Getting Back to It...

It's time to get back to my own personal photo blog.  As many of you know, my life had a few unexpected turns this year and I switched gears to a more personal blog focusing on Kyle's healing from his injuries sustained in Afghanistan.  It is with such pleasure I start 2011 with a new entry here on K. Olson Photos because he is doing well and is nearly back to 100%.  I plan to have one last post on the Road to Recovery blog but from here on out, it's back to the normal KOP style filled with random photos of every day life.  From rain storms, to tree frogs to road trips to sticks in my back yard; I hope to always see what's out there and present it to you in an interesting and unique light; the way it looks to me.     

Wishing you all the best for 2011 and thank you for your support and for continuing to follow my work. 

A new thing for me in 2011 is time to myself in Charleston.  I moved downtown by Hampton Park last fall and I'm loving it; and it was time for some good photo exploring in my new 'hood.  Last weekend I went for a walk around the park with my friend Kayte and her dog, Bella.  We had a great time and after some candid shots of Bella I also tried for some portraits.  I have been inspired by our overwhelming amount of dog portraits at the studio and wanted to venture for some more outdoor lighting shots in my free time...

Bella runs through Hampton Park enjoying no leash!

Walking down a path in rich afternoon sunlight. 

I liked the shadow Bella was casting in this light - so many choices for cool photos to be made. 

I love the warmth of this photo. 

Ears UP!!!

Winner portrait from the path leading to the gazebo. 

Canadian Geese - couldn't help but shoot a few water reflection images. 

Abstract water reflections as the sun was setting - I pumped up the saturation and contrast here to make this more extreme. 



Stormy Sunset

After leaving work one evening last week and getting ready for a drive down to Valdosta, GA, the stormy skies leftover from a passing storm made for a beautiful double rainbow and a gorgeous sunset. I pulled over a few times to get some images.

I'm told the sunsets in Charleston in the fall are particularly beautiful, but this is one of the best I can remember since moving here last October. Looking forward to seeing many more.



The double rainbow going over the Cooper River - tricky to do the colors justice, but gorgeous all the same.


Shooting through the windshield while driving over the Ashley River Bridge - love these lampposts and the contrasting sunset.


Shot through the window, grabbed a palmetto in the foreground while passing by!


The ominous sky, I've always had a thing for clouds.


View down the Wappoo Cut, heading toward John's Island.

Blue Angels in Charleston

A few weeks ago the Blue Angels - Navy F-18 jets - came to Charleston and provided some great entertainment in the sky. A good friend was kind enough to take me out on his boat to enjoy the show from the Cooper River on Saturday - it was my first air show and it was very impressive. All of the rumbling vibrations outside of the studio all week had me curious and my expectations were most definitely met.

I went out to Mt. Pleasant and watched the show again on Sunday with some close friends visiting from Massachusetts - a different vantage point provided for some nice images to complete the flying collection.

I apologize for being behind in the blog recently - I have kept up with my shooting, just haven't had the time for all of the editing. Trying to catch up these next few weeks so keep checking, and that means you E.D.



This large plane, a C-130, started off the show and we were just passing through the Ashley River heading toward a place to anchor for the afternoon.


Tons of people lined the edge of the Battery for a good view of the show as the C-130 flew over the right side of them.


The C-130 made a high, steep ascent into the air over the Cooper River Bridge to end his part of the show.


1, 2, 3, 4


Four F-18's fly over the Cooper River Bridge.


Pretty sweet synchronized dive.


Diving still.


All six F-18's fly by while in a very tight formation.


Nice to see the writing underneath these six as they fly right over us in tight formation - these pilots have tremendous skills.


Cool split after the dive.


View from under the Cooper River Bridge at Waterfront Park in Mt. Pleasant.


Blue Angels and Palmetto trees.

The end of the show on Sunday with all six of the Blue Angel fighter jets screaming through the sky together in very tight formation.

Old School Pin Ball

My apologies for slacking in the blog recently...I've been shooting, just not posting. I will try to make up for it this week with lots of fun new posts.

Tonight I found my way to a pool place with some friends where they had some serious vintage pin ball machines. I've never seen anything like them before, super cool. Designed with singular metal buttons to push to designate specific plays and the count for three, four or five in a row, like in board games, it brings you back in time.

These two guys were enjoying their games at Emma's in West Ashley. They said the games must have been around for 40 or 50 years. My friend Mike, 54, said he remembered playing on these exact pin ball machines when he was a teenager. "I would save all of my soda bottles and trade them in so I could play pin ball," he said. How cool!?!


Lining up their shots....

Details of the machine...

Small metal buttons to make it all happen....

Detail shot of the metal buttons.


Getting ready to shoot the ball....this part of the machine is basically still the same today.

Practically looks like Vegas here!

Some guys bang on the machine to help guide the small metal balls into the desired number.


Getting ready to strike!

Shootin' Pool

Last November I joined a pool team and we play at a pool hall here in Charleston every Thursday night. It's generally a good group of people looking for some fun competition and a night out of the house with a variety of friends. I've grown to really look forward to my Thursday nights playing pool and decided it was a good subject to feature on the blog.

The lighting was pretty tricky in the pool hall, and flash really wasn't the way to go, for multiple reasons (too big of a dark room so it wasn't the best quality without slaving to other strobes, and also during play it's much more distracting to the players). I kept it simple with ambient light but after editing the shoot I decided it served better as a black and white piece.

Thanks to my teammates for being such good subjects and laid back about the photography, as well as the team we played - our team lost, badly, but we had a good time as always. Enjoy the pics and get out and shoot some pool one night.



Shot over-head that I got while standing on a chair. I was waiting for the moment when I could get multiple players shooting on table and I was happy with this frame.


Trae, one of the team's captains, practicing before the games started for the night.


Rob, a new member on the team, an old air-force guy, and a damn good pool player, lining up a shot. And yes, he's usually this serious.


Cues lined up along the lovely wall...but the three is a good number and it's a good detail shot to add to this collection.


Brian practicing on the empty table, letting me sit my camera right on the table before he takes his shot - a fun perspective.

Shooting Brian over-head with a hail-mary approach on my part. Came out well.


Dave, my fellow New Englander on the team, keeping score for 9-ball.


Thanks to Katja and Rob, I had some pics of myself from the night - nice work you two.


Trae getting serious lining up a shot in one of the last games of 9-ball for the night.


The over-all pool hall - there's more than 25 tables available.


John, captain of the other team, disappointed with missing a shot toward the end of the night.


Andrew, who joined our team this week, racks up the balls for his 8-ball game.


Trae in good position to make his shot and run the rack.


Trae chalking the cue, something that you see people do somewhat compulsively at times, but it makes a difference when you shoot, especially if you're any good.


Katja, one of the other "token chicks", and a member of the other team, practicing on the side during the game.


John, lining up the 7 during his 9-ball game against Trae.


Our 9-ball score sheet at the end of the night. There's a lot to keep track of, and this sheet reads that we lost.


Brian, Rob and Andrew looking over the score sheets and not looking too pleased with our team's performance for the night. Hope it wasn't because of the photo coverage.