Photo Trek

Photo Trek: 04-15-2008, The Old Guilford Mill, Guilford County, NC

Spring is in the Air

North Carolina seems to be stuck in a strange weather pattern, and we can't seem to fully enter into spring.  There are things blooming, but the trees haven't yet covered themselves in leaves.  This mix of alive and dormant makes it very difficult to get inspiration for photography.  There are a lot of things that I really want to photograph, but things just haven't fallen into place for them yet.  One subject I have been meaning to photograph again is the Old Guilford Mill.  Today seemed to be a decent day to give that a shot.

It has been since my first outing with my Sony F828 camera, back in 2005, that I last visited this mill.  Since my last visit, I have watched the mill slowly deteriorate despite it being used daily.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have started doing some renovations on the mill.  The water wheel has been repaired and repainted.  It also looks like the roof has received some attention as well.  At any rate, it stood much prouder than it has in a while.

I was really hoping for some wild flowers in the field on the far side of the stream.  However, all that I could find were some weeds.  Oh well, they provided some nice texture and color in the foreground and helped to balance out the scene.  Arriving later than I had anticipated, I was working with a fleeting sun that was already very low on the horizon.  While this was the goal, I really needed more time to set up my shots before the warm glow left until tomorrow.

In the hour that I was there, I managed to squeeze off several different compositions incorporating a few different elements.  A problem that I had not anticipated was the hill on the other side of NC68 which blocked the sun about an hour before sunset.  This caused the ground to be in the shadows for much of the time, and the bright colors of the mill to overexpose...not to mention the sky.  The only way to combat this was the use of my Singh-Ray split neutral density filters which helped to control the contrast between the dark ground and the bright sky and building.

While not everything that I was hoping for, I have found a couple of photographs that are worth displaying in my gallery, in the Rustic Room.  There are an additional two that are in my portfolio for local viewers.  At some point, I might rotate these out to give some exposure to the other two picture, but for now, I believe that these are the best out of the bunch. 

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• #16 Comment from rdautumnsage 
  4/20/08 3:29 PM | Permalink

  I love the pictures you took of the Mill. I think the bright colors offset the sky and greenery rather pleasantly. It was almost like stepping back in time. You did great hon, I feel I can step right into the picture and see what your seeing. (Hugs) Indigo
  http://journals.aol.com/rdautumnsage/ravens-lament/
• #15 Comment from nanmm11 
  4/18/08 4:24 PM | Permalink

  You have still given me the "feeling" of that fleeting warm sun and with the contrast of the bright red wheel, I feel warm all over. North Carolina seems to have something for every season too! What a wonderful place for a photographer to be able to live. I think that the state should incorporate your photographs within thier info packages for tourism.
  Nancy
• #14 Comment from lifes2odd 
  4/17/08 5:18 PM | Permalink

  I think I liked Red Water Wheel best of all. Love the subject Greg :-)
  Martha
• #13 Comment from wwfbison 
  4/17/08 4:01 PM | Permalink

  I really like this shot, love the bright red wheel...it adds so much.  Nice!
  Lisa
• #12 Comment from rbrown6172 
  4/17/08 3:57 AM | Permalink

  i love this...everything about it!  so colorful, and the vivid green with wildflowers in the foreground just scream spring...my favorite time of year!  :)
  gina