Charleston South Carolina Bridge Sunset

When we took our family vacation to Folly Beachand Charleston South Carolina, I knew of at least 2 things I wanted to photograph; The Morris Island Lighthouse, and Charleston's Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge during sunset.

Like most photographers, I did my homework before going and had my locations picked out. It was just a matter of picking the right day to go especially since time was limited. I had 1 night to spend at the bridge.

One morning while on Folly Beach, clouds started moving in and I had the feeling the Lord was telling me that was going to be the evening for my bridge photos. So I told my family, this was the day to spend in Charleston.

We went into town and visited a few places (that will be in another blog). We also checked out the locations I had picked out to take the photos from in advanced. As the evening started, I first started on the northern side of the bridge and got a few evening shots along Cooper River.

We then worked our way to the southern side of the bridge and waited for the moment to begin. I had no idea what the Lord was going to have in store for us, but the view was getting prettier and prettier every passing moment. I never ever imagined it to be as glorious as it was!!!

About an hour before sunset I got into position. There were a couple other photographers there but one didn't stick around to long. He actually missed the best part. The other photographer was a professional Fine Art Photographer like me, but he works for art agents traveling the world capturing photos for them. Every photographer's dream!! We enjoyed visiting with him.

Then the stunning sunset started! Oh my goodness!! It was so breathtaking and changing constantly. The clouds were amazing. It looked like God had painted the sky just for us. The other guy had been down there several nights trying to find a good sunset and couldn't believe how beautiful it was and how lucky we were to be there on the right night.

For a time it looked like the sky was on fire with beautiful oranges and yellows. The fast moving clouds kept it changed up every few minutes. Then the cobalt blue started to come in. Wow! There were no words for it.

Something you always want to remember when photographing sunsets, are the colors start kicking in about 30 minutes before (sometimes earlier), and will continue till well after the sunset has past. An hour and a half is a good plan to capture all the stages. You'll want to be patient but it's worth it.

We stuck around to capture a night shot with the bridge lights. It did seem like it took the lights longer to turn on then I thought they would. It was a slow process before the whole thing was lit up.

I took a few more photos and also went to a different location to get some more. It was an amazing evening and I thank God for the beautiful sunset! It was a blessing to see and capture it. To check out more of my photos from South Carolina, click here.

Have you been to Charleston, South Carolina? I'd love to hear about your experience. Feel free to comment below.