Archive for the ‘sculpture’ tag
Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of A Thousand Candles 2025, Brookgreen Gardens (Grand Strand): 3 December 2025 no comments
I took in Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of A Thousand Candles on Wednesday 3 December this year. For a midweek showing, they had a pretty good crowd, though it being a school night, there were not a lot of kids.
At last year's event, the Garden Of The Muses was closed due to the start of construction on the Judith Wall Courtyard, which is nearly done this year. The part that was opened looked like it will be a nice addition with a restaurant patio overlooking the Muses. My impression is that the event this year was slightly smaller in scope than previously, with only one entertainment tent on the Christmas Tree side of the gardens, and with the food trucks being deployed near that rather than down the walkway to Pegasus. In addition there were no fire-pits for s'mores, which I had been looking forward to. The weather was pretty good: Crisp, but not so cold that my hands froze taking pictures, and there was a spectacular full moon.
There are still a good number of nights you can catch the festival during the rest of the year. You can (and must) get tickets at
Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of A Thousand Candles 2022, Brookgreen Gardens: 14 December 2022 no comments
I'm glad I saw this year's Nights of 1000 Candles last week when it was still pleasant outside. I know the folks who saw it tonight were probably brittle with the cold.
Since I couldn't get any weekend tickets, I went on a Wednesday this year,and my impression is it was a little more subdued, but there was still a pretty good crowd. I didn't notice any big changes from last year, but as always, it was a very impressive display, and a nice way to spend an evening. I believe they are sold out for the rest of the year, but if you do find you can get tickets, I recommend it.
Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of A Thousand Candles, Brookgreen Gardens: 13 December 2014 no comments
I got to Brookgreen a bit later than I had planned this year, and so did not hit all the spots I usually hit, but it was still a very nice evening out in the cold and lights. Actually, the weather was relatively moderate compared to some prior years -- I was able to hold my camera and adjust the controls without my fingers going numb. There is still an official ban on tripods, and I decided this year I wouldn't go for much in the way of "set the camera on something and do a time exposure" shots, so I cranked the ISO way up and took what I got, so I have to admit I've gotten better shots in previous years. I did play around with the in-camera HDR setting, and that's where some of the freaky green-lit exposures come from. Sometimes it did quite a good job of capturing both the lights and normal objects, and sometimes it didn't (I haven't used those spoiled shots here, obviously).
Getting in was a little quicker this year as they did not bring back the suboptimal secondary dirt road route they tried last year, although there was still quite a jam on US-17 (where I witnessed a fender-bender just as I finally got waved through). You still have three more chances to catch the lights this year on 18 December, 19 December and 20 December, and you really should if you are anywhere near the area.
UPDATE 5 December 2023: Update tags and add map icon.
Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of A Thousand Candles 2014, Brookgreen Gardens: 13 December 2014 no comments
I got to Brookgreen a bit later than I had planned this year, and so did not hit all the spots I usually hit, but it was still a very nice evening out in the cold and lights. Actually, the weather was relatively moderate compared to some prior years -- I was able to hold my camera and adjust the controls without my fingers going numb. There is still an official ban on tripods, and I decided this year I wouldn't go for much in the way of "set the camera on something and do a time exposure" shots, so I cranked the ISO way up and took what I got, so I have to admit I've gotten better shots in previous years. I did play around with the in-camera HDR setting, and that's where some of the freaky green-lit exposures come from. Sometimes it did quite a good job of capturing both the lights and normal objects, and sometimes it didn't (I haven't used those spoiled shots here, obviously).
Getting in was a little quicker this year as they did not bring back the suboptimal secondary dirt road route they tried last year, although there was still quite a jam on US-17 (where I witnessed a fender-bender just as I finally got waved through). You still have three more chances to catch the lights this year on 18 December, 19 December and 20 December, and you really should if you are anywhere near the area.
Brookgreen Gardens Harvest Home Weekend, Brookgreen Gardens: 5 October 2014 no comments
It's a few months until the candles, but what better way to spend a gorgeous Fall weekend than out in the sun at Brookgreen Gardens Harvest Home Weekend? You can build a scarecrow, paint a pumpkin, make a birdfeeder, see butterflies up close and personal, gawk at extroverted otters and cruise past basking alligators.
If you don't happen to have children in tow, you could even look at some sculpture,
Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of A Thousand Candles: 3 December 2011 1 comment
Well, it seems to me I got better pictures last year, but I had a good time as usual at Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of 1000 Candles last Saturday. The weather was nice -- I didn't have to zip my jacket or put on gloves, and the lights were as spectacular as usual.
If you will be in the vicinity of Murrells Inlet on 9, 10, 16, 17 or 18 December this year, you should definitely stop by and check it out!