els sipkes fotografie | charleston sc

Shem Creek

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:30:51 +0000

Opening Night 2012 at the Charleston RiverDogs

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:31:06 +0000

Baseball season is upon us again, and this year we had tickets to opening night of the Charleston RiverDogs vs. the Rome Braves at The Joe. Even though we knew there was a threat of weather on the way, nothing could dampen our spirits of attending the game. Nothing, that is, until the storm blew in full force—with lighting, high winds, and a couple of inches of rain. The game was eventually called, but, lucky for us, we can trade in our opening night tickets for attendance another night. Yes!

Full moon rising over a perfect spring evening at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Stadium in Charleston:

Mayor Riley, the stadium’s namesake, concentrating on throwing out the Opening Day first pitch:

The U.S. Coast Guard made a special appearance and flew low over the stadium to get the crowd going:

View over the marsh and the Ashley River behind the stadium, showing the approaching storm:

And…he’s…SAFE!!!

The game was suspended and I turned back to the marsh to try to capture some of the lightning. Hand-holding your camera + reacting to lightning and thunder = shaky picture of lighting:

Diehard fans made the most of the situation and patiently waited under cover for the game to resume:

A brave soul attempting to weather the storm with a colorful umbrella that was no match for the wind:

Unfortunately the rain kept coming and the game was rescheduled to resume on May 18. Hopefully it won’t rain then! See you there!

Lighten Up Charleston

admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:43:20 +0000

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley gave an impassioned speech at the waterfront by the Charleston Maritime Center this afternoon to kick off Lighten Up Charleston, a program challenging Charleston residents to collectively lose 100,000 pounds through healthy eating and exercise. More information can be found at www.LightenUpCharleston.org, including access to a weight and activity tracker, maps and links to city parks and walking trails, healthy recipes, a locator for local farmers markets, a calendar of health and wellness events in Charleston, and more.

MUSC representatives with Mayor Riley: Dr. Susan Johnson, Janis Newton, Dr. Josh Brown, Tonya Turner, RD

Ravenel Bridge Sunset

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:23:02 +0000

Carolina Sunset

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:38:44 +0000

Right before starting to cook dinner last night I looked out the front windows of our house and saw the start of a beautiful sunset. By the time I had let 10 minutes or so pass, I had run upstairs to get a better view. Then I pulled out my iPhone to take some images. Finally I realized I needed to get my camera to capture this gorgeous sunset that was getting more and more beautiful as time went by. I wish I had been at a more scenic location to capture it. This shot is straight out of camera, no adjustments. Still doesn’t do justice to having seen the real thing…

Osprey with fresh-caught fish

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:00:40 +0000

I was just settling in to my favorite chair to catch up on reading some long-neglected photography magazines, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something big sitting on top of the dead palm trunk in my neighbor’s yard. Once I figured out what it was, I ran upstairs to get my camera and braved the 35 degree weather for a half hour while this osprey ate a fish he must have just caught in a nearby retention pond. Needless to say, my photography magazines are still waiting to be read, but I do have some pretty awesome photos of this osprey now. Unfortunately the image size limitations of my blog don’t do the images justice, but you get an idea. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Checking out the neighborhood before digging into the fresh catch:

What appears to be a stork flying by in the background. Have I ever mentioned how much I love living on the marsh and seeing all this wildlife every day?

I had no idea what he/she was eating until I saw the images on my computer screen. The lack of flying feathers at least clued me in it wasn’t one of the many birds that hang out by our feeder or bird bath.

Once the catch was eaten, the osprey sat for a long while, often rustling its feathers and enjoying the warm sun on a cold day.

Even though I was quiet so as not to disturb him/her, I think he/she did know I was there the entire time.

And, suddenly, the osprey flew away over the marsh. Check out those talons in this image:

The osprey’s wingspan is HUGE. I’m so stoked I was able to capture this osprey with my camera…

Healthy Charleston Challenge 2-mile Run & Walk

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:22:27 +0000

The MUSC Wellness Center celebrated its 23rd Anniversary this past Saturday with a 2-mile Healthy Charleston Challenge Run & Walk. The race began at 8 a.m., and featured seasoned runners as well as past participants of MUSC’s Healthy Charleston Challenge, a Biggest-Loser style program in which participants complete a 12-week fitness and weight-loss regimen designed to increase physical activity and promote healthy lifestyle habits. It was so inspiring to see everyone successfully complete the race to reach personal goals and set new benchmarks toward health and fitness.

Everyone gathered in front of the Wellness Center to await the start of the race:

The Wellness Center’s James got the party started with some warm-up moves:

Aaaand they’re off!!!

This little guy looked determined to catch up with the head of the pack:

The winner of the race, Matt Hellier, of Charleston, finished in 10:23. Congratulations Matt!

The first female to cross the line was Katherine Loggemann of Mount Pleasant, who finished in 12:30. Congratulations Katherine!

Images of each participant crossing the finish line can be found in the image gallery below. All other images taken on race-day can be found in the image gallery at the bottom of the post. The small gallery images can be opened by clicking on them. Images in the galleries can be advanced by clicking in the right side of the open image to move forward in the gallery, or, by clicking in the left side of the open image to move backward in the gallery.

All other images from race day can be found in the image gallery below.

Shem Creek Park in Mount Pleasant, SC

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:29:48 +0000

Men’s College Soccer: College of Charleston vs University of South Carolina

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:15:56 +0000

A record crowd of 2,931 fans witnessed the College of Charleston Cougars defeat the USC Gamecocks 3-2 in the season opener soccer match held at Patriots Point Sunday evening. I was able to concentrate on getting some shots in the first half while at the same time dodging both fans and security for being where I wasn’t supposed to be with my camera. I love a good challenge. By the way…is everyone aware there are two, yes TWO, Dutchies on the College of Charleston team this year? Sophomore goalie (#1) Kees Heemskerk and freshman defenseman (#6) Daan Brinkman both come to Charleston by way of the Ajax Youth Academy (and yes, I DO happen to be an Ajax fan, sorry all you Feyenoord people!) Hup Holland Hup! My Opa (grandfather) Wim Roetert was a striker for the Dutch National team in the 1920s. Anyway, here are some faves of the evening:

Governor’s Cup Surfing Contest on Folly Beach, SC

admin — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:42:28 +0000

We went out on Saturday to check out a few hours of the Governor’s Cup Surfing contest on Folly Beach. The sun finally came out just around the time we were ready to go find some lunch, and we missed all but two of the “open rounds” in which the best surfers take part. There were some good waves to be had, and both contest surfers and “soul surfers” were having a great time catching the waves.

In another life, I spent quite a few hours in the water on my body board. I’ve done a previous blog post about it and you can check that out here. Enjoy!