The Best Surprises Involve Photography!

February 2018–Conway, South Carolina USA

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I’d been waiting for my ‘Saturday Surprise’ since arriving home from China a few weeks ago. Do you know how hard it is to wait that long?  Patience has never been my best virtue.  Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating for us on the weekends, so it continued to be postponed. FINALLY we had some good weather to kick it off!!

If you ask me, what’s the best kind of surprise? A new adventure, of course, involving photography and exploring!

The morning started, as Saturday’s usually do, with a long walk with the dogs and a trip to our favorite breakfast spot, The Bagel Shop. I was finally presented with two options for our ‘Saturday Surprise.’  Since I haven’t lived in Myrtle Beach long, and I’m not from the South, there are so many new places for me to experience, so I get really excited for new opportunities.  My two options that I had been waiting on for weeks were; Conway Riverwalk or Brookgreen Gardens.  We experienced Brookgreen Gardens, during their ‘Festival of Lights’ at Christmas, but seeing it in the day would look completely different.  As beautiful as I know the Gardens are, I chose Conway Riverwalk, purely to get some grungy, high-contrast photo opportunities.  I’d been wanting to challenge myself with some different scenery, so this was the perfect surprise for me.

Just a short drive into Conway led us to a Riverwalk, which was nice, but not exactly what I was looking for.  With a quick glace to the right, we both discovered an abandoned railroad track.  Perfect!  This is what I wanted to see, shoot and explore.

 

The railway was rickety, grungy, and dangerously crossed over the river.  Following it just brought a heightened level of excitement!  Myself and my camera were completely enjoying the day.  After following the tracks for a bit, it led us to an abandoned Railway Station.  There were signs everywhere claiming, ‘NO TRESPASSING’ and a few cameras monitoring the spot.  We weren’t there to tag up the abandoned building, equipment, or cars, we were harmless, simply on a quest for photos and new experiences. So we went with it, and walked around, staying far enough away as to not over step our boundaries.  It was completely worth the risk, capturing some great photos along the way.

Take a look through my photos and enjoy my version of a perfect ‘Saturday Surprise.’