Annette and I stop by Magnolia Plantation and Gardens whenever we visit Charleston, South Carolina, which is one of our favorite vacation spots. Recently we took advantage of a long weekend to do just that.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is a historic house with gardens. It is one of the oldest plantations in the South and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Magnolia Plantation is located near Charleston and directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston. The house and gardens are open daily; an admission fee is charged, although Annette and I get free entrance through our affiliation with the American Horticultural Society’s Reciprocal Admissions Program.

The plantation dates to 1676, when Thomas and Ann Drayton (née Anna Fox) built a house and small formal garden on the site. Magnolia was originally a rice plantation, with extensive earthworks of dams and dikes built in fields along the river for irrigating land for rice cultivation.

Magnolia Plantation is operated as a house museum and tourist attraction. It has a reconstructed and restored plantation house, based on what was built after the Civil War. The oldest section was built prior to the Revolutionary War near Summerville. This structure was transported down the Ashley River after the Civil War and added to the house during its rebuilding.

Other elements of the plantation emphasize the natural setting: a nature train, a marsh boat tour, and a wildlife area. A petting zoo and the gardens feature a kind of cultivated nature. Many of today's attractions were built starting in 1975 during the garden's renewal.

These photos with Topaz and Dynamic Auto Painter Pro effects were taken in March. I shot in RAW with my Nikon D750 camera and used Corel AfterShot Pro to convert the files. Then I used Topaz Denoise, Corel PaintShop Pro, Luminar AI, and Exposure 6 to further adjust and enhance the files in post processing. Finally, I used the Topaz legacy plugin, Simplify, and Dynamic Auto Painter Pro to add the softening and painterly effects. I hope you enjoy!

Annette and I stop by Magnolia Plantation and Gardens whenever we visit Charleston, South Carolina, which is one of our favorite vacation spots. Recently we took advantage of a long weekend to do just that.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is a historic house with gardens. It is one of the oldest plantations in the South and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Magnolia Plantation is located near Charleston and directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston. The house and gardens are open daily; an admission fee is charged, although Annette and I get free entrance through our affiliation with the American Horticultural Society’s Reciprocal Admissions Program.

The plantation dates to 1676, when Thomas and Ann Drayton (née Anna Fox) built a house and small formal garden on the site. Magnolia was originally a rice plantation, with extensive earthworks of dams and dikes built in fields along the river for irrigating land for rice cultivation.

Magnolia Plantation is operated as a house museum and tourist attraction. It has a reconstructed and restored plantation house, based on what was built after the Civil War. The oldest section was built prior to the Revolutionary War near Summerville. This structure was transported down the Ashley River after the Civil War and added to the house during its rebuilding.

Other elements of the plantation emphasize the natural setting: a nature train, a marsh boat tour, and a wildlife area. A petting zoo and the gardens feature a kind of cultivated nature. Many of today's attractions were built starting in 1975 during the garden's renewal.

These photos with Topaz and Dynamic Auto Painter Pro effects were taken in March. I shot in RAW with my Nikon D750 camera and used Corel AfterShot Pro to convert the files. Then I used Topaz Denoise, Corel PaintShop Pro, Luminar AI, and Exposure 6 to further adjust and enhance the files in post processing. Finally, I used the Topaz legacy plugin, Simplify, and Dynamic Auto Painter Pro to add the softening and painterly effects. I hope you enjoy!