Pembroke, Wales

Hello, again!

It's day two in Wales.

At the end of my last blog, we were waiting to go down to Breakfast.   It was hearty.  Their bacon was like a slice of ham with some fat left on.  I had yogurt with Muesli and nuts that I mixed in.

After breakfast, we drove to Pembroke to see the Pembroke Castle.  It was great.  It was exactly what we were looking for.  It was largely intact so that we could wander around looking for great shots.  Yet, there were displays that help you understand what it was like to live back a thousand years ago.

I felt conspicuous with my camera.  Normal people don't walk around with something that heavy around their necks!  

I had one guy ask me  how to get up in one of the towers.  When he heard me speak, he asked me where I was from.  I told him Pennsylvania.  He asked where in the US was PA.  He said he gets it mixed up with Transylvania!  I told him we live four hours from NYC.  That he understood.

But that's nothing! Annette was her normal, cheerful, friendly self.  She estimates that she talked to 15 people today (besides me and my friend, Sybil).  She got some awesome pictures of one of the re-enactors eating a meal of bread, cheese and apples.  He was in front of a window and there was beautiful light!  The basket and wooden plate pictured here were in the same room as Annette's "studio".

We were at the castle from about noon until six.  Annette could have stayed longer, but the place was closing down and she wanted to check out the gift shop.  We got a magnet for our collection.

The Keep
The last line of defense should the perimeter be breached.

A narrow passage around the keep

View of Pembroke from the castle wall

A passageway within the wall

Spiral Stairs
Is it true they all spiral the same direction?

Re-enactors

Notice the smooth stones around the openings

Notice the lack of smooth stones around the openings.
They must have been valuable to someone!

Then we wandered up through town.  We went in to the King's Arms Hotel to see about dinner.  That was a treat.  We were seated in the Pub and there was a group of 5-6 guys and one woman who were well on their way.  They were occasionally loud.  Oh, Well.

Since we were not in the restaurant portion of the establishment, service was slow.  

At the end of the meal, some of the other patrons started talking to us.  One woman was from Canada and had married a Welshman.

One woman was from London and had married a Welsh man, but they were divorced.  She was there with their two kids.  She taught English as a second language to refuges.  Could be interesting.  Should definitely be rewarding

On the way home, the GPS said to keep right on Whatever Street.  I almost kept right into the front of another car!  AAAAh!

We drove through Tenby on the way home.  Very pretty.  Right on the shore.  But kind of touristy.  We decided not to back to Tenby the next day.

We drove through another one lane road today!  That keeps you on your toes!

Actually, driving on the left is a good way to keep your mind active.   You really need to think about every turn.  And roundabouts!  Oh, man!

We'll "talk" again soon!

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!