Finding Beauty in the Everyday
As the weather warms up, my family and I have been spending more and more time outside. Last week, we went to a different park or hiking path every day after my long days teaching. We’ve been in South Carolina now for about 9 months, and I finally feel like we’re starting to get a feel for the land around us.
As someone that comes from the desert, I love exploring this lush and lively environment. From where we live in Florence, there are several state parks within a 30 minute drive, and dozens of beautiful parks. Yet, yesterday I had an eye for the area just around my house.
After loading the baby in the stroller, we went for a short walk to a nearby park. I had just gotten a new camera lens and couldn’t wait to get out and see what I could do with it.
Chinese Wisteria
If you’re in South Carolina during the early spring, you’ll quickly notice an explosion of purple flowers. They cover trees, homes, fences, and grow virtually everywhere. Wisteria is a relatively well known flower that grows off long winding vines. Unfortunately, this particular species is about as deadly as it is beautiful. While there are native species here, the asian species dominate, growing rapidly and outcompete or even strangle native plant life.
Eastern Gray Squirrel
It’s a squirrel. Look, I know you’ve seen them. We all know squirrels. But that’s one thing I love about photography; it allows us a unique view that our eyes simply can’t catch.
In this case, I love seeing the difference in fur from the back to the belly. Notice how much softer that little tummy looks.
(p.s. that mark on its head is likely a bot fly larva. It grows inside, then eats its way out and flies away once it reaches adulthood.
Southern Dewberry
I’ve been noticing flowers like these growing on several of our explorations. They’re pretty little things that turn into blackberry like fruits later in the season.
(You can learn more here)
The Take Away
It’s amazing to me how much I found just on that short little walk. I’ll be honest, I’d hoped to get a little more off grid for my first lens test, but I ended up incredibly satisfied with the shots I found. Just a friendly reminder that the world has many beautiful secrete, you only need to search for them.
If you like the photos and facts from this post, I have several more posted on my instagram account.
