Savannah, 2024

A couple of years ago Barbara told me that our dog was getting older and that in addition to her morning and evening walks, she was going to need an extended mid day walk, and that I had been selected as the “walker.” What she knew but didn’t say was I also needed the mid day break/exercise.

I’ve been photographing Savannah since 1965, but having a constant repetition of time and place over a long period gives a more intimate perspective. I’ve learned something I was never very conscious of before, and that is how open the shadows are under the tree canopy that is Savannah’s urban forest, during mid day, the time budding photographers are usually told to not photograph because the overhead light is too harsh.

I almost always have my phone with me when walking the dog and have gotten an extensive series of little vignettes of my neighborhood. Playing with the phone camera feels like it used to when I was playing with Polaroid, back in my film days; you can be free to experiment with technical and aesthetic considerations because you don’t have to “be serious” since you aren’t using a “real” camera. When you are just having fun, playing, you learn so much.

With this note on how pretty the light is in Savannah, I’d like to make a shameless plug for my friend and old Nikon School teaching colleague Reed Hoffmann. Reed is continuing to lead small group photo trips (max 6 people) and a couple of years ago he added Savannah and Charleston in the spring to his catalog, with the added benefit that I come out of retirement once a year to assist him, and drive the second vehicle. The program for 2026 is March 10-15, and details can be found here, https://reedhoffmann.com/2026SavannahInfo.pdf. If you feel particularly hardy, you could stay over for a couple of days and experience Saint Patrick’s Day here.

For more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index