Living History Park

Today I made a twenty-eight minute drive over the state line to visit a park in Aiken County, South Carolina. I was anticipating seeing a full blown event featuring 18th Century living and reenactments, but the newspaper posting was just a little misleading. There wasn't a ton of people milling around and the promise of a major thunderstorm gave me the opportunity to get some clean shots of the park without visitors cluttering up my images. On top of that, Kay, one of the interpreters gave me a one-on-one guided tour of Living History Park since I had arrived so early.

Another treat that I experienced was visiting with Bruce Ingram who was telling stories and demonstrating 18th Century living as a slave in front of the slave cabin. Not only did "Mr. Bruce" have a strong "slave-like" handshake, but his stories were just as compelling and entertaining. I only heard two of them, but I betcha he's got tons of 'em. (Check out his website below).

Thanks to the overcast day there is a lot of detail in the images and I didn't have to fight strong contrasty lighting which can be a problem in wooded areas. At the beginning of the afternoon, moments after I decided to head back home, the weather turned into a severe weather watch that lasted until the following day. Although, I didn't see what I had expected, photographically the trip turned out to be better than I could have planned.

Enjoy!
Willie

Norwood House serves as the Welcome Center to the park.
Willow Springs Meeting House served as

church, school, and protective walls.
Bell tower.

Storytellers dressed in 18th Century attire.

Thompson Academy serves as education center.

Smokehouse used to cure meat to keep it from spoiling.

Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina)

"Mr. Bruce" playing music on a gourd

instrument in front of the slave cabin.

Bruce Ingram (slave character and storyteller)
Woman dressed in 18th Century
attire weeding flowerbed.

Location: North Augusta, SC
Bruce Ingram: Art Website
Equipment: Canon 30D w/17-55mm IS lens
Post-production: Adobe Lightroom 2.5 & CS3