U.S. Pictures – Bill Swartwout Photography
United States Seascapes, Landscapes and More…
Created with Photographs by Bill Swartwout Photography
October, November and December are the months for calendars – plan for 2023. #ShopEarly #BuyIntoArt
Assateague Ponies, Ocean City, Indian River Bridge and Fire Control Towers are what I have created from my photographs and offer for sale at the amazing “Zazzle.” Click the image or the link below the image to browse of shop…
Link to browse or shop: https://www.zazzle.com/mbr/238675969062853179?rf=238675969062853179
Four styles of this popular photograph are now available in a 2:1 panorama ratio.
I’ve had requests for a more-panorama-shape of one of my most popular photographs of the Indian River Inlet Bridge. So I made a “regular” Panorama (2:1 ratio) and three additional presentations. Might you be interested in any of these please let me know. If so, which one? Leave a response in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
The Charles W. Cullen Bridge is the official name of this beautiful example of cable-stayed suspension bridge architecture. The Indian River Inlet Bridge carries coastal traffic on Route 1 across the Indian River Inlet just north of Bethany Beach Delaware.
This beautiful structure is sight to behold at any time of day or night. However, twilight, the transition between day and night, brings out the spectacular color of the bridge, the water and the sky – all in shades of blue – at this magical time.
The Indian River inlet joins the Rehoboth Bay and the Indian River Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. The Indian River Bridge over the inlet allows traffic to flow north and south along “Coastal Highway” (Route 1), connecting several beach resort towns from Ocean City in Maryland to Rehoboth Beach and Lewes in Delaware.
The Delaware Seashore State Park facilities on both the north and south sides of the Indian River Inlet and along the shore of the Indian River Bay attract thousands or people, who can enjoy sights like this, all year ’round. The area, just north of Bethany Beach, DE boasts campgrounds, a large marina, fishing and, of course, a well-maintained and guarded (in season) beach on the Atlantic Ocean.
This bridge is named in honor and remembrance of Charles West Cullen, 1865-1948, a man who dedicated his life to public service and the the citizens of Delaware. Between 1930 and 1940, he served on the State Highway Commission, eventually being elevated to Chairman of the Commission from 1938-1939. While he was Chairman, work was started on a new bridge to span the Indian River Inlet. In recognition for his service on the Commission, the bridge was dedicated on May 18, 1940, in his name for his advocacy for the proper opening of the inlet and the internal development of the Indian River. Two additional bridges bearing his name have spanned the inlet since that time. This, the fifth bridge to span the inlet waterway, is was also dedicated in his name. (Paraphrased from the bridge dedication plaque.)
Link to: Bill’s Indian River Inlet Bridge Collection, including the four panoramas above.
Link to: Panorama Wall Art Print
Link to: Simulated Charcoal Print
Link to: Dramatic Black & White Print
Link to: Abstract Expressionism Print
Link to: Bill’s full Gallery at Pixels/FineArtAmerica
This beach scene in Ocean City, Maryland is a bit extraordinary because of the numerous rock jetties that have been exposed by a recent massive coastal storm. The wave action and green water of the Atlantic Ocean is enhanced by the exposed rocks and cliff-like shape of some areas of the beach.
This area of the Ocean City beach, about mid-boardwalk in the 12th Street to 15th Street area never has rocks and or jetties exposed the way these are seen. The storm repositioned hundreds of thousand tons of sand, exposing some areas and filling in some other areas. But, not to fear, time and wave action will eventually restore the beach to what we are more used to seeing.
There is a Coast Guard Cutter lying at anchor just offshore. It is not there to protect swimmers from the occasional rip currents, the lifeguards are fully capable of that, but is there to assist with the Ocean City Air Show taking place the weekend this photograph was captured.
This has been an enormously popular beach scene of the Ocean City, Maryland surf. When it was originally shared on social media it received hundreds of engagements, comments and shares. It is an actual photograph that appears a bit “painterly” because of the colors and the lighting. One seldom sees the beach, sand and waves in OCMD quite like this.
Photographs on a variety of substrates and also on home decor items are available at the links below. Click to shop…
Link: Ocean City Beach Rocks, Waves and Sand
Link to: Bill’s Ocean City Collection.
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is an architectural wonder. Designed by the renowned firm of Cline Design Associates, this cable-stayed bridge spans the Cooper River and connects Charleston to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This bridge was opened on July 16, 2005 and replaced two older bridges, the Silas N. Pearman Bridge and the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge (built in 1929 and 1966).
At a total length of 13,200 feet this is the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the western hemisphere with a main span of 1,546 feet and a clearance of 187 feet. In 2006, it won an Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award from ASCE for its innovative design and materials. The bridge has eight lanes for vehicular travel and two bicycle/pedestrian lanes so you can see it up close!
An infrastructure wonder, it is the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the western hemisphere and offers panoramic views that are especially striking at sunset.
The Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge (sometimes referred to as the New Cooper River Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina. Opened to traffic nearly two decades ago, the 1,546 foot long bridge carries eight travel lanes and two wide outside shoulders. It is held aloft by two 600-foot concrete pylons that support a 650-foot center span and a pair of 350-foot side spans. Total length of the bridge is 13,200 feet or 2.5 miles. With its main span rising only 187 feet above mean high water, the bridge carries Interstate 526 across Charleston Harbor from Patriots Point to U.S. Highway 17 at Mount Pleasant.
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina, connecting Charleston to Mount Pleasant. It replaced two obsolete cantilever truss bridges. Its eight lanes carry U.S. Highway 17, U.S. Highway 52, and South Carolina Highway 7 as it crosses the river, with a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian lane along the northern side of the bridge.
Imagine if a bridge could talk: “I am the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in South Carolina, named after a politician who served as state senator and member of the United States House of Representatives. I am a cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Cooper River at Charleston, South Carolina. I opened on July 16, 2005, and was built to replace two aging bridges: one which carried U.S. Route 17 over the Cooper River and another which carried U.S. Route 17 over the Wando River. I connect Charleston to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Link: Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in the Palms (free shipping)
Link: Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge Panorama Format 3:1 (free shipping)
Link: Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge Panorama Format 2:1 (free shipping)
Link to: Bill’s Pictorem Gallery
Link to: Bill’s FineArtAmerica/Pixels Gallery
Autumn is an awe-inspiring time of year in New England, an area in the northeastern United States. While each region in the six state area experiences this colorful shift, Maine and Vermont are said to boast the most beautiful and respected foliage in the world. Enjoy New England fall foliage via the medium of photography.
Visiting New England in the fall is wonderful! The weather is cool, but sunny, and the brisk air just invigorates you. There really is nothing like the coast of Maine in October when it comes to vibrant color everywhere, and a favorite stretch of coast on which to experience this phenomenon has got to be Bar Harbor and environs.
Fall foliage along the coast of Bar Harbor, Maine, is awash in palette of color as far as the eye can see. Bar Harbor’s park like setting and brilliant fall foliage make it one of the most attractive and interesting places to visit during New England’s autumn season, or any season. Thanks to Mother Nature all this beauty is free for everyone to enjoy.
Tourists from all over the United States, as well as from faraway foreign lands, come to see the spectacular fall foliage coloring. We viewed scenes such as the one above while on a cruise on the www.RoyalCaribbean.com ship, Grandeur of the Seas. Many are photographers who capture the scene with their cameras – but few can capture Mother Nature’s glory like friend, colleague and New England native, Jeff Folger (AKA Jeff Foliage) and his wonderful New England Fall Foliage photography. I find his “New England From Above” collection to be beautiful and utterly fascinating.
The links below will take you to larger images and the variety of substrates available as wall art.
Link: Bar Harbor Maine Fall Foliage
Link: Bar Harbor Fall Foliage
Link to: Bill’s full Gallery at Pictorem
Link to: Jeff Folger’s New England Foliage at Pictorem
Soak in the crisp fresh fall air with breathtaking wall art photographs of New England fall foliage. Bar Harbor, Maine is one of America’s cherished destinations and photographic wall decor brings a spot of the ocean, mountains and foliage right into your home or office to be enjoyed all year long. Yes, leaf-peeping can exist in your home during every season.
An idyllic river scene like this can be found along the Riverwalk at Conway.
The Waccamaw River begins its 140 mile trek toward the sea from Lake Waccamaw in North Carolina to Winyah Bay, an estuary that connects with the Atlantic Ocean near Georgetown, South Carolina. About half way along its journey it flows through Horry County and the City of Conway, SC where this photograph was taken. The river is wide and deep enough to be navigable and was once a watery thoroughfare for steamboats.
Factoid: The first steamboat to ply the waters of the Waccamaw River was a Confederate troop ship, the Francis Marion.
Black and White waterscape scenes are often quite striking as wall art in the right home decor setting. What do you think – do you like this Black and White presentation?) Please leave a comment below.)
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Use the links below to see these images as wall art on a variety of substrates, one of which may just attract your interest.
Link: Waccamaw River in Conway South Carolina
Link: Waccamaw River at Conway in Black and White
Link to: Bill’s full Pictorem Gallery
Link to: Bills Fine Art America Gallery
The Waccamaw, along with the Great Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee and Little Rivers, all served as important transportation routes for Horry County, South Carolina. For Native Americans and early settlers alike, the rivers of this geographic area were essentially the Interstate Highways of today. This area was fortunate to have a navigable river system because it provided Horry County, Conway and environs easy access to the world beyond.
The era of steamboats on the Waccamaw faded about 1920 or so. However the river remains a vibrant natural resource part of the environment and maintains its beauty for people today to enjoy visually and recreationally. You can see vistas like this when strolling along the famous Riverwalk along the riverside in Conway.
A Great Blue Heron hides among the marsh grasses fishing for a meal.
Fishing is a way of life in Murrells Inlet, and not just for those make their living at it. Fishing, both within the creek and in the ocean is a part of the history, a bond with the place and even among the inhabitants – both the humans and the lesser beasts and critters.
As the fishing depends on the fish, so the fish depend on the marsh and the entire ecosystem. This symbiotic relationship gives rise to some beautiful and unique scenery – that often looks as good in black and white as it does in full color.
From the time of its formation about 6,000 years ago, the Murrells
Inlet saltmarsh has been a source of food for local inhabitants. Native
Americans depended on the marsh for the seasonal provision of clams,
oysters, and fish, a tradition which persisted through colonial and
plantation times, and continues today. In the 20th century, recreational
and commercial fishing broadened and increased local dependence
upon the marsh.
Click the links below to see the wall art substrates available for these photographs.
Link: Lurking in the Marsh at Murrells Inlet SC
Link: Lurking in the Marsh at Murrells Inlet Monochrome
Link to: Bill’s full Gallery at Pictorem
Link to: Bill’s Gallery hosted by Fine Art America
Saltmarshes like Murrells Inlet provide a rich and sheltered habitat for
fish, from baitfish like Mummichog and striped mullet on up to gamefish of the nearshore ocean, such as grouper. (Just naming two of many examples here.) This is because of the abundance and variety of food available within the marsh, and the relative absence of large predators (that Blue Heron notwithstanding). Scientists have found that more than 75 percent of nearshore ocean fish use the marsh at some stage of their life-cycle, for spawning, for juvenile growth and/or for a seasonal food source.
From an environmental standpoint, maintaining a healthy marsh is essential
to maintaining a healthy ocean fishery. The long view values not only the fish, but the marsh that made the fish and, of course our friend, that long-legged fishing bird, lurking in the marsh.
The setting sun disappears into the trees at the western edge of Assawoman Bay at The Point of the Live Bayside Community. This golden sunset is in southern Delaware to the west of Ocean City, Maryland, and Fenwick Island, Delaware.
As the sun sets, atmospheric factors begin to play a much larger role in determining what features of the sunset we can see. Where we are in relationship to the horizon will greatly affect how much of the sun will be visible above the horizon. The same can be said for atmospheric conditions. If a sunset has a lot of clouds and haze, less of the sun will be visible. If it’s perfectly clear, this will allow more of the sun to shine through and illuminate additional parts of the sky. In essence, all sunsets are different because every atmospheric condition is different, but there are certain tendencies which we can observe as consistent patterns.
A black and white presentation of a gorgeous orange-sky sunset may lack the color but the monochrome emphasized the shading a detail of the trees. B&W also “works” in a more modern decor environment and even in a business office.
Click the links for more information and to browse or shop the variety of wall art and decor items available.
Link: Sun Setting in Trees
Link: Sun Setting in Trees in Black and White
Link to: Bill’s Fine Art America Gallery
Link to: Bill’s Pictorem Ocean City Gallery (w/ Free Shipping)
I have been to this exact location on several different occasions over the years and I have never seen a sunset from this vantage point that can quite match this one.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that so many sunsets can look so different. But if you’ve ever watched one in the same spot over several days, you get to see all of the different ways the sun can set on a warm summer evening or at the end of a frigid wintry day. This golden sunset is in southern Delaware to the west of Ocean City, Maryland, and Fenwick Island, Delaware.
This is probably my favorite sunset. It couldn’t have been any more perfect. The sun prints the water perfectly while the clouds are there to add some drama to the sky. This shot reminds me of being on vacation and seeing these gorgeous sunsets day after day. I hope you enjoyed this beautiful example of one of nature’s splendor!
These clouds predict the onset of a storm but, in this case it was just an illusion. It was 40 degrees and windy, up from a low of 19, when this photograph was captured.
The George W. Cullen Bridge over the Indian River Inlet is located between the coastal towns of Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach , Delaware. It is surrounded by the public beach, marina and campground facilities of the Delaware Seashore State Park.
In addition to the full color version, this is the black and white presentation “Indian River Bridge Clouds” and is unique in its own right.
Use the links below to see larger versions of the Indian River Bridge Clouds and to browse or shop the variety of wall art and home decor items available.
Link: Indian River Bridge Clouds
Link: Indian River Bridge Clouds in Black and White
Link to: Bill’s Indian River Bridge Gallery at Fine Art America
Link to: Bill’s Indian River Bridge Gallery at Pictorem (w/ Free Shipping)
When I wanted to photograph the Indian River Inlet Bridge near Bethany Beach, DE I knew that weather could be an obstacle. Sure enough, before sunset a warm front arrived, with at layers of clouds moving in from the west. But this time Mother Nature played a trick on me. The sky was filled with these ominous clouds and snow flurries started to fall, much like in this photograph. Even though it was cold and the wind was blowing, I had to wait until everything came together. I was hoping for a bit more color. But this cloudy scene doesn’t lack interest – in my opinion. Toned sky, ragged clouds and stark and empty rocky jetty on the north side of the Indian River Inlet are what makes this scene so striking!
While the silhouetted trees may look like the Serengeti, it really is coastal Delaware.
Of course, we do not find lighthouses in the desert, but here we do see the Fenwick Island Lighthouse in silhouette – just to the right of the rising sun. Some photographers will add a “flying shore bird or two” into scenes like this. But not here, that seagull is doing a photobomb on his own volition, without realizing the importance of his appearance.
A sunrise is suppose to be full of vivid color, right? Well, not always. Often, a black and white presentation helps to define textures and outlines. Monochrome images are also useful in modern home decor and/or in an office setting. This landscape seems to work well in both color and B&W. What do YOU think. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments area at the bottom of the page.
Click these links now for more information, see larger images and to browse or purchase.
Link: Sunrise over Fenwick Island
Link: Sunrise over Fenwick Island in Black and White
Link to: Bill’s Fenwick Island Collection at Fine Art America
Link to: Bill’s Fenwick Island Collection at Pictorem (w/ Free Shipping)
Sunrise over Fenwick Island by Bill Swartwout. This photograph depicts the sun rising above the Atlantic Ocean and above the town of Fenwick Island, Delaware. This is one of a kind photograph is available digitally printed in vivid color or black and white on archival fine art paper or museum-quality canvas.