Restful Mill

Back in the deep dark woods, there are little beacons, drawing us in like moths to a flame. This is one such beacon, even on the dreariest of days it draws tourists from all over. Walking into the forest on these cold days may seem dangerous to some, exhilarating to others, for me and many other photographers, this is business as usual as they say. I wasn’t surprised to find people already present, exploring the old structure, trying to glean its story from the ancient boards, and leaking sluice. Being struck by wonder, fixated on this old fascinating structure, sitting lonely, in the middle of the deep dark woods.

I like to occasionally visit this mill, near to where I live, see how the restoration is coming along, how the place has changed, and continues to change, every time I visit there’s something new. Today, a nice new bench, and a new porch had been implemented on the old structure. The old building has been through a lot in its storied history, but the forest service does its best to keep it in good repair. I spent maybe twenty minutes darting back and forth looking for where this composition needed to be, and eventually found a nice happy median.

The composition is rather simple, the mill is the central focus, and the sluice acts as a leading line to draw the viewer in. A lovely mix of basic compositional rules on a cold November evening. I had considered waiting till dark to complete this image, but I don’t feel quite comfortable shooting that alone. To finalize the edit, I simply worked backwards. I started by darkening down certain elements, then began to bring up the shadows along the leading line and subject. A bit of a color correction, warming some features, and that’s really all I needed to do.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f7.1
ISO: 640
SS: 1/3th
Focal: 21mm

Fujinon 16-55mm