A few weeks ago I was able to check a bucket list item off my list. It’s hard to believe but after living in Charleston for almost 20 years I finally made the trip to Edisto Island which is only about an hour drive from where I live. The trip was to shoot and stay at an architect friend of mines river house in trade for a few days of using his property while photographing Botany Bay Planation. The forecast was looking bleak a day before the trip with a tropical depression coming through but I had moved things around to make it happen so I decided to press my luck and stay on course. The first few days were as forecasted, nothing but rain, which included a cloudy and rainy first trip to Edisto followed buy a cloud with some sunlight sunrise the next morning which was just enough to give me what I need to come away with some photos I really like. I’ll share a few of the photos below and list a few items that would have been good for me to have known as a photographer before visiting the area.
1) Visit Botany Bay Beach for the first time during a low to mid tide. At high tide there is very little room to walk around and explore the “Boneyard” beach.’'
2) They say you are allowed to enter the plantation 30 minutes prior to sunrise but depending on the time of year you will not have that much time. I was there the last week of May with sunrise around 6:13 a.m. and the gate did not open until right at 6. It was a mad dash to drive the rest of the distance to the parking lot for the beach and then the somewhat lengthy boardwalk out to the beach.
3) This ties in with exploring the beach at low to mid tide, but scout out locations a day or two before shooting so you have compositions in mind for sunrise. If you haven’t visited the area and just show up for sunrise you will be overwhelmed and very strapped for time in finding that perfect composition in time.
4) Photograph the Live Oak Tunnel on a cloudy or foggy day if possible or in the morning with the light is soft. Photographing the beautiful tree canopy on a bright sunny day will create harsh contrast and make the beautiful green leaves growing on the trees harder to see.
