Anchor Mill, Paisley.

Dale.

Dale.

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Dale.
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A trip into Glasgow today with the family. After a pitstop at the Harvester in Hillington, it was onto the mill at Paisley. Wifey took Little 'Un to a local park and I walked around the corner to the mill. I've been meaning to do this for years but only really got around to it today. I wasn't optimistic as it's been pretty dire here this last couple of days but I got there, the clouds broke and it lit up. Maybe a little too much so. Anyway, here's one of the results, a little tight at 18mm on a 1.5x crop but I'm quite pleased with it. Taken almost at ground level on a Gorrillapod, my Fuji X-T10 and Fuji 18-135XF with a CPL and an ND8, to milk the water a little.





Anchor Mill, Paisley. by Dale, on Flickr
 
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The building is straight but suffers from lens distortion
noticeable by the slanted closer corner while the sides
were properly corrected.
 
What a fantastic building, it is so imposing that you could easily miss the water running in the fore ground...love it!
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•


The building is straight but suffers from lens distortion
noticeable by the slanted closer corner while the sides
were properly corrected.
Click to expand...

Thank you Daniel. Yep, a bit of diistortion going on. I intentionally left some on it as my way of thinking is that it might grab the viewer more, rather than just being that flat way. Maybe I could pull it back a little with hindsight but please feel free to correct it your way. (y)

paulc said:
What a fantastic building, it is so imposing that you could easily miss the water running in the fore ground...love it!
Click to expand...

Thank you Paul, I will be going back with a wider lens next time. I got a few others, watch this space.
 
Hi Dale, you've done well with this, a good placement of an imposing building within its environment shot from a good viewpoint. Bravo! Nitpicks? The building isn't straight, right hand side converges by a few degrees. Leaving it that way, as you said to attract the viewer, doesn't ever (IMHO) work. It always looks like a mistake. Either make it obvious or make it correct, is the rule I go by. Improvements? Well, I'd take this shot at any other time of day rather than this. And perhaps in a vertical format. The building seems to demand some drama, either from the sky, the water or the time of day. As it is here, the lighting is flat and a little too dull. Dusk, dawn or night, these are the best times. Usually. Or even a stormy day... A dark satanic mill needs drama, not a sunny fluffy cloudy day. But then again, that might be a cliche too far!
 
One more thought... What are you trying to say? You emphasise the monumental qualities of the building, it's impressiveness, as you look up at it. But a part can be more effective than a whole. You could have moved closer and included more interesting foreground, and shooting earlier or later might have added interest. This kind of architectural photography is never easy - well done.
 
Nick Owen said:
Hi Dale, you've done well with this, a good placement of an imposing building within its environment shot from a good viewpoint. Bravo! Nitpicks? The building isn't straight, right hand side converges by a few degrees. Leaving it that way, as you said to attract the viewer, doesn't ever (IMHO) work. It always looks like a mistake. Either make it obvious or make it correct, is the rule I go by. Improvements? Well, I'd take this shot at any other time of day rather than this. And perhaps in a vertical format. The building seems to demand some drama, either from the sky, the water or the time of day. As it is here, the lighting is flat and a little too dull. Dusk, dawn or night, these are the best times. Usually. Or even a stormy day... A dark satanic mill needs drama, not a sunny fluffy cloudy day. But then again, that might be a cliche too far!
Click to expand...

RomneyTansley said:
One more thought... What are you trying to say? You emphasise the monumental qualities of the building, it's impressiveness, as you look up at it. But a part can be more effective than a whole. You could have moved closer and included more interesting foreground, and shooting earlier or later might have added interest. This kind of architectural photography is never easy - well done.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the very constructive comments, I really appreciate it. (y)

I agree about the right hand side, I will try a version later with it corrected.:)

It had been a dull day for most of the day but the 20 minutes I had to spare at the mill was just when the clouds broke and the sun came out, a rare event here lately.:LOL: As I headed back to the car, it softened a lot and as we set off for home, it was back to steely, grey skies. There are also so many compositions there to be had and now I have a better understanding of the place, I will explore these next time. I may well purchase the 10-24XF, as it is very tight at 18mm on a crop sensor. I also think with hindsight that taking my full size tripod next time as oppossed to the Gorrillapod would help slightly with the verticals, although not cure it. I took another shot of it from a nearby bridge, which put the mill at more or less eye level but I think the light lets that one down. It may make a mono though.

I'm no Architecture guru, so the helpful comments really are appreciated. :)
 
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The drama comment got me thinking. :thinking: :LOL:

I took 8 or 9 different povs of the mill but as I say, at 18mm, which would be 27mm equivalent on a FF, I was limited. This is a different image, taken slightly more to the right. I choose this one as I stopped the water more and there is more detail than the original in that area. I have tried fixing verticals and distortion as best I can, given my limited experience at this. I put it into Silver EfEx pro, put a high structure filter over it and tweaked it from there. It's more dramatic ,to me, and the harsh light isn't so apparent.



Anchor Mill, Paisley, mono. by Dale, on Flickr
 
Thank you Plamen. Not tried a conversion but will do.
 
I like the monochrome version (y)
 
Nice shot,it's a fantastic building I keep meaning to go at night and try it
 
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