Watson's Mill

[Sailorstu]

My wife is away (the mice will play) so I got up at 4:30 am to drive a bit to a site to photograph a heritage building I had heard about. Watson’s Mill is a 1860’s grist and flour mill located in a small town called Manotick, about 30 min outside Ottawa. The funny part of my morning is that I drove there, got set up to shoot just as the sun was rising at 5:19 am, and then realized I had forgotten both SD cards at home (I'm still making rookie errors). Drove home, picked up my cards, and the dog, drove back and took these shots at around 6:40 am. Painful, yet still worth the effort because the scene was so quiet and beautiful. Hopefully the photos reflect this (no pun intended). C & C welcome.

#1 - using my standard 18-55 mm.



#2 - using a 6.5 mm Fisheye.

[Rebel]

Nice shots Stu, they both work for me.

Although #2 is my favourite because of the foreground (it curves around nicely to the bridge, and the the bridge leads nicely to the mill), I like the composition and reflections in both.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Geoff F]

Is there a fraction too much foreground in #2 and is it tending to dominate the scene?

How about cropping the bottom and right side up to where your name would disappear?

[Ziggy]

Both very nice but I would like to see Geoff's crop suggestion.

[Sailorstu]

Nice shots Stu, they both work for me.

Although #2 is my favourite because of the foreground (it curves around nicely to the bridge, and the the bridge leads nicely to the mill), I like the composition and reflections in both.

Thanks Matt.

[Sailorstu]

I think the proposed crop is an improvement Geoff. Thanks.

[Sailorstu]

Both very nice but I would like to see Geoff's crop suggestion.

Thank you Jim, cropped version below.

[Sailorstu]

Nice series.

Thanks John.

[Digital]

Stu, very nice photos.


Bruce

[IzzieK]

I like both, but I like the #2 edit better...

[bnnrcn]

I like the three of them because the original edit of #2 is still a nice image on its own

[gregj1763]

#1 and #3 for me Stu great photo's
Extra points for being a good guy and taking your dog, what breed is he/she

[Sailorstu]

I like both, but I like the #2 edit better...

Thanks Izzie!

[Sailorstu]

I like the three of them because the original edit of #2 is still a nice image on its own

Thanks Binnur. I also am happy with all three!

[Sailorstu]

#1 and #3 for me Stu great photo's
Extra points for being a good guy and taking your dog, what breed is he/she

The dog loved it. Ceilidh is a soft coated Wheaton Terrier. I was set up in a small picnic park taking my photos so I let her off leash and it was all I could do to snap my shots and keep her out of the water!

[gregj1763]

The dog loved it. Ceilidh is a soft coated Wheaton Terrier.

Hadn't heard of this breed Stu so I checked them out on the net, great looking dogs.
Will be expecting some photo's of her soon then

[Manfred M]

Nicely executed shots, Stu. I'd probably be even more aggressive in reducing the amount of foreground in #2, but that's just my view.

The one issue I find with these early morning summer shots is that they are beautiful (because of the light), but also tending to be a bit sterile looking. I haven't quite found a solution to that. I generally find that I like sunset lighting better than sunrise, but local conditions usually mean that we don't have any real choice at most locations.

Not being a morning person, I do something silly like trying early morning shots once a summer and then spend the of the time shooting during the evening "magic hour".

[Sailorstu]

Nicely executed shots, Stu. I'd probably be even more aggressive in reducing the amount of foreground in #2, but that's just my view.

The one issue I find with these early morning summer shots is that they are beautiful (because of the light), but also tending to be a bit sterile looking. I haven't quite found a solution to that. I generally find that I like sunset lighting better than sunrise, but local conditions usually mean that we don't have any real choice at most locations.

Not being a morning person, I do something silly like trying early morning shots once a summer and then spend the of the time shooting during the evening "magic hour".

Thanks Manfred. I tend to go out early morning because that is the timing that is least disruptive for the rest of my family priorities. They seem to all get in a snit if I pick up at take off at 7 pm! I need to get my wife interested in photography. On the morning I went to Manotick I actually had to wait to get enough light on the mill building because the sun needed to get high enough for the rays to get over some very tall trees that were behind my position.

[rpcrowe]

I like both images but, I like some more definition of the concrete pilings under the bridge and the trees.



However, this may not be your view of the image...

I actually worked on the image using NIK Viveza 2 in several places using control points

1. Brightened beneath the bridge
2. Brightened foliage
3. Brightened rocks in foreground and added structure
Finally
4. Selected the sky and darkened it a bit

I tried darkening the mill itself but did not like the results.