Cruising the Inland Passage from Charleston to Jacksonville

A chain of barrier islands line the Southeastern coast of the United States. Separating these islands from the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida is a belt of tidal marshes, four to six miles wide. Amidst these marshlands, and running the length of the coast, are waterways known as the Inland Passage. It is also called the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. For hundreds of years, this natural water highway of inland passage has given smaller boats a protected route, away from the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I joined 26 other passengers on a small cruise ship known as the “American Glory,”and we sailed along this waterway for a week in the fall of 2014. I boarded in Charleston, South Carolina, and ended my voyage in Jacksonville, Florida. Following a very brief afternoon shoot in Charleston, our ports of call included Beaufort, SC, as well as Savannah, Sapelo Island, Brunswick, St. Simons Island, and Jekyll Island in Georgia. After disembarking in Jacksonville, I photographed there for an additional two days. I made more than 3,000 images under varied lighting conditions and in all kinds of weather. I edited them down to 150 keepers, and display a portfolio of 73 of them in this gallery. These photographs reflect my own interpretation of what I saw, felt, and imagined. Interpretive travel photography can express the personality and character of a place – even an entire country. Even more importantly, interpretive photography can go well beyond mere description. It can tell others how photographers may feel about what they see before them. Interpretive imagery helps us define the essence of a place – we can say something about our subject instead of merely showing what it may look like. As such, I try to make images that offer not only a sense of place, but also convey my impressions of how each place I visit feels and functions. My goal here is not to make a comprehensive documentation of the places I visit, nor a travelogue. Instead, I offer a series of interpretive photographs that express the personality and character of places I visit, as I perceive them.

I used a new mirrorless lightweight camera to make all these photographs – a compact, weather resistant Fuji XT-1 body, offering both a huge internal viewfinder as well as a flip out LCD screen. A pair of excellent Fuji lightweight lenses offered me a range of focal lengths from 24mm wideangle to 345mm telephoto. Introduced earlier this year, the XT-1 is currently Fuji’s flagship camera. It focuses extremely quickly and it also allows me to make photographs at high sensitivity (ISO) levels without losing much detail. I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop software to correct and refine the hue, color, contrast and sharpness levels, hopefully making my pictures more vibrant and meaningful. Although all of these photographs were digitally enhanced to some degree, none of the content has been significantly manipulated. The facts are all here, as I captured them. I hope you will enjoy these photographic impressions. To view my images at their best, just click the "slideshow" button to the right. To end the slide show at any time, press your "escape" key. I welcome your comments and questions. Phil Douglis Director,, pnd1@cox.net