Another Trip to the Old Mill

The Old Mill is probably one of Arkansas’ most famous attractions. Although it was built in 1933, the mill was designed to look as if it had been constructed in the 1800s.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is undoubtedly one of the most photographed structures in the state.  Crowds are typical during spring and summer weekends which can make good photography difficult.  To avoid the crowds, I tend to visit the mill early in the morning on a weekday, and it’s not uncommon for me to be the only person there.

Having a break in what has been a very busy schedule lately, I decided make another trip to the Old Mill. Arriving just as the sun arose, the conditions could not have been any better for outdoor photography.  An overcast sky provided soft, diffused lighting, and the long lulls in the breeze allowed the plants and leaves to settle down and be still.  What a great day for photography!

In many of the photographs I have made at the Old Mill, I have tended to focus more on the overall landscape. While the mill was an element of the photograph, it often blended into the surrounding scenery thereby significantly diminishing its significance.  For this photograph, I wanted the mill to be the central focal point of the image.

I positioned my tripod so that I would be as close to the mill as possible while also having an interesting foreground in front of the mill. With my 24-70mm lens, I zoomed in until the mill was the dominant item in the viewfinder while maintaining some of the foreground.

In Lightroom, I increased the exposure to lighten the entire image. Then, using the adjustment brush, I darkened the area of foliage behind and to the sides of the mill.  Darkening this area had the effect of increasing the perceived brightness of the mill and foreground.  Because brighter objects seem to advance while darker objects appear to recede, this further emphasized the Old Mill.

After making these adjustments, I opened the file in Photoshop and applied one of my favorite and most used Photoshop filters, the Tonal Contrast filter in Nik’s Color Efex Pro, to further enhance contrast and color.  Finally, there were several areas in which the brighter sky showed through the darker background foliage drawing attention away from mill. Using the lasso tool, I selected these areas and used the content-aware fill command to clone foliage over these spots to eliminate the distraction.

Settings: 55mm, 0.8 sec, f/22, ISO400