Off Highway 14, eight miles outside of Landrum, situated in one of those areas that used to be what we called "out in the country," is an old covered bridge, the only remaining covered bridge in South Carolina.
The bridge is 12 feet wide, maybe 30 feet long, constructed of pine, and painted red. It stretches across Beaverdam Creek and was built by Charles Irwin Willis in 1909. Believe to be named for Lafayette Campbell, Campbell's Covered Bridge, once a working structure, is now part of a small park, a quaint and picturesque site I have visited many times.
I am embarrassed to say I was not aware of the bridge until the lady who cuts my hair, upon learning of my interest in photography, told me of the bridge and some photos she had seen of it. That information led me to find a place that many others, and not just locals, have known about for years. The bridge is situated in somewhat of a low-lying area, away from heavily traveled roads. Often, I'll be the only visitor there. And rarely do I hear anything other than the sounds of nature as I take in the nostalgia of this old piece of history.
At the entrance of the little park is the sign in today's photo. I am further embarrassed to say that for a long time I paid little attention to the sign, itself. Its only obvious purpose was to let me know I had arrived at the park. Then one day, after spending a couple of hours of lazing around in that peaceful setting, I was walking along the edge of the park near the road and walked in front of the sign.
It had been a quiet and peaceful and beautiful morning, well worth a long ride out in the country. I was just walking around, stretching my legs, before I got back in my car for the trip home. The sun was high in the sky and directly behind where I stood. I glanced over at the sign and, for the first time, I saw it close up.
In that warm light, surrounded by the greenery of the season, the sign looked quite compelling, its colors a splendid complement to the rest of the scene.
The lens I had on my camera that day was so long that I couldn't get far away enough from the sign to get all of it in the frame, without walking across the road and, therefore, including things in the photo that I didn't want. So I stood there, just a few feet from the sign, and took 8 or 10 photos of just bits of the sign and its surroundings, with my aperture open quite wide, making only a few feet of the photo in focus.
At home, I used software to stitch the photos together and today’s photo is the result. It's just a sign, but I'll bet no one else has that photograph.