Thursday, April 17, 2008

I can’t think of anything better than taking pictures outside on such a beautiful day!  This story was to run inside the Sports section in black and white…so I kept this picture for the blog because the colors were gorgeous. Head softball coach Shirl Carter gives some batting tips to one of her Lady Cats during practice in Dillon on Thursday, April 17, 2008.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Briar Wilson, 2, of Darlington peeks into a tank of koi during the Southern Plant and Flower Festival at the Pee Dee Farmer’s Market in Florence on Saturday, April 12, 2008.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Several wrecks occured on or near Interstate 20 in Darlington County this afternoon.  These are pictures from three of those accidents.




Plywood covers the median as workers prepare to remove the wreckage of an overturned semi on the median of Interstate 20 in Darlingon County. Traffic was backed up for miles in both eastbound and westbound lanes.



Emergency workers take the driver of a wrecked semi to a waiting ambulance.



The contents of an overturned semi spill across the shoulder and into a ditch.



A severely damaged vehicle awaits a tow truck as traffic slowly passes in the eastbound lane.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Last night, everyone in country for the wedding went on a chiva parandera or “party bus.“  We had two buses to fit everyone who wanted to go.  Years ago, the chiva buses had a band seated in the middle of the bus.  The updated version of the bus has a DJ and bartender in the back of the bus, all of the seats have been removed and replaced with two long bench seats on both sides. These buses resemble the classic American school bus, only they are painted with elaborate designs and are covered with lights. The passengers dance and drink the night away as the bus drives them throughout Panama City.









Our chiva stopped at a place where we could overlook the bay of Panama and listen to a five-piece band play traditional Panamanian music.  Some of the chiva buses drive you to different historical sites around the area including the Panama Canal Miraflores Locks. At each stop the passengers pile out of the bus and dance some more.

I am currently on vacation in the Republic of Panama for a friend’s wedding.  I graduated from high school here and it has been almost 10 years since my last visit.  These are some pictures I have taken from the first couple of days, visiting the beach and doing the normal tourist things.



Playa Santa Clara on the Pacific side of Panama.



The mola is an intricate, hand stitched design that has evolved to the original geometric, symmetrical shapes into more elaborate creations of animals and even entire underwater scenes. The designs are used for clothing, decoration, and pretty much anything you can think of using them for.



A native Panamanian, a Kuna indian, sews a mola at an open air market.



These are hand carved tagua nuts represent the myriad of poison dart frogs that are found throughout Panama. The rock-hard tagua nuts have to be specially treated before they become soft enough to carve.

Friday, March 21, 2008

FPD Cpl. Jerri James laughs as she gets caught buying donuts during the Special Olympics Cops on Doughnut Shops fundraiser at Krispy Kreme on West Palmetto in Florence on Friday, March 21, 2008.

FPD Cpl. Jerri James takes a bite of a donut to the amusement of Off. Tammie Durant and Lt. George Mack during the Special Olympics Cops on Doughnut Shops fundraiser at Krispy Kreme on West Palmetto in Florence on Friday, March 21, 2008.

A child reaches into a shrub for an egg during the Annual McLeod Medical Center Darlington Easter Egg Hunt on Thursday, March 20, 2008.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

This is what happens when you try to get a shot of a coach dropping a basketball through a hoop when you are shooting up with a 16-35mm….The ball hits your camera and screws up your shot!

Monday, March 10, 2008

This photo is going to be published in black and white tomorrow, but I like the color version better: Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina PCBA President Bill Meyer stands on stage as he is recognized with the Ashpy P. Lowrimore Award for Outstanding Community Leadership during the United Way of Florence County Annual Meeting at the Florence Civic Center on Monday, March 10, 2008.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

8 Days a Week reviewed Mighty McFly’s performance at the V on Thursday, February 28 and I went to take pictures.  I had to use flash so the pictures would reproduce for the paper, but I shot multiple frames per second hoping to catch some of the stage lights working their magic and this was my favorite shot: Lead singer Brent, right, and guitarist Annar are lit by the stage lights during a performance by Mighty McFly at V in Florence on Thursday, February 28, 2008.  If you like 80s music, Mighty McFly is playing at the V again on Thursday, March 6 and they ROCK!

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

I was trying to get a shot of a Palmetto tree in Florence being ravaged by wind with raindrops on the lens of my camera…out of several hundred pictures this is the closest I got to what I was envisioning.

Monday, March 03, 2008

The Darlington Falcons take on the Wilson Tigers at home on Monday, March 3, 2008.
I only snapped two photos on my way back to my spot from the press box and snagged the ball hanging over the plate.  It was a beautiful night and I was so happy to be back on a baseball field!

Getting kids interested and excited about science is the perfect semi-retirement job for Tony Martinez, he says. An outreach specialist with ScienceSouth, Martinez stands in front of the new headquarters at Freedom Florence on Monday, March 3, 2008.  A retired chemist and amateur astronomer, Martinez has been with ScienceSouth for seven months.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Mike Smith, an avid runner who had emergency open heart surgery, runs on a treadmill at the YMCA on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. During a double bypass, doctors discovered two more blockages. Smith is now trying to pass the word that heart disease can be hereditary. I was trying to incorporate the little red heart rate icon on a treadmill into the picture and I really do like the result, but it doesn’t read as well as I had hoped.