.C., is set aside for what attraction operators term the Audubon Swamp Garden. I consider it more of a swamp wildlife preserve; species you'll find here include alligators, herons, egrets and anhingas.

What you see in the lead-off photo is a beautiful, colorful anhinga perched on a small branch overlooking the big pond on the grounds. As I mentioned in yesterday's post (and in a previous post from Tybee Island), anhingas are a large waterfowl, found exclusively in warm climates. They must spread their wings to dry after every submersion in water because they do not have oil glands that most waterfowl possess to protect their feathers.

The cost to stroll through the swamp preserve is $8 -- this is in addition to the $15 general admission (for adults) to MPG. (See the website's admission information tab for all the attraction costs). When you do get in, you can stroll at leisure on paved or gravel paths. Aside from a few bridges and the wooden-railed walk into the grounds, those paths (and a wooden ramp in the pond for turtles, alligators et al to rest on)  -- are the only evidence of human encroachment in this area. Seeing all that I did in the swamp preserve pumped my creative juices. I came across several men and women with camera gear indulging their craft while I was there. Most had zoom lenses; at right, is an example of one such shutterbug. Another guy whose path I crossed carried a humongous lens with a camouflage veneer. I asked him the lens' focal length, and he said 600mm f/4. I know Canon and Nikon make lenses with those specs, but I don't know if you can get them in camouflage veneer.

As I showed in yesterday's post, I got a nice shot of an alligator along a creek shore when I was in a four-story observation tower elsewhere on the grounds before ever getting to the swamp preserve. But I saw considerably more alligators in the preserve.

As always, click on any picture to pull up a larger, sharper version, which is particularly important if you access the blog from a mobile device. To view a full gallery of my shots in the Audubon Swamp Garden at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: I shot everything you see here with a Canon 6D equipped with a Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di VZD VC lens, using a circular polarizing filter when outdoors until very late when it started to get dark, when I did without the polarizer. I bracketed all shots for three exposures, melding a good number of all three for each composition in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. In some situations where using HDR software was impractical, I composed a shot with single frames.

I walked past the wooden ramp in the pond (it actually was more like a lake) on two occasions while in the preserve. The first time, I saw an Anhinga (above) on the ramp. The second time, an alligator was there (below).

Above: Elsewhere in the lake on the second pass by, I saw at least four alligators lurking not far from the shore like the one above.

Above: It was late, nearing dark, when I took a stab at photographing the above anhinga as it arrived at this nest. Because it was so dark, I didn't know it was an anhinga at the time; just that it was huge. In post-processing, I brought out the detail and color you see here by pushing the shadows sliders in Camera Raw and in PS Elements 15, when it became clear that it was an anhinga.

Above: An egret landed on a paved path just in front of me, and I stopped in my tracks to take a series of shots. Then it occurred to me that perhaps the bird was challenging my presence in its area of the preserve. I made the decision to resume my walk in its direction, and it shuffled off to the right side. Not long afterward, I got the shot below of the egret.  

Above: My favorite mixed-light shot from the swamp garden.

Above and below: A couple of prairie-type shots.

Above and below: A couple of perspective shots of the pond/lake early on in the visit, before it came close to getting dark.   

 Above: An egret nearing the end of its landing in a tree branch. 

 Above: The wooden walk and wood-railed entry into the swamp preserve. 

Above and below: Evidence of other human life visiting the grounds while we were there.

Above: That's the sun in the pond (and yes, this was more like a pond) a good two hours before sundown.

Above: I shot this boat in a swamp from several angles, and in post-processing, I experimented with different crops. This is one of the originals.

Above and below: Two more full reflection shots, the one above featuring a tree packed with resting (and perhaps nesting) egrets. I think I like the one below better. 

Above: Another sun-on-pond reflection composition. I promise it will be the last in this post. 

Above: I conclude with a shot that grabbed me for its simple elegance, a bit of neo-impressionism in a Claude Monet kind of way.

Next up: North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Previous posts in this series:

Part I: Savannah's Forsyth Square

Part II: Savannah's old-city neighborhoods 

Part III: Savannah's Riverwalk

Part IV: Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery

Part V: Tybee Island, Ga.

Part VI: Revisiting Charleston, SC, and its charms

Part VII: Nature's splendor can be found at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston