Great egret and her chicks © Charles & Mary Love

You might not want to rock your baby over a pool of hungry alligators, but more than a few beautiful wading birds—roseate spoonbills, wood storks and several species of egrets and herons—think it’s a grand idea. Every spring hundreds of these birds migrate to the Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Florida, to nest. Why? The birds seem to instinctively know that the alligators ward off tree predators such as raccoons and snakes. So aside from the accidental tumble, their young are safe.

Although we aren’t obsessive “birders,” we’ve been visiting the park, which is on the ocean side of St. Augustine’s famous Bridge of Lions, for years. We never tire of watching the action, which starts in February, when the great egrets and spoonbills arrive, and builds through the spring. This natural rookery is so special it attracts photographers from all over the United States and from other countries.

Upon entering, you’re greeted with a cacophony of sounds—the squawks and wails of chicks, “glub-glubs” from courting snowy egrets, and the occasional bellowing of a domineering alligator. Meanwhile, males of every species fluff their feathers, noisily drive away rivals and fly to and fro with nesting materials for their mates.  According to Gen Anderson, Bird and Mammal Curator at the park, there are about 400 nests in a bad year, 800 in a banner year. And since many species build their nests close to the boardwalk, you don’t need a 600mm lens to capture a great image.

It’s worth allowing time to view the animals in the rest of the park: West African crowned cranes, pythons, crocodiles, red-ruffed lemurs and more.

Of course, you shouldn’t miss St. Augustine, America’s oldest city (founded in 1565). Recently, the editors of National Geographic Traveler named this small town one of the 20 “must-see” places in the world. There are historic sites and museums, excellent restaurants, beaches and a variety of places to stay. For more information, visit floridashistoriccoast.com.

Insider tips: When visiting the park, stay at the Sleep Inn, which offers a discount to photographers. Across the street is the Gypsy Cab Company, a casual (and award-winning) neighborhood restaurant. Saltwater Cowboys, on the Intracoastal Waterway, offers seafood and barbecue in a rustic “fish camp”’ setting.  If you’re looking for luxury, go downtown and check into the Casa Monica, a member of the National Trust’s Historic Hotels of America and the exclusive Kessler Collection of hotels.

Elephant in the Zambezi River © Charles and Mary Love

“How much excitement can a person take in a day?” Our safari companion was clearly on a high! Within the last half hour, we had encountered a pride of lions, dozens of basking hippos and large herds of buffalo on the plains of eastern Zambia’s South Luangwa River Valley…

So began our past magazine feature story about a journey to Zambia.

Zambia, located in southern Africa just east of Angola, is now considered one of the world’s premier destinations for game viewing. Less well-known than Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, the country is unbeatable, according to those who’ve been there. In fact, one of the most widely traveled couples we know recently said to us, “Of all the countries in Africa, Zambia was best for wildlife…it’s off the beaten path, and we could travel forever without seeing another human being!”

Since our own Zambian adventure several years ago, the range and quality of accommodations have become even better.  Here’s hot-off-the-press news about Zambian safari camps:

Tena Tena

Robin Pope, one of the most respected guides in Africa, specializes in unique walking safaris (supported by mobile camps) as well as day and night game drives from four permanent safari camps. The most luxurious tented camp, Tena Tena, was recently moved and re-built at a new site, shaded by mahogany trees, along the Luangwa River in southern Zambia. Guests refer to a stay here as the ultimate “glamping” experience! (robinpopesafaris.net)

Chongwe River House & Chinzombo

Norman Carr Safaris operates several safari camps in Zambia. The Chongwe River House, chosen Best Safari House in Africa by Good Safari Guides in both 2011 and 2012, was just refurbished with tribal textiles, re-cycled glass chandeliers that resemble stunning waterfalls and handmade Zambian furniture, made of wood re-cycled from old fishing boats. Situated on the Chongwe River, it sleeps eight people in four spacious bedrooms and provides an ideal safari base for a family or group of friends wanting a very private experience. The house comes fully staffed with a guide, house manager and private chef.

Opening in June, 2013, is the company’s Chinzombo Camp. Designed by award-winning, South African architects— Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens— Chinzombo promises to bring a level of comfort and luxury previously unseen in Zambia’s Luangwa River Valley. The architects’ signature style is low-impact, eco design, using local craftsmen. Six spacious villas made of natural materials come with luxurious bathrooms and private plunge pools on shady decks that overlook the Luangwa River. The camp is situated within 60 acres of private land teeming with wildlife. (normancarrsafaris.com, chongwe.com)

Also check out Mikato Safaris (mikato.com) and Audley Travel (audleytravel.com) for pre-packaged group and customized individual tours in Zambia and elsewhere in Africa.

Drayton Hall © Charles & Mary Love

Did you know that Charleston was recently voted the #1 travel destination in the world? This is understandable, given the city’s historical and cultural riches, yet long-time residents wonder, with genuine humility, if they deserve the accolade!

In any case, we’d like to highlight a few attractions that make the Holy City special.

Drayton Hall

Charleston has several beautiful plantation properties in its environs (including Middleton Place, Boone Hall and Drayton Hall). Among our favorites is Drayton Hall. Constructed circa 1738, it’s located on Ashley River Road in the Historic Ashley River Plantation District.

Drayton Hall (draytonhall.org ) is the oldest unrestored plantation house in America that’s still open to the public and one of the nation’s earliest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture. The never-modernized main house is unfurnished, allowing the beauty of the original architectural details to stand out. Another attraction is the acreage surrounding the house, accented with a reflecting pond, open grassy areas and large oaks. A leisurely morning or afternoon here provides a fascinating glimpse of the lifestyle of a bygone era.

We found a recent visit to the plantation helpful to our research for a documentary film that we’re producing on civil rights. Stay tuned.

Spoleto 2013

Don’t’ forget that the 37th Spoleto Festival USA, America’s premier performing arts event, raises its curtain in Charleston on May 24 and runs for over two weeks.

World-class theatre, music, and dance productions, with renowned international performers, fill historic theaters, churches, museums and outdoor spaces all over the city. If you can make time for this cultural extravaganza, book your tickets and room reservations now. For more information, go to spoletousa.org

Pure Theatre

On a recent evening in Charleston, we attended the Pure Theatre’s performance of The Motherf**ker With A Hat, by Stephen Adly Guirgis. It was a rollercoaster ride—provocative, unsettling and confrontational—and has been described as a “high octane verbal cage match about love, fidelity and misplaced haberdashery.” Moving at a blistering pace, we found it humorous, emotionally poignant—and brilliantly entertaining.

This company (puretheatre.org) stages around six or seven plays by contemporary playwrights each season. They are engaging and unforgettable. Their Summer Slam showcases productions not on the regular season schedule.

Pure Theatre co-founders, Sharon Graci and Rodney Lee Rogers, have backgrounds in film and stage as producers, directors, writers and actors. Sharon says, “Our goals are to constantly get better at what we do…and to mine the medium of theatre for all we can in terms of being relevant.”

If you’re visiting Charleston, be sure to check out the upcoming production, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, an imagining of the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Coming in May is Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, a Pulitzer Prize-winning satire that explores issues of race and property ownership.

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Gloria Swanson by Edward Steichen, courtesy Reynolda House Museum of American Art

Edward Steichen’s work captured our imagination nearly 40 years ago when we picked up a copy of his book, A Life in Photography (Doubleday & Co., 1963).

The scope of his work is remarkable, ranging from beautifully lighted portraits of statesmen and artists to fashion, landscape and still life images. Years ago, we were lucky enough to acquire, through a New York gallery, an original print of his evocative portrait of Greta Garbo which remains a source of inspiration for us to this day.

Steichen’s achievements were many. In 1902, he collaborated with Alfred Stieglitz to found the Photo-Secession, a movement dedicated to photography as a creative art. As chief photographer for Condé Nast, his work appeared in Vogue and Vanity Fair for over 15 years. Later, he conceived and created the most widely acclaimed exhibit in the history of photography, The Family of Man—a collection of hundreds of pictures by some 200 photographers from 70 countries, which was first shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In March, 1961, the exhibition, Steichen the Photographer opened there, honoring his 82nd birthday. And, in 1962, Steichen became Director Emeritus of Photography at the Museum. He passed away in 1973.

We’re excited that the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will be exhibiting Steichen’s work from February 23 until May 19, 2013. The exhibit, Star Power: Edward Steichen’s Glamour Photography, has been traveling internationally and features over 100 of the photographer’s images of luminaries from the worlds of politics, literature, fashion and the performing arts. The opening weekend will feature a concert of music in honor of George Gershwin. Numerous additional programs will be staged in conjunction with the exhibit. For more information, call 888-663-1149 or go to www.reynoldahouse.org.

We also highly recommend the book edited by Steichen’s wife, Joanna, titled: Steichen’s Legacy (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2000).

The Rite of Spring, choreography Salvatore Aiello @ Charles & Mary Love

Have you ever seen a dance performance so exciting it swept you away?

Seeing the ballet, The Rite of Spring—set to the adrenaline-pumping music of Igor Stravinsky—with its pagan rituals, eroticism, and evocation of the universal life cycle of life, death and rebirth overwhelmed us. On a photography shoot for the North Carolina Dance Theatre some years ago, we captured images during rehearsals of artistic director/choreographer Sal Aiello’s version of the ballet. Later, we saw the entire performance on stage—an unforgettable spectacle!

The Russian composer created the music in 1913 for a ballet choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky and performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Its scandalous premiere that year in Paris caused a riot among outraged spectators—and shock waves in the music and dance worlds that are still felt today. Stravinsky’s incongruous, asymmetrical rhythms and dissonant harmonies, the dancers’ non-traditional costumes and Nijinsky’s sensual, “anti-ballet” choreography confused and disturbed those in the theatre that evening.

Despite its initial reception, The Rite of Spring is universally regarded as a modern masterpiece. Stravinsky, in fact, had altered the language of music and given birth to an avant-garde movement. The score has inspired countless composers and assumed its place as a canonic work in the orchestral repertoire. Furthermore, it has been choreographed more than any other music of the past century.

This year marks the centennial of The Rite of Spring, an event that’s being celebrated by performing arts companies worldwide. For example, Carolina Performing Arts, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has organized a nine-month festival titled The Rite of Spring at 100. (www.theriteofspringat100.org). The festival is featuring works that re-create or re-imagine the masterpiece. Additionally, The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (www.uncsa.edu/performances), located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and one of America’s leading conservatories, will present a contemporary version of The Rite of Spring by Korean choreographer, Shen Wei.

The Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet (www.joffrey.org) will be performing a re-creation of the 1913 performance, by dance historian and choreographer Millicent Hodson. Both the Houston Ballet (www.houstonballet.org) and San Francisco Ballet (www.sfballet.org) will premiere their own versions this year. And the Bejart Ballet Lausaune (www.bejart.ch) will feature Maurice Bejart’s 1959 choreography of the masterpiece (excerpts are viewable on YouTube). The list goes on and on.

If you check out the performance calendars of dance companies in your area, you might well find a performance.

As magazine editors who review some 30,000 words every quarter—from first drafts to final proofs—we’re often asked, “How can I improve my writing?” A few suggestions come to mind, based on the shortcomings we see most often. Our suggestions apply to any genre, from feature stories and press releases to personal essays and fiction:

Offer a personal “take” on a subject.

A personal “take,” conveyed with your unique voice, establishes credibility and interests readers. This can be effectively communicated whether the point-of-view is first or third person. A writer’s voice is revealed in many ways, including diction (choice of words), tone, details emphasized—even punctuation.

Start with a compelling lead.

The opening of a story can be as short as a sentence or as long as a paragraph. The goal is to grab a reader’s attention and encourage him or her to read on. Start with a strong statement, a vivid description or a compelling quote. Sound like obvious advice? Perhaps. But even experienced writers can fall down here. Just flip through any magazine, then decide which stories you’d like to read. They’ll probably have strong leads.

Show, don’t tell.

Don’t write, for example, “the woman is seductive.” Instead, describe her specific features and body language. Use active verbs and vivid adjectives to paint a picture. When possible, reinforce descriptions with compelling anecdotes and/or quotes that offer fresh information.

Avoid long, run-on sentences.

Long, awkward sentences occur when a writer gets lazy, packs too many ideas in a sentence or tries to sound  “artsy.” Such sentences are an editor’s nightmare—often lacking in logic and time-consuming to rewrite. Strive for one concisely stated idea per sentence.

Get a second opinion.

Ask a friend whose writing skills you respect to check your work for errors in overall structure, logic, flow, grammar, spelling and punctuation. It’s easy to overlook bloopers when you’re too close to your work.

Our favorite books on writing include William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, Paula La Rocque’s The Book on Writing and Maureen Ryan Griffin’s Spinning Words into Gold.

We also appreciate the online courses offered by The Poynter Institute, a highly respected journalism school in St. Petersburg, Florida (www.poynter.org). The Institute offers continuing education for  professionals in new and traditional media. Subjects include writing, editing, graphic design, web design and video.

Crystal River, located on Florida’s west coast, is the only place in the world where you can legally interact with endangered West Indian Manatees. These large, slow-moving and affectionate mammals come here every winter (from November to April) to warm themselves in spring-fed rivers. In the coldest months, experts have counted as many as 600 of them in Kings Bay, the headwaters of Crystal River.

In early December, we drove over to see if any of these Crystal River “snow birds” had arrived.

What are manatees, you ask? They’re aquatic, herbivorous creatures with stubby forearms and a large paddle-shaped tail. Their ancestors, it is thought, date back 50 million years to four-legged land mammals related to the elephant. Manatees can grow up to 13 feet long and weigh between 1200 and 3000 pounds.

Because manatees can’t survive in water below 68 degrees, the springs, which are a constant 72 degrees year-round, are all-important to their survival— and much like underwater saunas.

Manatees are anything but speedy, moving through the water at 3-5 miles per hour. And because they’re friendly to the point of being fearless (they have no natural predators), they easily get into trouble among careless boaters. In fact, many have scars on their backs from collisions with boat propellers.

The park service’s strict rules for interacting with the species (don’t get within 50 feet) are relaxed in Crystal River where swimmers are allowed to “passively” interact with the animals. And “passive” is the operative word. Swimmers are required to float in the water and wait for manatees to approach. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait long.

During our swim, many manatees approached us. One nuzzled Mary top to bottom; another grabbed onto her leg and crawled up her body. But the most surprising moment occurred when one of these football-shaped creatures swam up and rolled over (like a puppy wanting to be scratched on its stomach).  Then, using his front flippers, he clutched her outstretched forearm against his chest. Later she said, “When I tried to pull away, he held me even closer—like a clinging child. “ Her conclusion: If you want a dose of unconditional love, go to Crystal River!

Other activities in the area include fishing, boating, hiking, and bird watching, to name just a few. The Nature Coast, as it’s called, is the place to rediscover a bit of Old Florida: unspoiled back roads, down-home seafood restaurants, and the most dazzling sunsets you’ll see anywhere in the world. Accommodations range from basic fish camps and motels (the local Holiday Inn Express is award-winning) to the Plantation on Crystal River, a resort with a golf course, dive shop, spa and boat rentals.

To cap off your visit, go to Neon Leon’s Zedeco Steakhouse for lively country music and Cajun cuisine. (It was founded by the family of Leon Wilkeson, bass guitarist for the legendary band, Lynyrd Skynyrd.)

© Robert Mapplethorpe

We have long been avid fans of the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Since attending one of his first major shows at the Robert Miller Gallery in Manhattan during the early 1980s, we’ve been drawn to the beauty and sensuality of his images.

Mapplethorpe’s earliest exhibited work featured his provocative, often sexually explicit, black male nudes. Later, he published the book, Some Women, featuring elegant, celebrity portraits of the opposite sex. Ironically, after his death, it was his typically erotic images of flowers that were most prized by collectors (see his book titled The Complete Flowers). Over the years, his enormous body of work has influenced our own photographic figure studies, still lifes, and portraits of dancers.

The big news now is that The Los Angeles County Museum (www.lacma.org), the Getty Museum (www.getty.edu/museum) and the Getty Research Institute have jointly acquired a treasure trove of works from the Mapplethorpe Foundation, including 2,000 photographic prints encompassing many of Mapplethorpe’s most important images. The total acquisition has been appraised at $38 million. The archive, which will be stored at the Getty Research Institute, also includes 120,000 negatives, 6,000 contact sheets, and a wealth of ephemera and other material.

New exhibitions, currently underway at both the Los Angeles Country Museum and the Getty Museum (through March 24, 2013), display a small sample of the recently acquired work—preludes to a much larger exhibition in 2016 that is planned to be the definitive take on Mapplethorpe. Photography curator at the Los Angeles County Museum, Britt Salvesen, has said, “Photography depicts something real…Mapplethorpe’s work shows its power to entice, and also disturb.”

The photographer’s work is represented in all major museums worldwide. Another great resource is singer Patti Smith’s memoir of her relationship with Mapplethorpe, Just Kids (Harper Collins, 2010), which is a beautifully written account, not only of their relationship, but also of living in Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s (available through Amazon).

For more information about Mapplethorpe, see the museum web sites mentioned above and/or go to the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation (www.mapplethorpe.org).

We’ve been diving in Palm Beach waters for some 25 years and consider ourselves lucky to have such great diving close to home! After all, the Gulf Stream and its abundant sea life is closer to shore here than at any other place along the East Coast.

The best dive sites are just a 10- to 15-minute boat trip offshore. And they’re full of exciting, and unpredictable, sights: large schools of multicolored tropical fish, monster-size groupers, lobsters you can take right to your kitchen, spotted eagle and manta rays, large sea turtles—and much more.

The Scuba Club (www.thescubaclub.com), located in West Palm Beach on the Intracoastal Waterway, knows how to do it right. The club offers a fast, comfortable dive boat, one and two-tank dives, state-of-the art equipment for rent or purchase, exotic dive trips and, most important, a professional, friendly and safety-oriented staff.

So consider expanding your horizons the next time you’re in the Sunshine State and take in the beauty below the surface! The short video above provides a glimpse of what to expect. Thanks to the Scuba Club for many diving opportunities and to JD Duff for his video clips of sea turtles.

We hope the short (4½ minutes) documentary above of the 2012 Democratic National Convention will convey a sense of what it was like to have this historic event  on our back doorstep (most activities were within a few blocks of our uptown condominium).

Necessarily, it was quickly and spontaneously produced without the luxury of prior planning—in other words, it was all  “run and gun” camera work, no opportunities to plan interviews, and challenging ambient audio. We don’t cover the convention floor (the networks did this anyway). Instead, we provide brief glimpses of how the event affected the usually much quieter streets of uptown Charlotte.

Since last December, we debated whether or not to stay in town and deal with the crowds, traffic delays and tight security but, in the end, we were glad to have participated. After all, having such an historic event in one’s hometown, only blocks away, was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

What were the highlights? Besides the better speeches delivered in the convention hall, it’s hard to say. But a couple of vivid memories linger:

First, the traffic jammin’, viral-video-inspiring cops from Georgia who put on an ongoing, hip swingin’ show in the streets that we’re not likely to see again anytime soon— if ever.

But neither can we forget beautiful actress Ashley Judd, wearing a lovely silk dress and pink flip-flops, discussing global poverty issues with government leaders during a panel discussion at Charlotte’s uptown Blumenthal Center. She was articulate and passionate… and we think those pink flip-flops were to remind us of her down-to-earth, somewhat irreverent Tennessee upbringing. (No one was allowed to photograph the panelists during the discussion).

By the end of the week, the city of Charlotte had received kudos from people around the country for a successful convention!