Sunday, October 26, 2014

Yates Mill Pond Autumn

At the start of a late Saturday afternoon outing to Yates Mill with a few members of the Carolinas Nature Photography Association, I was a little disappointed to find the type of clear blue sky that millions of people like, a sign of "perfect weather".  From a photographic standpoint (and also just personal preference), I've always enjoyed cloudy weather.  It can provide flattering light for portrait subjects, intriguing light on landscapes and cityscapes, and interesting shapes if sky occupies a significant portion of an image.

Blue sky it was, so, what would I see...
Doing an establishing shot of the focal point of the area, the old Yates Mill, I chose an angle that emphasized the reflected blue in the windows.  I did not want to tilt the camera up to cover the height of the building (my vantage was low on the rocks), so I used a tilt/shift lens, shifting the lens upward. I leveled the camera, but unintentionally pointed it very slightly downward!  I liked the very slight divergence of the vertical lines - it seemed to add to the imposing bulk of the old wooden structure, so I left it that way rather than refining the leveling nearer to exactly accurate.  It's a pretty subtle difference, but if you're tuned into "architectural" verticals you'll see it, and if not, you might feel it.


Moving further away and to a higher vantage point, I used a longer lens to isolate an interesting part of the structure and contrast it with the trees.


For this image, the extreme contrast of sunlight and shade was tricky to tame, but the shadows added to the composition.


As the sun got lower, there was a bit of gold in the light, enhanced by reflection off the wood.  I chose to exaggerate this to contrast it with the blue tones.



There wasn't a lot of fall color in the leaves, but across the pond there was a patch of red standing out from its surroundings.  The shape of a dark branch balanced things, and a long telephoto included just the area I wanted in my composition.


The view across the pond was serene.  Here the angle is such that the sun was blocked by a tree limb in direct view, but shows in the reflection.


I suspect that some gorgeous sunset colors may have been on the way, but I needed to leave to attend a pre-concert reception for a group of patrons, after which I had a difficult concert to perform.


In my last few moments I tried an abstract reflection shot.


And a parting shot across the water when a pedestrian in bright clothing caught my eye.


Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/10/yates-mill-pond-autumn.html


12 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos, Jess. I'm going to forward the URL to your blog to my DAR chapter -- which happens to be named after Yates Mill. :-)

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  2. Oh, yeah, man, I totally felt the architectural vertical...

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    1. LOL, I guess my remark sounds a little pretentious, doesn't it! But I think the mill kind of looms over you rather than leaning away or just standing there perfectly straight and "building-like". :<D

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  3. I absolutely love the third to the last photo (the first photo is a favorite, too, and the others!!!). Such gorgeous work. Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing these pictures and your talent!!

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    1. Thank you very much! I was thinking about that photo, which pleases me, and realized some reasons why it does. Trees reflected in a glassy smooth lake are nice but hardly unusual. Including the trees on the left and mill on the right was a conscious choice to break the symmetry, but what really caught me was the diagonal line of the spillway. Before I set up this shot I had been ruing the lack of clouds in the sky, but after it I was thrilled at the simple, clean and beautiful surround that the blue sky provided for the subject.

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  4. In the 4th photo, it appears that there is gold in the water pouring downward!

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    1. My secret source of wealth! I wish. ;<D
      I love the way that water takes on the colors of light sources, including reflected ones. You may have seen that in a recent post of two shots of a dam spillway.

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  5. Oh, yes, OF COURSE I saw that recent post (is there a quiz later?)!

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    1. Yes, for extra credit. However, the course is pass/fail, and everyone passes, so it won't affect your GPA (General Photographic Apprehension).

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  6. Enjoyed these very much. Especially the water scenes and unusual architectural angle.

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