In March my wife was working on the Charleston County Public Library's inaugural Charleston Tells Storytelling Festival. Since we support each others projects I knew I would be volunteering to help. It turns out that my birthday fell on the opening day of the event. It was put on the back burner for a few days.
My wife is the youngest in her family as I am. Her oldest sister drove up from Tampa/ St. Pete to help with the festival. There was nothing for us to do until the late afternoon so I offered to take my sister in law on a road trip to some church ruins south of Charleston.
We stopped in Jacksonboro at Pon Pon Chapel. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. In the 1700s it stood on a busy stagecoach road. Leaving there we headed to Beaufort County and Old Sheldon Church ruins. For those of you who do not know of Old Sheldon Church you are really missing out on a gem. I would tell you more but these locations are minor players in this story.
When we left Old Sheldon Church we headed toward downtown Yemassee which is about the size of downtown Ladson but much more interesting. We took a turnoff that I had not previously investigated. We found ourselves passing a dirt road lined with the typical rows of oaks. We stopped to check it out and take some photos. It was not really speaking to me but when I moved to the right, the sun came out from behind some clouds and it took on a completely different feeling. The Spanish moss hanging from the branches shifted in the breeze. Many of the branches curved toward the ground and back up toward the sky. This was repeated down the row of oaks and into the distance. It was a really nice view. I didn't know how well it turned out until I downloaded to my laptop. I knew Tthat this was a special shot.
It is definitely the most popular of any of my photos. Last week I headed back down to Tomotley Plantation. It was cloudy and dark and looked like rain but I decided to take a chance. On the way it started to clear up and the sun was in and out of the clouds. At Tomotley I took a few shots but, as usual, it is impossible to improve upon a shot. Since it just was not working for me, I decided to take a chance and see if anyone was at home. I drove down the dirt road until I cam to a sprawling, one story house on a large pond.
I pulled up in front of the house, walked up to the door and rang the bell. When a man came to the door, I introduced myself as a photographer from Charleston. I told him about the photo I had taken of the plantation entrance and how much everyone enjoyed it. I had a matted 16 x 20 print with me and asked him if he would like a copy. He was a bit surprised but was glad to have it. He really liked the print and it was, after all, free. He told me he and his wife moved there about twenty years. He said his wife refused to move there initially because there was no pond. so, he had one dug. It is huge. He obviously loved his wife a lot. I took a chance and asked if he would mind, if it would it be okay if I walked around and took some more photos. He was welcoming.
Shortly thereafter, as I walked around the grounds, a woman, I assumed to be his wife, came from the house walking toward me. She introduced herself and told me that she had seen numerous paintings and photos of their main entrance but she really liked mine a lot. She thought it looked like a painting and was a unique view, not just a straight on view. She mentioned that her daughter had made note cards from a photo taken there. I offered to give her the image if she wanted to make note cards. That seemed to please her. As we walked and talked, she pointed out a tree with a natural arch and said her daughter had been married under that arched branch. She asked me to take a couple pics of it so she could give them to her daughter. How could I refuse?
She pointed toward another house just across the fields and said there was a tree I might want to photograph. She called it her baby Angel Oak. I said my goodbyes and headed toward that oak. I could see what she meant. It was a great tree. On the way out I stopped at an old rice field and took shots of blooming lily pads, water hyacinths and plain lily pads. They can be viewded on my web site under Tomotley Plantation.
I hated to leave the place but knew it was time. I felt good. I had found a wonderful place and was lucky enough to get a really nice shot or two to boot. Giving them the print and letting them use the image for note cards was the right thing to do and brought everything full circle. Now I had a great pic and a great story.
And now I have shared them with you...
Michael Kaynard is a West Ashley Photographer who recently celebrated his 40th year as a "comeya." His photos can be viewed at http://kaynardphotography.webs.com. He can be reached at mkaynard@gmail.com or 843-412-2299.