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John Wray (left) and Seth Albright, both of Myrtle Beach, celebrate the New Year at Crocodile Rocks Wednesday night in Myrtle Beach.

I would’ve rather spent New Year’s Eve with my girlfriend Chris but I must admit I had fun documenting the festivities at Celebrity Circle on Wednesday evening in Myrtle Beach.

Later I did rush home to give her a big wet one to mark the occasion.

We had made plans for New Year’s Eve to attend a party after my normal shift of 2PM to 10PM.

I have a special girl who can understand the sudden changes that happen with my work and be open to that conflict with my personnel life.

To view the crazy happenings go to my gallery at myrtlebeachonline.com

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As sad as it makes some of the locals feel, work is underway to replace the iconic Sunset Beach Swing Bridge with a new spanner bridge going over the Intracoastal Waterway.

I have mixed emotions about the matter of the single-lane bridge that has carried residents and tourist to my favorite North Carolina beach for over 50 years. I understand the safety issues when emergency vehicles are not able to negotiate the bridge at extreme tide changes. But I love to live near a place so beautiful that you sometimes must wait an hour in order to visit. The 1-hour walk from the pier at Sunset Beach to the uninhabited Bird Island is one of the nicest I’ve been on.

After the new bridge is finished, plans are to remove the old bridge but keep the piers on both the mainland and island side of the bridge for fishing.

I’ve decided to keep a photo journal of the construction and demise of the old bridge and you can see it’s progress at myrtlebeachonline.com

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Cast member Robert Kerson finds his position during rehearsals of the holiday show “Joy to the World” Holiday on Main Street, Thursday evening at the Theatre of the Republic in downtown Conway. 

I like when surprises happen. With beautiful light and colorful costumes, luck comes to a photographer quite easy. Sometimes when the camera goes off “from the hip” and you get a cool image, you just have to take the gift and run.

This happened to me last Thursday while getting some images for our entertainment weekly.

I like the way the man’s shadow is morphed by the waves in the curtain and the intensity of the light. This was not intended and I will give the credit to a lucky break.

If you noticed, I’ve made a change to the design of my blog. Thanks to Quakemedia.com for offering the free “Tremor” wordpress theme. It’s been a while since I’ve made a change. 

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I put this video together last week about life aboard a Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company ship working off the coast of Myrtle Beach.

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While I was visiting my father this weekend, I had the opportunity to play around with the DADGAD tuning on my Martin 00-18V I’ve named “Little Billy”.

DADGAD is a D modal tuning mostly associated with Celtic music. Instead of the standard EADGBE tuning, the six guitar strings are tuned, from low to high, DADGAD.

Over the course of the last month, I’ve dove into the abyss of this tuning and on Saturday night I decided to record some improvised passages after my father retired for the evening.

I like recording these passages improvisational with no predetermined method. With this style, I often make mistakes and I think it helps me grow as a guitarist.

I found one truth in this madness. My recorder, the Edirol R 09 is one unforgiving bastard. 

Little Billy Serenade © 2008 Hippiedog Produce

DADGAD Blues Improv © 2008 Hippiedog Produce

This next one is not a DADGAD tune but a song I’ve been obsessing over the last few months. I normally play harmonica with the tune but couldn’t get the balance right on the recorder. Plus, I didn’t want to wake my father from his restful sleep.

One Too Many Mornings Bob Dylan Cover

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My 175th anniversay year Martin 00-18V

Here are detail photos of the lovely woods used on my Gibson Advanced Jumbo (left) and Martin 00-18V

Both have sitka spruce tops and vintage stylings

I love the patterns in the top wood of the 00-18V

I had the opportunity to get a beautiful sounding 175th anniversary year Martin 00-18V (right) and pound for pound I think it is the best guitar I’ve ever owned. I like sitting on the sofa and practicing scales and riffs, and because of the small size and wide neck, its playable for hours on my lap. The guitar is loud and responsive but it’s best attributes are awesome sustain and clarity of tone. Each string rings separately and there’s no boominess or muddy overtones.

With this little hog wonder, I am lucky to own my 10-year-old Gibson Advanced Jumbo. I’ve kept this AJ longer than any other guitar in my life. I feel the combo of the smaller body 0018V and the awesome power of the rosewood round-shouldered dreadnaught is a perfect combination.  I’ve searched my whole life for great sounding guitars and this is the best two-guitar combo I’ve owned. 

Right now I use the 18 for fingerstyle and acoustic blues moods. The AJ is currently tuned to DADGAD and being tested with a set of Newtone nickel strings. Mostly the AJ is my go to bluegrass guitar and she’s a behemoth in the mid-ranges. Normally I keep both strung with Martin SP lights when a test is not underway.

Are there others out there that have two box combos they love to share news about?

Here is a recording of the 00-18V © 2008 Hippiedog Produce

Here is the Gibson ©2007 Hippiedog Produce

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To celebrate the end of a long campaign run, I put together a gallery of photos taken of the final candidates during visits to Myrtle Beach.  

Go to myrtlebachonline.com to see this gallery of images.

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During a driving rainstorm, the Carolina Forest High School coaching staff waits for their game to begin with Sumter High Friday evening at the school’s football stadium. The storm was the least of the Panther’s concerns as Sumter defeated Carolina Forest 40-0 in a slippery , muddy match-up.  

Okay I’ve had enough of this stuff. I want for once to cover a Friday night high school football game where both teams are close in score and the game is competitive. Last weeks game at Myrtle Beach was a 73-3 nightmare.

Check out these galleries at myrtlebeachonline.com if you want to know how to cover a blowout. 

Myrtle Beach / North Myrtle Beach —- 73-3

Sumter / Carolina Forest —- 40-0

Myrtle Beach / St. James —- 48-0

Myrtle Beach / Socastee —- 52-7

Waccamaw / Aynor —- 31-0

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I put this video together on deadline with 15 minutes of HD tape, one little band of battery strength and a prayer to the great Buddha that my good karma was in tact for the day.

Yes, this is a tad cheesy.

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Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of the Ocean Isle Beach fire that took the lives of the 7 students from South Carolina. The tragedy was a sad time here at the beach and this video project opened up some bad memories for the residents we talked to. I think it’s an important video because the tragedy is part of the town’s history and should be remembered.

For good or bad, this is also the anniversary of my blog. 

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