Cromer's Mill Covered Bridge on a Great Day

Cromer's Mill Covered Bridge. Long retired from service.

One crisp, clear day in October, 2006 -- the kind of day that seems to come in October more than any other month -- I picked up my son Rob and we headed out for a day of exploring northeast Georgia. I was taking days as often as possible to explore and photograph the state in hope that I would eventually have enough material for a book.

We ate a late (and large) breakfast at a Huddle House and spent the day laughing and joking. I didn't see many pictures, but we were having so much fun it didn't matter.

Late in the day we came to Cromer's Mill Covered Bridge. Just off Georgia 106 about eight miles south of Carnesville, it was built across Nails Creek in 1907 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. The 110-foot-long bridge was built in the Town Lattice Truss design by James M. Hunt. Restored in the 1990s, it continues to be well maintained. As you can see from the photograph, the road it carried across the creek is long gone. 

At the other end of the bridge we came across this interesting structure.

A shed at the other end of the bridge.

 So we got back in the car and left before anyone showed up with a shotgun. Perhaps the property owner was fed up with curious tourists.

(The photo of the bridge was made with a Canon EOS 5D Classic, the shed with a Canon EOS 20D.)

Louise continues to do well. The next step is to have her bite readjusted by a dental specialist.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Elder Mill Covered Bridge

The Elder Mill Covered Bridge in Oconee County, Georgia.

 I'm sure I've mentioned before that one of my interests, along with old mills, is covered bridges. I've always been fascinated by them. This might have something to do with the fact that I grew up close to one. I attended high school in the little community of Williams, on White River in southern Indiana. Just a mile or so away is one of Indiana's longer covered bridges. It was in daily use on a heavily traveled road in those days, but is now closed to traffic, which has been rerouted to a modern bridge a short distance away.

I began photographing Georgia's covered bridges years before I began the Backroads and Byways book project and as far as I know have photographed all of them.

I found the Elder Mill Covered Bridge while I was working on the book. It's south of Watkinsville in east central Georgia's Oconee County. Take Georgia 15 for about four miles and turn right on Elder Mill Road for about a mile to the bridge. 

Originally built by Nathaniel Richardson over Calls Creek on the Watkinsville-Athens Road in 1897, the bridge was moved by wagon (don't ask me how they did that) to its present location over Rose Creek in 1924. It uses the sturdy Town lattice construction, with heavy planks fastened together with wooden pegs. The 99-foot-long bridge is in daily use and is one of very few covered bridges in Georgia to carry traffic without underlying steel support beams. However there is a size and weight restriction in the form of steel frames at each end of the bridge. I barely made it through with my RAM 3500 pickup. 

Looking upstream on Rose Creek to the Elder Mill Bridge.

Elder's Grist Mill still stands about a hundred yards downstream, on private property. (So no photo.) It has been out of business for many years. It can be viewed by walking down the creek bank.

(Both photos made with Canon EOS 6D, 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 lens.)

Louise is doing well. Thanks for your prayers.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

What about Digital Noise?

 

Marlee dancing. ISO 12,800, about a 200% enlargement. Click on photo to enlarge.

Since digital photography came into general use, digital noise at higher ISOs has been a recurrent bugbear for some photographers. To combat the perceived problem, various software developers brought forth their solutions. Meanwhile, camera manufacturers were designing better and better sensors, enabling photographers to shoot at higher and higher ISOs with less and less noise. 

I began digital photography in 2003 with a Canon EOS 10D. It showed noticeable noise, somewhat resembling film grain, at an ISO of 1600. I was photographing quite a few weddings in those days, and only used high ISOs in low-light situations, such as the interiors of churches. The noise was noticeable on my computer monitor, but did not show up badly at all in the 8x10 prints I was selling my wedding clients.

Dennis Mook, who blogs at The Wandering Lensman, has written two recent blogs on the subject of digital noise. You can read them here and here. Dennis is more concerned about noise than I am, but he apparently concludes it's not much of a factor anymore. Personally, I haven't worried about noise in a long time. But, I don't do a lot of high ISO stuff.

However, when I photographed Marlee's latest dance performance at ISO 12,800, the first time I had used that setting, I was pleased with the resulting files. Although I shot both RAW and jpeg in my Fuji X-H1, I used only the straight out of camera jpeg files. The only things I did to this file in Photoshop was lighten the image slightly in curves and apply an unsharp masking action that raises the mid-tone contrast a bit without affecting the highlights or shadows. 

The sensor in my X-H1 is not the latest version, so I'm sure the newer ones from Fuji and other manufacturers are even better. But I'm okay with what I have. Maybe I'm too easy to please, but I'm satisfied with this photograph. But then, I've always valued content above technique, as long as the technique is adequate to express the idea of the photograph. 

Blog note: Louise is making a remarkable recovery. Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have prayed. There are still some issues to be dealt with, so please don't stop.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Marlee Dancing and a New Lens

 Marlee dancing, May 6, 2023. Fuji X-H1, Fujinon XF 55-200mm f3.5-4.8

My granddaughter Marlee began dancing when she was just a tiny thing and over the years has spent thousands of hours practicing and performing. I've been photographing at least one of her performances each year since 2011. 

On May 6th I photographed her final performance as a high school student. On May 14th (coincidentally my birthday) she graduated from the Webb School of Knoxville with a high grade point average, and this fall will enter Indiana University, where she will take pre-med courses and minor in dance.

Over the years I photographed her dance performances with several different Canon and Olympus digital cameras, but in 2017 I switched to the Fuji system and began photographing her with, first, an X-T20 camera, and later, an X-H1. 

One of the first lenses I bought for my Fuji system was the Fujinon XC 50-230mm f4.5-6.7. It's an inexpensive lens, but very sharp, and was adequate for my needs. (See my pictures of pileated woodpeckers here.) However, the lens has one flaw: the mount is made of plastic, and while I was photographing one of Marlee's performances I accidentally dropped the camera with the lens attached and broke the mount. 

This year I replaced the 50-230 with a Fujinon XF 55-200mm f3.5-4.8 lens. It has a faster aperture, is very sharp, and most especially, has a metal mount.  And although it's heavier than the 50-230, it balances very well on the X-H1.

Even though the above photo of Marlee was made at an ISO of 12,800 it's tack-sharp and has almost undetectable digital noise -- about like a very fine-grained film. And with this combination of camera and lens I was able to capture a much higher percentage of "keepers" than I have in the past.

I'm going to miss photographing Marlee's dance performances, but I probably won't be driving to Indiana to shoot them. 

Please continue to pray for Louise. She's making great progress, but still has a lot of pain.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.