Anderson Grist Mill, 2012

It's been two great days this weekend!  The only problem is...they are over!

I'll tell you about yesterday in a future blog, but for now, let's talk about today.

Last year Annette and I arranged for the camera club to go to the Anderson Grist Mill near Mercersburg, PA.  The participants who attended the photo shoot last year were very excited about all of the opportunities for pictures inside of the grist mill.  Several asked if they could get in on their own!  The club president said that it was the most requested photo shoot of the year.

So, what could we do but an encore.  Annette and I arranged for the Camera Club to go to the Anderson Grist Mill near Mercersburg, PA for the second time.  The weather shaped up right on cue.  It was a beautiful day full of warm fall air and wonderful sunshine!

The grist mill is so full of ingenious contraptions that I just look for more time than I spent taking pictures!

Inside the grist mill there was a tool room with all kinds of hand tools laying on the work benches and hanging from the wall.  There was also quite a bit of old junk.  In the middle of the floor was a table with window light hitting it just right.  So, I used that table as a place to "stage" some of the junk treasures.

This first picture includes a bottle, just for Annette.  On one of our first workshops, Annette found some old bottles and arranged them just so against a colorful rusted bucket.  I wondered why she was photographing trash!  Now here I am doing the same.

This second picture is of a wooden box with an orchard brand name stamped into the end.  I set up the box so that the sunlight would rake the side of the box and create shadows in the imprint so that the imprint would be more visible.

There were three planes in the tool room.  One of them had so much dirt and grime that you could no longer see the wood grain.  So I set up the two other ones.  I wanted the handles to echo one another.

I even had a chance to make an abstract photo.  The lights in this abstract are from holes in the wall of the mill.  I used a longer shutter speed to get more length to the streaks.  I was pointed up a little so I think the blue color comes from the sky.

One other thing that deserves more telling than I am going to do is that it was great to see fellow photographers in action and share tips and tricks.  This is the way that friendships are born.  I think some were birthing today!

Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing from me again and also enjoyed the pictures.

More importantly, get out there an keep making photos!

Anderson Mill

Earlier this year, the president of the Harrisburg Camera Club was looking for suggestions for photo field trips.  Before I could think, I opened my mouth and said that Annette and I had always wanted to spend some time at the Anderson Grist Mill.  He took that innocent comment to mean that I was volunteering to arrange for the photo shoot.  So, I did.

On October 9, 2011, Annette and I hosted the Harrisburg Camera Club at the Anderson Grist Mill.  Everyone seemed genuinely excited to see all of the fascinating, old-fashioned items in the mill.  There were so many things.  There were so many textures, shadows and patterns.

Because of the way the mill is squeezed between the creek and the road, it was difficult to get an overall view of the mill.  So we concentrated on getting details.  Here are a few detail shots of mine.

Shaker Gears

 I don't know the name of the machine that these gears were part of, but the vertical shaft going out of the top of the picture turned an eccentric wheel that shook the ground grain.  I assume it was some sort of sifter.

Chain Drive

Elevator Cup

 I innocently called a strap with cups that moves the grain in a vertical direction a conveyor.  I was quickly corrected.  To move the grain in a vertical direction an elevator is used.  To move it in a horizontal direction, a conveyor is used.  Even though they are both made from the same components and the only difference is their orientation!  Live and learn...

The Tool Room

 I played around in this room for quite a while.  I wanted to get the exposure such that I could see the scenery outside and the inside would look like it was lit by the window.  It was easier said than done.

First the window exposure had to be right.  The amount of light coming through the window can't be changed, so I dealt with it first.

Then light had to be added to the wall of tools.  That was tricky.  First I experimented with on-camera flash at various output levels and pointed in various directions.  Then I tried off-camera flash at various levels.  I even tried a reflector to reflect sunlight from the window behind the camera on to the tools.

Wooden Gear Teeth

 This is fascinating to me.  Wooden gear teeth!  How did they carry the load?  Why didn't they break?

But on the other hand...

• Wooden gear teeth are much quieter.  
• Wooden gear teeth can be replaced relatively easily.
• Wood was readily available.

The Side of the Mill

Another thing that truly fascinated me was the ingenuity that went in to the design of the building and the workings of the mill.  I assume that the men were faced with a lack of money, lack of steel components but were blessed with an abundance of wood.  All of the chutes and ladders and walls and structure of the mill were made from wood.  There were some steel or iron components, but they were only used where they had to be used.

I believe that each mill is unique.  Sure, the designer/builder could visit other mills to see how they were built, but each mill site has its own set of constraints.  The designer/builder would have to use his experience and intelligence to make the new mill the best it could be at the new site.

This is much like photography.  The photographer must use his experience, what he has observed in other photographs and his intelligence to make an image that is new and is the best it can be.

Get out there and shoot!

Mabry Mill

Just a quick post this time.

On the way home from Florida, Annette and I did not want to spend the whole day in the car.  We wanted to have some kind of photo shoot on the way home.

So we took a detour.  We got off of the highway and drove about thirty miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Along the way we came across Mabry Mill (Mile 176).  The mill was fascinating because of two things for me.

1.)  The water was carried in the wooden troughs for quite a ways.
2.)  The water was used to power three distinct portions of the mill.  There was a grist mill, a sawmill and a workshop.

The light was very contrasty in the late afternoon.  The mill sat down behind the roadway in partial shadow.  So I didn't get many usable pictures.  Oh, well, I have to learn to quit making excuses!

Here are two pictures from the mill.  I hope you enjoy them.

Mabry Mill

Mill Stones from Mabry Mill