Atalaya2 min read time

“The birds are so numerous – I hear their sweet notes outside of my window early mornings, their piping ever above the roar of the ocean.”

-Anna Hyatt Hungtington

Atalaya, or Atalaya Castle, located in Huntington Beach State Park, SC, was the winter home of Archer M. Huntington and Anna Hyatt Huntington.  If you click the link for Atalaya, you will find

the history of this winter home as well as a You Tube video that will give you a glimpse inside.

On the day that Randy and I visited Atalaya, there were many clouds in the sky.  Since I have just recently acquired a camera that has been converted for infrared, I thought Atalaya would be an ideal place to use it that day as clouds and vegetation are wonderful subjects for infrared photography.

After capturing the featured image for this blog from the outside, I made my way inside.  I spent a great deal of time photographing in the enclosed courtyard.

I loved the way the trees, clouds, and other foliage just glowed when using the infrared camera.

I wanted to capture the curves of both the arched architecture and the palm tree in this composition.

While I was there photographing, they began to set up for a wedding that was going to take place there later in the evening.  The weather was perfect for such an occasion.  I wish I would have had time to stay to see what it looked like when they were finished with the preparations.

After taking in the large areas, I like to look for the smaller scenes within the larger ones.  The one below is one of my favorites from my time at Atalaya.

When I headed inside, I switched to color.  The quote above was posted inside Anna Hyatt Huntington’s bedroom.  It was taken from an entry in her diary.  As I took this picture, it made me wonder what she thought and dreamed about as she looked out of her bedroom window each day.

But my favorite view from inside the house was the view of my very supportive, kind, and patient husband waiting for me to finish photographing Atalaya along with our dog, Maui.

The next time you are near Huntington Beach State Park, don’t miss an opportunity to visit Atalaya!