645 - Cypress Gardens
Today we paddled through the scene from the Notebook.
I saw the movie about 13 years ago, but I couldn’t tell you a single thing about it. But apparently this place we were at, the Cypress Gardens of Charleston, South Carolina, was the location of a famous scene.
Cool. Let’s get to the photos:
Before we get into the depths of this shoot, because believe me, it has depths, let me just say that this place has it all. It’s a government owned property that functions like a state park, but it’s really much more than that.
There’s hiking (a given,) a reptile zoo, a butterfly house, and boat tours through the Cypress Gardens. All at the price of $10 per person. FOR ALL THIS.
Yes, you read that right. Boat tours are included in admission. It’s an absolute steal. Dare I say one of the best deals of any National or State Park in the United States?
The catch is that you gotta wait in a line of a million people for your turn with a boat. But… it wasn’t really a catch because you can hike around the park and/or visit the swamp beasts until you get a text alert. Genius.
That first photo I showed you was taken on the brief hike we did, along with these guys:
A couple close-ups in that batch I found interesting. The reflection one confused me when I first looked at it, which always means it’s a keeper.
I went all in on this shoot, by the way. Past couple years I’ve only been posting a few shots from these adventures, but I’m at the point where I’m saying fuck it. Let’s post everything I took that’s interesting. This awakening happened while culling my photos from the Crystal City Shops. Too many small-time goodies to leave out.
The way I’m thinking about it is that this website is purely an archive not dictated by algorithms, so why should I pretend like there’s one? The social media apps can enjoy my choosiness. But here, there’s no boundaries baby.
These next couple shots were from the boat ride, which was surprisingly difficult to navigate while taking photos. Two of us were needed to steer it, so I’d take photos, we’d lose our line, and Alara would end up trying to damage control our path before we smashed into something.
Not gonna lie it was a shit show. But I got some good shots at the cost of a little sweat. Starting with this bird:
Finally getting use out of that Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3. I seriously need to bust it out more. I really like the little foreground things, whatever they are.
After that I got a centered cypress shot. A classic:
That image reminded me of the Wild Gardens of Acadia adventure I did a few years ago. Very similar vibes in terms of compositional elements, except replace the fall colors with neat water features:
And to top the whole shoot off, Alara spotted a gator on the way out:
Those yellow flowers hit, man. It’s crazy the amount of stuff you get to see when you’re boating around these trees instead of just walking through the trails. Definitely recommend boating if you get the chance to visit this type of environment.
I know it’s big in Louisiana, and I’ve always wondered if it was worth the trouble of finding a boat to explore them. It is.
Anyway that’s that shoot. The biggest lesson I learned from this adventure is excess. Let’s give the people what they want. More photos.
I’m a photographer for god’s sake.
