The sun sets in back of an oak tree at Charles Towne Landing. My favorite time of day to be out there is late afternoon when the shadows are long and the light pure.

A late Fall visit to Caw Caw Interpretive Center led me past many scenes such as this, where wetlands and low-lying sloughs and swamps beckon with their beautiful reflections and still waters.

The walk to Moore Cove Falls in Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina is one of the most beautiful I have taken in a long time. The tiny creek flowing down from the waterfall is lovely to behold and merges with another creek not far from the waterfall. I hope to revisit this spot soon.

Two more views along the Blue Ridge Parkway taken during my recent trip to the North Carolina mountains.

After the rains had passed on, the sky and clouds along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina were resplendent with beauty, viewed from every overlook I stopped at. What a glorious day to be in the mountains.

How I misss the sight of rushing mountain streams, seen so often along the North Carolina roads I traveled recently on my visit to the Asheville area and Blue Ridge Parkway.

Glassmine Falls from an overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, Nov. 2009. What a magnificent sight. There was a very cool and brisk wind blowing along this part of the crest of the mountains, and I lingered quite a while taking in the spectacle of this distant waterfall from all angles.

One of my favorite waterfalls in North Carolina, near Brevard.

Along the road to Pearson's Falls near Saluda, NC, after heavy rains the previous few days, this waterfall won't last too long, but it was beautiful to behold in the woods.

Along the trail at Magnolia Gardens, through the woods heading to the small lakes and marshes near the Ashley River.

Combinations of natural elements in unusual juxtapositions fascinate me. One can see how Eliot Porter found so much to focus on in simple close-up of the forest floor.

I love the delicate pastel hues of sweetgrass at this time of year.

A scene along the trail at Charles Towne Landing last week.

More views of Sunday's spectacular sunset over the Ashley River.

Everyone was pulling over on Lockwood Drive tonight to see this absolutely stunning and mind boggling sunset over the Ashley River.    Fortunately, I had my camera and had been taking sky and cloud pictures at Charles Towne Landing an hour before, but I never imaged the sunset would be this spectacular.  It's probably one of the, if not the most, beautiful I have ever seen in Charleston.    What an amazing world!  What astonishing beauty!

This photo I took at Magnolia Gardens the other day reminds me of a forest floor close-up that the great nature and bird photographer Eliot Porter so excelled at.   I have been greatly influenced by this great photography master for more than 40 years now.   His work never ceases to refresh my soul and inspire me in my own work.

I have only seen Lake Moultrie a couple of time.  It's a huge inland lake, and I have known about it for much of my life, but never explored it.  It's less than an hour's drive from Charleston.  The other week, I drove to Bonneau Beach and took this shot on a cloudy day in October.

I had long heard about this church way out in Sumter County, and not long ago, I was driving along a country road and saw it.  Not sure at first what church it was, I turned around and visited it.   What a surprise to see that it was.   A beautiful building and truly lovely setting.

One of my favorite spots to relax and take a break from the world.   

I wandered around the empty downtown of Mayesville, S.C. recently.   Only a couple of other people were around the place.   The stillness was palpable.  An early October sun shown bright with spotted clouds in an early Autumn sky.   The imposing Kineen Hotel, long derelict and forlorn, was a reminder of better times in this town.

More images from a walk at Magnolia Gardens in late September.

Clouds on a beautiful late September day at Magnolia Gardens.

The wondrous sight of butterflies at Magnolia Gardens, late September 2009.

Early Fall sights, sounds and that general autumn feeling in the air greeted me at Cypress Gardens.   What a photographer's paradise.

Nature's flower arrangements.

What a delight to photograph butterflies at Cypress Gardens.

Swamp maple and cypress trees at Cypress Gardens recently.

Amazingly enough, there were some azaleas blooming along the paths at Cypress Gardens this past Saturday during a very pleasant walk there.   Had not been in early Fall before.   Autumn offers the visitor its own special gifts at this place of great natural beauty.

This delicate lavender flower...  so delicate in it's beauty.

A recent late afternoon scene at the state park.  I love the way light and shadows play through the trees at that time of day.

Drayton Hall, nine miles north of Charleston.

The ever-beautiful Cana lilly.   A tour-de-force from Nature.

An exquisite sunset over the marsh at Folly Beach recently.   

The deep green of summer endures on into September at the state park.  Walking the paths among the live oaks and small lakes, one senses deeply the utter peace of this place, and is grateful.

During a country drive last weekend, in the middle of the Francis Marion National Forest, I suddenly came upon a clearing in the woods and a remarkable sight:  an old abandoned wooden church, long left to the elements, surrounded by a chain link fence and adjacent to a cemetery nestled among trees.  It was a brilliantly bright and sunny Saturday in late summer.  I immediately put on the brakes, turned around and then stopped to photograph what I had discovered.  When you have your camera with you, and you are driving along a road you have never traveled before, coming across such a place in the deep and everlasting quiet of the middle of nowhere is pure serendipity.