The view from the dock at Charles house on Mosquito Creek, near Bennetts Point, SC.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend some time on the coast at one of my favorite places in the world, my friend Charles’ river house on Fenwick Island.  The best thing about Fenwick is that it is private, and with the exception of about 5 houses which are all owned by members of the Baldwin family, it is completely un-spoiled by the meddling of man.  Wild, un-touched, and completely cut off, this is the perfect place for me to get back in touch with my personal vision, explore, and have an adventure fishing off-shore, and have deep philosophical discussions with others much wiser than I.

The sun sets over Mosquito Creek on Fenwick Island, near Bennetts Point, SC.

Having the ability to create and share images like these, from places that most of the world will never see, and adventures that most will never have, has become one of the forces that drives my photography in recent months.  At one point in time, I had thought it was about just telling the stories of the people which inhabited these places, however, as I have seen so many places around me become over developed, mistreated, and forgotten my goals as a photographer have shifted.  With that thought, I have created the Coastal Print Collection over on my digital archive, and I invite everyeone to take a moment, and flip through the collection of images that are there already, and will be growing in the coming months.

Sunrise over Bennetts Point in Green Pond, SC, on Sunday, May 31, 2009.

Prepping the boat for off-shore fishing, as the sun rises over Bennetts Point in Green Pond, SC, on Sunday, May 31, 2009.

A Palmetto and Live Oak trees draped with Spanish Moss are silhouetted by the first light in the sky, as the sun rises over Bennetts Point in Green Pond, SC, on Sunday, May 31, 2009.

Finally, if you have a place that which is holds a special place in your heart, with natural beauty that may be in danger of disappearing all too soon, that you think I should visit, photograph, and spend some time exploring, let me know.  If I make my way there a signed print from what I find, could be on its way to you.

Lately I’ve been taking my job a little to seriously, and it is becoming something I do to have an income, instead of something I love to do. But then again lately I’ve been taking life a little to seriously. I suppose that is the curse of making something that you love to do your career. In some ways its inevitable to just take something lightly as you get older, because you begin to realize that you need to be able to make a car payment, rent, insurance, food, etc… But when you worry about all of that stuff you tend to forget why you really started doing this in the first place. Perhaps its just time to stop taking everything so seriously, and start having fun again. Maybe then things will just fall into place. Who knows how everything will work out in the long run, and if we did know that… what would be the fun in living life. Its time to get up off of the couch and go explore the world, have some fun, and see what happens. Its time to take the point and shoot out, like I did at the beach the other day, because its more about the journey than the resullts. In that moment when I wasn’t thinking about shutter speeds, f-stops, and iso, so I get to remember the sunrise, instead of how I photographed the sunrise. I think the line from the movie is “Don’t take life to seriously, you’ll never get out alive.”

Peace