WE  STUDY  PHOTOGRAPHY AT

LAKE MARION, SOUTH CAROLINA

 

 

We attended an unusual Elderhostel at Lake Marion in South Carolina. It was sponsored by Clemson University and was located on the shore of the huge manmade lake. The motel type accommodations were located at a state owned camp that is primarily used to introduce the school children of South Carolina to the wonders of the natural world.

We were told that the meals would be "institutional type" but found them to be really tasty and  varied. The entire Elderhostel experience was devoted to photography. Our instructors were two professional wildlife photographers who exhibited unusual patience with some of us who were new to this exciting hobby. The highlights of the Elderhostel were the trips on pontoon boats as we sought out various species of wildlife to be photographed. We also visited plantations and swamps via the university vans.

 

Lake Marion was created just before World War II. It was designed to create electric power and for flood control. But it has become a place of unbelievable beauty for sportsmen, photographers, and all of us to enjoy. It covers 96,400 acres.

 

We were not disappointed in our search for wildlife to photograph. Note the turtles at the shoreline in the photograph on the left, and the frog just below the water lily in the photograph on the right.

 

Both of these pictures were taken from a pontoon boat. The water moccasin on the left was on a tree at the edge of the water. Note the Anhinga in the picture on the right.

 

After a hurricane destroyed most of the trees along the shoreline that the woodducks used for nesting conservationists arranged to have wooden boxes built for them to nest in. The project was successful. From the pontoon boat we were able to take pictures of the mother woodduck, some of the eggs before they hatched and of some of the babies during hatching.

 

 

The picture on the left was taken at a swamp. The one at the right at a rookery were Osprey raised their young. The bird on the left is eating a fish he just caught.

 

The following pictures were taken at plantations and other sites we visited on land.

 

 

 

Can you see the tiny bird in the picture on the left?

 

One of our fellow Elderhostelers took this picture of the group on a pontoon boat trip where we saw the rookery where the Osprey were raising their young.   

 

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