Steve Sheppard Photography Blog

Being a Marine, I am a creature of habit and routine. That doesn’t mean I don’t like to wing it. After all, I am the son of a sailor.

We went on Spring Break once with no idea were we were going. I turned left out of the driveway one Saturday morning at 5 a.m. and we ended up in Nashville for a few days including a night at the Grand Ole Opry. Then we stopped at the Jack Daniels Distillery for the afternoon simply because we happened to drive by. I love the back roads. Then  we stopped in Atlanta for a few more days and went to an NBA and a NHL game.

But when we go to Litchfield Beach, we have a routine – “nibblin’ on sponge cake, watchin’ the sun bake, all of those tourist covered with oil”. I get up before the sun rises, walk on the beach and shoot photos. There are only so many days in your life you get to witness the sun rising over the ocean. I take advantage of it every chance I get. Someday, I plan to do it every morning. Most days while at Litchfield, around noon, we stop by the Cabana Cafe to chat with Lajla who is our good friend and frozen concoction expert.

We just arrived home from an impromptu week at Litchfield Beach. We left home last Saturday at 5 a.m. and arrived at Litchfield Books 4 1/2 hours and 261 miles later. We purchased our reading materials, stopped by Piggly Wiggly and were set for the week.

At Litchfield Books, we purchased a couple of novels by David Baldacci and got tickets to attend a gathering to hear him speak on Wednesday. Later that week, we attended the function and he was a hoot. He autographed our books.

Anyway, back on the subject, we arrived at our accommodations. There was a plumbing problem so we went straight to the Cabana. We got there before it opened. We purchased a weekend edition of USA Today, sat in rocking chairs and waited. Our friend, Lajla, who was surprised to see us said, “skinny coladas”, and the conversation began.

We couldn’t get a reservation for our favorite restaurant, the Ocean One – Austin’s, that night. Depression. OK, more coladas.

Changes in latitudes:

1. Forgot my beach flip-flops – Don’t worry I was wearing my Sunday-go-to-meetin’ pair
2. No deck to read the morning paper and drink coffee on
3. No ocean view unless we stood on our tip-toes
4. We didn’t finish our 1,000 piece puzzle
5. I only read three books
6. People who park poorly
7. Left the umbrella at home – had to shop at Eagles
8. Left my MiFi at home
9. Could not find my sun glasses
10. I blew out my flip-flop, stepped on a pop-top

 Changes in attitudes:

1. Completed 2/3rds of a 1,000 piece puzzle
2. Got to spend a week with my lovely wife
3. She thinks I should have put that first
4. Finished three books
5. Bought a flip-flop bucket
6. Got to spend a week with my lovely wife
7. Purchased my beautiful and brilliant mother-in-law the perfect birthday present
8. Had chicken-fried quail
9. Watched Mcllroy win the U.S. Open with a new friend and Hampden-Sydney graduate at the Island Bar and Grill
10. Got to spend a week with my lovely wife

The three books I read were Letting Go of the Camera by Brooks Jensen, The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer and Stan Musial An American Life by George Vecsey (which was a gift from my son for Father’s Day).

Mattie read Circles of Light by Dr. Mary Helen Hensley, Collusion by Stuart Neville, Murder One by Robert Dugoni and One Summer by David Baldacci.

I decided this past week to only shoot film. Here are some photos using drug store film and drug store processing and scanning. I was too lazy to shoot Tri-X, which I could have processed in my darkroom. I know it’s my own – fault, Jimmy.

Mattie and I made plans, today, for a trip to Litchfield Beach, S.C. I’ve been thinking about sitting on the beach all day.

I had a meeting at the studio this morning. Afterwards, I when out with the Olympus E-5 and Pana/Leica 25mm F1.4 lens. It was a cold, gray morning, but I did find a little red.

I recently had to send my Olympus 7-14mm lens in for a little repair. For some reason, it was not focusing. I got it back from Olympus in just five days and was shocked at how little they charged me.

Other than mounting it on a camera body to make sure it was focusing, I haven’t used it since it returned a couple of weeks ago. This morning, as I parked near my studio, I noticed the shadow of a fire escape on the side of a building. I grabbed my Olympus E-5 and the 7-14mm and walked over to shoot the first photo.

Then I decided to give the Dramatic Tone art filter in the E-5 a try and shot the remaining photos as I walked around the old Henry County Courthouse. The third and the last photos were shot at 7mm. In the next to last photo, I kinda liked the colorful flare from shooting directly into the sun. By the way, the lens works fine now.

It’s been almost a month since I have added anything to the blog. We were in Litchfield Beach for two weeks, and then I have been pretty busy after two weeks off. Anyway, here are some photos I shot and processed with the iPhone while in Litchfield.

Mattie and I just returned from a few days of R&R in Litchfield Beach. I haven’t looked at anything I shot with the Olympus E-P1, but here are a few I shot with my iPhone.

The iPhone is just plain old fun to shoot with. I used the PS Mobile (Photoshop) app to process the photos. All the photos were processed with the iPhone. The only other thing I did to them was downsize for the web.

Mattie and I made a quick trip to Litchfield Beach. We arrived Thursday morning at 9 a.m. and left today (Saturday).

The trip was a birthday present for Mattie. Our favorite restaurant, Emi’s, is in Pawley’s Island. I should say our favorite restaurant WAS in Pawley’s Island. We drove 4 1/2 hours Thursday morning to get there in time to eat at Eggs Up Grill for breakfast and was planning to go to Emi’s on Thursday and Friday nights for sushi.

Thursday evening we turned into Emi’s parking lot and noticed the lights were off. “On no,” I said, thinking it was closed because it’s the off season in Pawley’s. I got out of the car, walked up to the door, looked in and there was nothing inside the building. After having a conversation with the owner of the surf shop next door, I ducked my head and had to go back to the car and tell Mattie her favorite place had closed. Apparently, they are looking at some other options and may open in another location.

We ended up meeting some nice folks at The Fish House and talked with them on Thursday and Friday night during dinner.

Anyway, these are a few photos with the Olympus E-P1 and 17mm F2.8 lens. I didn’t shoot much this time. We just enjoyed a couple of days of relaxation and reading. On the third and fourth photo I used the pinhole filter in the E-P1.

Here are some of the places I visited to celebrate my birthday on Sunday.

All photos taken with the Olympus E-P1.