# Grist Mill



## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

I've shot this grist mill probably a hundred times.  I've got shots of it from every angle, I've got them with it covered in snow, I've got them with fall leaves hanging over it, I've got it with the creek in the back in the frame.  Out of all those shots I have yet to find one that I really, truly like.  I keep going back because sooner or later I'm going to hit the right angle at the right time of year and find one that appeals to me.

I also can't stand black and white but this is one of the few images I've taken that really screams out for it.  To me it just looks better in B&W than it does in color.

Advice would be appreciated because it's about 30 miles from home and I'm tired of driving over there to it


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## Majeed Badizadegan (Jun 16, 2012)

Cool building, I like your conversion.


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## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

Thanks, glad you like it.

It is a cool building which is why I keep going back.  It's part of a "Frontier Village" and there are probably 15 or 20 strcutures in it.  This one is my favorite though and the the one I tend to focus on each time I go there.


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## Joel_W (Jun 16, 2012)

I actually like the B&W conversion as it just adds that something. 

I also have a small restoration villiage within a hour's drive, and yet I've never been there. I guess I'm concerned that is just too commercial with little photographic value.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 16, 2012)

nice shot! Backup a bit.. don't crop the roof! And then Sepia that puppy.. might look good.....


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## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> nice shot! Backup a bit.. don't crop the roof! And then Sepia that puppy.. might look good.....


Actually I didn't crop the roof off, it got lopped off when I corrected the distortion from using a 17mm lens 

I've got another one from a similar, but not exactly the same, angle from early last year.  This one was shot in portrait mode but there was (almost) enough room to crop it and leave the roof intact.











And another one from a couple of years ago that I have always liked despite the blown-out snow:


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## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

Joel_W said:


> I actually like the B&W conversion as it just adds that something.
> 
> I also have a small restoration villiage within a hour's drive, and yet I've never been there. I guess I'm concerned that is just too commercial with little photographic value.


This one is pretty interesting.  Most of the buildings are full of antiques (I have no idea how they keep them from being stolen) and there is some pretty interesting stuff there.  I like the grist mill best though, probably because I'm on a quest to get a decent shot of it 

There is a real nice looking wrought iron fence on the side where the water wheel is, but there's a big tree in the way on one side and a parking lot full of cars on the other.  I haven't found a way to get everything in that I want and leave everything out that I don't want.


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## Joel_W (Jun 16, 2012)

For what it's worth, I really like the snow scene best of all. Nicely composed.


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## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

Joel_W said:


> For what it's worth, I really like the snow scene best of all. Nicely composed.


Thanks, Joel.  I like that one to and it was actually used for my "Electronic" Christmas card last year.


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## HughGuessWho (Jun 16, 2012)

SCraig said:


> And another one from a couple of years ago that I have always liked despite the blown-out snow:



I love this shot. I have been looking for that spot to photograph forever.


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## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

HughGuessWho said:


> I love this shot. I have been looking for that spot to photograph forever.


Thank you.  The spot has been here since 1976, but unfortunately we never get enough snow around here to make it look good.  This particular morning we got a dusting of snow in Nashville, and I was supposed to meet a friend for breakfast.  The restaurant we were meeting at is right in front of this place so I took my camera with me.  Surprisingly they had gotten nearly 6" of snow there (less than 30 miles from home where we only got a dusting), and there was NOBODY THERE!  I was real careful where I stepped and got a whole series of shots with nothing but a few dog tracks in the snow.

I'll be glad to let you know next time we have heavy snow forecast so you can fly down here.  Don't worry, it's already happened once this century


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## HughGuessWho (Jun 16, 2012)

I will be in Gatlinburg the week of the 4th with all my gear in tow. I hope to get some good shots around cases cove similar to your grist mill shots. No snow in july, huh?


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## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

HughGuessWho said:


> I will be in Gatlinburg the week of the 4th with all my gear in tow. I hope to get some good shots around cases cove similar to your grist mill shots. No snow in july, huh?


I suspect the chances of snow here in July are about the same as getting heat stroke in New England in February 

Word of advice about Cades Cove: Go Very, very early in the morning.  As in before anyone else even THINKS about getting out of bed.  Be number one in line when they open the gate.

I rode my motorcycle through that area for several days over the 4th of July weekend once.  It is a beautiful area, and I love riding around there.  However there is no way in hell, you couldn't pay me enough, no how, not for ANYTHING would I ever go to Cades Cove over the July 4th weekend again!  There is one way in to Cades Cove and there is one way out, it makes a big loop.  There are signs all over the place stating "DO NOT STOP IN THE ROADWAY!  Use the pull-off areas for stopping."  Trust me that NOBODY pays any attention whatsoever to those signs and they will CONSTANTLY stop in the middle of the road.  It's a 10 mile loop and it took me over two hours to ride it because I never moved!

At one point I sat in the same spot for 15 minutes.  Then I moved up one car and sat again.  Then I moved up one car and sat again. Then I moved up one car and sat again.  I finally got to where I could see that there were a couple of Black Bears and every car in the line was stopping, one at a time.  I figured the air horn on my motorcycle could probably take care of that problem.  Those bears may still be running and I certainly didn't make any friends.  It was nearly 100 degrees and I was wearing a jacket, gloves, boots, and a helmet so I didn't really care.

What was sad about the whole thing is that there was a parking lot RIGHT BESIDE where everyone kept stopping!  All they had to do was pull into the parking lot but not one of them would do it.  Every one of them stopped right in the middle of the road and watched the bears.  Then they would drive off and the next one would do exactly the same thing.

It is a fantastic area but you need to plan places like that around the crowds because they are very heavy that weekend.


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## HughGuessWho (Jun 16, 2012)

Oh, yeah, I know. Before I moved to New England, I use to go to the area 2 or 3 times a year, and, have been there a few times the week of the 4th. You are correct. It took me 3 hours to get through Sevierville on the way in. However, we are going to be in the area for other reasons and decided I was going to try and make the best of it. Short of the west, that area has some of the best photography ops anywhere. Will see how it goes. Wish me luck.


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## SCraig (Jun 16, 2012)

HughGuessWho said:


> Oh, yeah, I know. Before I moved to New England, I use to go to the area 2 or 3 times a year, and, have been there a few times the week of the 4th. You are correct. It took me 3 hours to get through Sevierville on the way in. However, we are going to be in the area for other reasons and decided I was going to try and make the best of it. Short of the west, that area has some of the best photography ops anywhere. Will see how it goes. Wish me luck.


Some of the best motorcycle roads to   I usually get over that way a couple of times a year to.  I love the Cherohala Skyway and the area around Tellico Plains.  Just really gorgeous scenery.

Best of luck!  Hope you have a great trip.


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## HikinMike (Jun 16, 2012)

Looks like a great location to photograph! I prefer the BW over the color. I really like the photo with the snow! I would be "all over" that river and that old Mill!


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

HikinMike said:


> Looks like a great location to photograph! I prefer the BW over the color. I really like the photo with the snow! I would be "all over" that river and that old Mill!


Thanks, Mike.  Not far to go along that "River".  It's just a creek and drains into the Stones River about a quarter mile to the right of the mill.  It's also right in the middle of Murfreesboro, TN.  If you go to This URL on Google Maps you can see the facility and how it is surrounded by the city of Murfreesboro.  This mill is under the big group of trees at the upper right of the aerial photo.  There are other buildings in the facility, blacksmith shop, school, telephone exchange, church, etc., and it's a really interesting spot.  Lots of antiques and history there.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 17, 2012)

SCraig said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > nice shot! Backup a bit.. don't crop the roof! And then Sepia that puppy.. might look good.....
> ...



Nice shots! I like them.. I don't use Sepia much either, but for something like this.. it does seem appropriate.


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> Nice shots! I like them.. I don't use Sepia much either, but for something like this.. it does seem appropriate.


I took your advice and went back this morning to reshoot the one from yesterday.  I gave myself a bit more room to correct the distortion and still be able to crop them, and also shot them as 5-shot HDR.  I don't care for the second color version since the HDR conversion did something weird to the sky, but it isn't as obvious in the B&W and sepia versions.

First shot - Color, B&W, Sepia
















Second shot - Color, B&W, Sepia


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## pgriz (Jun 17, 2012)

That's a really nice period piece there.  What I found missing in the image was not the building, but some texture in the sky.  In the last set you kinda filled that in (photoshop?), and I think it looks much better.  Does that place have any lights?  One idea may be to shoot at dusk, with the sky dark, and with some light from the west lighting the facade.  Unfortunately, the wheel is on the east side, and will be in the shade.    Alternatively, you wait for a dramatic thunderstom to show up, and being the dedicated photographer you are, you will wait for just the right moment to snap the image before the deluge overwhelms you...


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## TGordon (Jun 17, 2012)

Nice shots


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## arkipix1001 (Jun 17, 2012)

love the one with the snow and the black and white...


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

Thanks everyone.  I appreciate the comments and I'm glad you like it.




pgriz said:


> That's a really nice period piece there.  What I found missing in the image was not the building, but some texture in the sky.  In the last set you kinda filled that in (photoshop?), and I think it looks much better.  Does that place have any lights?  One idea may be to shoot at dusk, with the sky dark, and with some light from the west lighting the facade.  Unfortunately, the wheel is on the east side, and will be in the shade.    Alternatively, you wait for a dramatic thunderstom to show up, and being the dedicated photographer you are, you will wait for just the right moment to snap the image before the deluge overwhelms you...



The last one shows detail in the sky because of the way Photomatix handled the combination of the images.  There was a little bit of contrast in the sky at 3 stops underexposed and that's where it came from.  The sky this morning was actually pretty much featureless milky blue-gray.

I don't know if they have lights there or not.  They probably do since they hold some community events there I think.  I'll have to check into that.  Like I originally said, I've been trying to get the shot I like forever it seems.


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## Nikon_Josh (Jun 17, 2012)

I love the first images you posted, but I disagree on the Black and white conversion. I much much prefer it in colour, the BW seems to take the life and soul of the photo away.


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

Nikon_Josh said:


> I love the first images you posted, but I disagree on the Black and white conversion. I much much prefer it in colour, the BW seems to take the life and soul of the photo away.


Thanks, Josh.  99% of the time I would completely agree but having seen this place in person it just seems to cry out for and old-looking format.  I very, very seldom convert anything to color for that very reason but I tend to like these in black and white.  If it means anything, though, the versions I posted on my web site were the color versions


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## cgipson1 (Jun 17, 2012)

NIce! I would love to shoot that! lol!


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## cgipson1 (Jun 17, 2012)

May I post a couple of different takes?


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> May I post a couple of different takes?


Absolutely.  Love to see them.


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> NIce! I would love to shoot that! lol!


Southwest will get you as far as the airport.  I'll get you the rest of the way


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## cgipson1 (Jun 17, 2012)

SCraig said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > May I post a couple of different takes?
> ...



Nik Silver Efex (maybe I am addicted to them!) lol!


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

Nice! I like those.  The first one looks a bit dark but the conversion really brought out the texture in the wood.  The other two I didn't like at first but the more I looked at them the more they had that "Old" feel to them.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 17, 2012)

SCraig said:


> Nice! I like those.  The first one looks a bit dark but the conversion really brought out the texture in the wood.  The other two I didn't like at first but the more I looked at them the more they had that "Old" feel to them.



Just playing with some aspects of the new software that normally I wouldn't play with! I do like some of the presets...


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## SCraig (Jun 17, 2012)

I've heard a lot of good things about Silver Efex but never used it myself.  What you've done with it looks pretty good to me.


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## pgriz (Jun 17, 2012)

That last one the Charlie did, really does a good job of focusing our attention on the mill and its wheel.  I'm not a fan of vignettes, but it works really well here.


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