Don’t Follow the Lights!

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Our time at Botany Bay Plantation in Edisto Beach, SC, brought us many surprises. The salt marshes were one type of landscape that we had not experienced, and we had a wonderfully foggy day to photograph them right after sunrise. I kept thinking of Gollum’s solemn warning to Frodo and Sam in the Dead Marshes: “Don’t Follow the Lights!” The fog helped me envision a more ethereal approach to these images, and I played a bit more with texture and color tones.

A pathway into the marshes. I wonder where it leads.

A pathway into the marshes. I wonder where it leads. Print Available.

This was the perspective that reminded me the most of the intrepid trio of Gollum, Frodo, and Sam. I gave it a greenish tinge to enhance the mood.

This was the perspective that reminded me the most of the intrepid trio of Gollum, Frodo, and Sam. I gave it a greenish tinge to enhance the mood. Print Available.

Some of the trees felt like they were creepily reaching towards the marshes, almost yearning to join their kin. I also loved how the fog shrouded the sun enough to be able to shoot into it for a different feel. It was "quite cool" the morning we were there, but the feeling I went for here was of an oppressively humid heat.

Some of the trees felt like they were creepily reaching towards the marshes, almost yearning to join their fallen kin. I also loved how the fog shrouded the sun enough to be able to shoot into it for a different feel. It was “quite cool” the morning we were there, but the feeling I went for in post-processing was of an oppressively humid heat. Print Available.

A path into darkness. Would it be better to veer to the left and face the dead in the marshes or follow the path into the murky woods? I wonder if I might ask this tree. I played a bit with the colors in the sunlight. With the sun on the left, I toyed with the natural progression from warm to cool in the sky.

A path into darkness. Would it be better to veer to the left and face the dead in the marshes or follow the path into the murky woods? I wonder if I might ask this tree. I played a bit with the colors in the sunlight. With the sun on the left, I toyed with the natural progression from warm to cool in the sky. Print Available.

In addition to the skeletal branches stretching out over the marshes, there were single trees out in their midst. I wonder how those larger trees survived the Battle of Dagorlad during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

In addition to the skeletal branches stretching out over the marshes, there were single trees out in their midst. I wonder how those larger trees survived the Battle of Dagorlad during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Print Available.