Recent work - March 2020

With Maryland Hall's Artists-in-Residence currently working from their home studios, we were asked to publish a video showing our current projects. My work routines have been disrupted by necessary shutdowns of public facilities and non-essential businesses, but I have been able to quickly adapt to the changes and continue working. 

This is a short video featuring unpublished work from March 2020. Early in the month I had a great trip to Smith and Tangier to work on 'Island Life' and during the second half of the month I started working on a photography/writing project that will examine the impacts of the supply chain disruptions on the Chesapeake's seafood industry from the coronavirus shutdowns. 

Digitizing 35mm B&W Negatives

I recently digitized 10 rolls of 35mm Kodak TMAX 400 black and white negative film that was shot in the Summer and Fall of 2019. Nikon's ES-2 film digitizer pairs with the 60mm macro lens and the Nikon d850 and allows you to photograph 35mm negatives and slides. Other equipment manufacturers make similar products that allow you to digitize transparencies without using a scanner. Digitizing transparency film is a great way is a great way to preserve photographs in a digital format - slides and negatives have to be stored properly under the correct humidity and temperature to ensure that they won't be damaged.

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Pound Netters - Hoopers Island, Maryland

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JM Clayton Seafood Company - Cambridge, Maryland

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Planting Seed Oysters - Pocomoke Sound, Virginia

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Around the Chesapeake

Small BUsinesses adapting to Coronavirus Related Closures

Small businesses around the country are having to adapt to the economic climate and the forced closures that came unexpectedly with with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Some businesses and industries have been hit harder than others, but there are very few out there that have not in some way felt effects from the public health crisis. 

The Annapolis Collection Gallery, a venue that exhibits my work throughout the year, is hosting an online auction of my work and the work of other artists. They are offering delivery to homes and businesses in the Annapolis area. The auction starts today at 4pm, click on the link below to see what is available:

South Carolina - February 2020

Sunrise at ‘Boneyard Beach’ on Bulls Island silhouettes a dead Live Oak.

Erosion taking a toll on the maritime forest on Bull’s Island. The 5000 acre island is part of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.

A derelict dredge pipe washed ashore on Bull’s Island.

Carolina Yacht Club in Charleston at dawn.

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge over the Cooper River connects downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Construction on the bridge began in 2001 and was completed in 2005 and cost the South Carolina Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration an estimated $632 million. The bridge replaced an obsolete bridge that did not have enough clearance to accommodate modern shipping vessels passing underneath. Charleston is the country’s fourth largest container port, accepting vessels and cargo from around the world.

Brown Pelicans in the Cooper River near Dafuski Island.

The Hunting Island Lighthouse at Hunting Island State Park is the only lighthouse in South Carolina that is open to the public.

The beach on southern end of Hunting Island State Park is littered with downed trees and dead standing trees. The island has been suffered from heavy erosion from storms.

Launching workboats in Bluffton on the May River.

Workboats on the May River preparing for a day of fishing crab pots.

Joshua Crabtree running the workboat as his crew works crab pots.

Female Blue Crabs, commonly known as Sooks, make up the majority of the catch for crabbers working in South Carolina waters.

Portunus gibbesii - the Iridescent Swimming Crab is native to the Western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico from Cape Cod to Brazil. This crab was caught near the mouth of the May River in South Carolina. There is no commercial market in the United States for the Iridescent Swimming Crab.

A sampling of the different crabs in Calibogue Sound. (Left to Right) Stone Crab, Spider Crab, Blue Crab

Stone Crabs in South Carolina are a small by-catch fishery for fishermen targeting Blue Crabs. When a stone crab is caught, the larger of the two claws is removed and the crab is released. The crabs will regenerate their missing claw over time.

Bluffton Oyster Company on the May River at dawn.

Wild oysters growing in the May River, photographed at low tide.

Picking oysters at low tide.

Bluffton oystermen, ‘Johnny Red’ and ‘Drac’ heading back to Bluffton Oyster Company to sell their catch in the rain.

Unloading oysters at high tide at Bluffton Oyster Company.

Portrait of Bluffton oysterman.

Washing and packing oysters into one bushel bags.

Shucking oysters at Bluffton Oyster Company, South Carolina’s last commercial oyster shucking house. At the shucking house, the meats are extracted from the oysters and packed into quart size containers for resale.

Oyster Shucker, Ernestine Butler.

Oyster meats packed for resale.

Oyster shucker taking break for a cigarette on Bluffton Oyster Company’s shell pile.