It was a beautiful spring day, perfect for exploring downtown and the Falls Park area. Ken wanted to get some photos of the Rock Quarry Garden for a painting subject, so Tuesday morning of this past week I drove over to Clemson to get him for a downtown Greenville photo walk.
Since Ken had a definite target, we headed straight to the Rock Quarry Garden. I assume from its name that this was once a rock quarry, but apart from that I haven’t been able to find any other history, such as when it was in use as a quarry, and when it became a garden. I was able to find a description of the plantings in the park from Clemson landscaping. (PDF)
Descending the steps into the quarry, there was a sign stating that professional photographers needed to register in order to use the site. It’s a popular spot for wedding photos, and I’ve photographed my brother Stephen’s family here. Apparently you can also rent the area for weddings themselves for $300 per day.
Despite it being a cooler than normal day, dogwoods, flowers and azaleas were in full bloom. We paused at a batch of daffodils.
I took a few shots of the whole gardens.
We made our way down to the small falls at the end of the park. I snagged my tripod and neutral density filters to try to slow down the exposures of the falls. I was only moderately successful.
Ken also got some shots, when he wasn’t pretending to meditate.
We completed a circuit of the park, walking along the upper part of the falls, then on around and back to the car.
From the Rock Quarry Gardens we headed over to Falls Park. I was disappointed that the parking garage on Falls Street no longer has any public parking. More troubling, though, someone who apparently does have access to parking offered to let us in…for $5. We declined. Fortunately, there was a free space available in the the small lot at the end of Liberty Bridge.
Doesn’t matter how many times I come here, I still have to take a photo of the bridge and falls.
We had lunch at Passerelle Bistro, then walked down into the park. We took photos of the old Arboretum, which as recently had some restoration work.
We walked on down into the park, past the famous “Medusa Tree” and views of the bridge.
There was a group of young people out with cameras. One guy looked like their instructor. Upon closer inspection I found that they were using film SLRs. I’m glad that they were learning the basics of photography with old school equipment.
We walked on down to the old ruins of Vardry Mill.
We completed the circuit by walking on up under the Main Street Bridge and across the Swamp Rabbit Bridge.
I know these are all photos I’ve shot a thousand times before, but it was a spectacular day, and how could I resist?
The wind had been pretty good most of the morning, so I was going to let Ken try out the parafoil kite. We drove over to Legacy Park, and found that the fields were closed off for some reason. Instead we stopped by Suburban Paints so Ken could get some art supplies, then headed up to Herdklotz Park. No luck there with the kites, either. By that time the winds had shifted and were no longer ideal.
Even so, it had been a great day out and about taking photos. I hope Ken was able to get some photos that he can use as a starting point for his artwork.
