Jpeg or RAW?

Blowing Cave Mill. A jpeg file straight out of the camera.

I'm a jpeg shooter. Most of the time my files come out of the camera ready to use, with maybe just a little massaging in Photoshop's Curves and Brush tools.

But I'm a piker. I hedge my bets. So my cameras are always set to shot both jpeg and RAW. I know it's heresy, but most of the time, if the jpegs look good I throw the RAW files away.

But sometimes I photograph a scene with so much contrast that a jpeg can't cover the range between highlights and shadows. That's when I go to those RAW files. Yes, I could do layers and so forth on the jpegs, but that soon becomes more trouble than just opening the RAW file in Capture One. (I've been using Capture One, by the way, to process RAW files about as long as I've been doing digital photography. It's always worked well for me.)

In the photo of Blowing Cave Mill at the top of this post, bright sunlight on my right gave an exposure that rendered most of the scene correctly but left the near side of the mill in deep shadow. I opened the RAW file in Capture One and moved the Shadows slider to 100%, creating a more balanced file, as you can see below. I then used the Brush tool in Photoshop to brighten that side just a little more. A technique very similar to burning and dodging a darkroom print.

Oh, look! There's a water wheel hiding in those shadows!

The metering systems in my Fuji cameras are so accurate that most of the time jpeg files come out of the camera ready to use, with maybe a half-stop exposure adjustment up or down in Curves. Saves time and gives me files that accurately depict the scene as I saw it with a minimum of fuss and bother.

Photo: Fuji X-T3 camera, Fujinon XF 16-80mm lens.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags:   photography   digital photography      Fuji X-T3 camera     Fujinon XF 16-80mm lens     photography techniques    Blowing Cave Mill     Sevier County, Tennessee     Photoshop     Capture One

The Backroads Traveler: Two Tennessee Mills

Dunn's Mill, Sevier County, Tennessee.

Very little history is available for this mill. Located on Upper Middle Creek Road about six miles east of Pigeon Forge, Dunn's Mill was apparently assembled from old materials around 1988 and was never operational. The millstones and internal gearing are in place, but have not been set up. The flume was never completed, but if it had been, it would have carried water from Bird Creek (foreground) to actuate the pitchback wheel. It's very picturesque. Part of the building has been occupied by an art gallery.

Blowing Cave Mill, c1870.

About twelve miles from Sevierville on Blowing Cave Road, off U.S. Highway 411, Blowing Cave Mill is operational, though not currently in use. 

Located on the headwaters of Flat Creek, the mill was built in 1870 by Elbert and William Early, replacing a turbine mill on the site built by John Byrd.

The waterwheel at Blowing Cave Mill.

The original wooden overshot water wheel was replaced in 1941, so this wheel has apparently been in use for 83 years.

The antique store at Blowing Cave Mill.

Sometime after 2010, a large extension, currently housing an antique store, was added to the mill. Also, the flume carrying water to the wheel was rebuilt.

Photos: Fuji X-T3 digital camera, Fujinon XF 16-80mm lens.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags:   photography   digital photography      Fuji X-T3 camera     Fujinon XF 16-80mm lens     Blowing Cave Mill     Sevier County, Tennessee     Dunn's Mill     old mills     travel photography

Shoot It Now!

 Eagle Detailing. U.S. Highways 411/441, Sevier County, Tennessee.

I passed this little building while on my way to photograph a pair of old mills in Sevier County, south of Knoxville. (I'll post them soon.)

As I drove on down the road, I thought, do people really make a business of removing tails from eagles? There aren't many eagles around here. Where do they get them? Who buys eagle tails, anyway? 

(Sorry. That's just the way my mind works.)

As those thoughts slowly wormed their way through my febrile brain, I knew I would have to turn around. I didn't want to go back, but I knew I had to do it.

I could have promised myself I would shoot it on the way home. But what if I decided to take a different route? What if the light changed? What if someone parked a huge truck in front of the sign? A hundred things could have happened to keep me from making the photo. As the great photographer Jay Maisel says, "Shoot It Now"!

Most of us are subject to an inertia which suggests all kinds of reasons why we shouldn't take the picture now.  Later will be better. The light will be better. I don't have the right lens. I'm in a hurry. Later...but not now. 

Shortly after moving to McLemore Cove, Louise and I were out exploring the area. Driving along a gravel road by a cornfield, we chanced to see "Coon" Hise, then in his 80s, and his wife coming out from between the rows with their arms loaded with ears of corn. We stopped and talked for a few minutes. The scene was greatly reminiscent of a famous Farm Security Administration photo from the 1930s of an old farmer and his wife holding armloads of vegetables. 

It was a great picture. I had my camera. There was no reason not to make a photograph. But I didn't. I still don't understand why I didn't, but to this day it remains the greatest photograph I never made.

I can give you all kinds of good advice about photography, but only one thing is indispensable: when you see it, Shoot It!

About the photo: Fuji X-T3 camera, Fujinon XF 16-80mm lens.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags:   photography   digital photography      Fuji X-T3 camera     Fujinon XF 16-80mm lens     photography techniques    McLemore Cove     Farm Security Administration

The Backroads Traveler: Lexington, Georgia

The 1886 Richardsonian-Romanesque Oglethorpe County courthouse.

Founded in 1793, Lexington is a small town with a long history. It is the seat of Oglethorpe County government and was incorporated in 1806. 

Lexington has an historic district with an amazing number of really old, really fine houses in Greek Revival, Federal, and Victorian styles, many of them concentrated in a few blocks of Church Street, which was once the main drag through town. 

The Oglethorpe County courthouse was built in the Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style so popular in Georgia during the closing years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th.

Although the population of Lexington is only about 250, the town seems bigger than that to me. Just the right size, actually, for walking. Pick up a self-guided walking tour brochure at City Hall or any of the stores and enjoy a leisurely stroll around this little gem of a city.

The Presbyterian Manse (pastor's residence) on Church Street.

The c.1812 Presbyterian Manse at 211 East Church was the original home of Columbia Theological Seminary, now located in Decatur, Georgia. The beautiful but empty Beth-Salem Presbyterian Church is across the street. With only three remaining members, the congregation was dissolved in 2015, 230 years after its founding.

The 1827-36 Plat-Brooks House at 102 East Church Street.

 

The Aaron McGehee House.

Not on Church Street, but behind the courthouse at 206 South Gilmer Street, displaying delightfully different vernacular architecture, is the c.1800 Aaron-McGehee House. 

(This post was adapted from my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia.)

About the photographs: The courthouse was photographed with a Fuji X-H1 camera and the tiny, cheap, but very sharp Fujinon XC16-50mm lens. The other three pictures were all made with an Olympus E-M5 camera and the Panasonic Lumix G-Vario 12-32mm lens.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags:   photography   digital photography   Fuji X-H1 camera     Oglethorpe County, Georgia     travel photography    Olympus E-M5 camera     Panasonic 12-32mm lens     Lexington, Georgia     old houses     Georgia courthouses

The Backroads Traveler: Prater's Mill

Prater's Mill is the setting for the annual Prater's Mill Country Fair.

Prater's Mill was built in 1855 on Coahulla Creek near Varnell in Whitfield County, Georgia by Benjamin Franklin Prater. The mill was operated by the Prater family until 1954, then by a succession of millers until 1963, after which the mill fell into disuse.

In 1971, an all-volunteer foundation took over the mill and has done extensive restoration and preservation of the site, financed by the Prater's Mill Country Fair, a highly-rated arts and crafts festival held on Columbus Day weekend each October.

The face-painting booth is always popular at the Country Fair.

 Prater's Mill Heritage Park also includes old barns, the Prater residence, and the General Store. The site is open to the public every day, dawn to dusk, at no charge, and tours can be arranged by appointment. Country Fair hours are 9 a.m.–6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.–5 p.m. on Sunday. Prater's Mill is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The dam diverts water to the three turbines that power the millstones.

My book Rock City Barns: A Passing Era was published in 1996 and I immediately booked myself into a succession of arts and crafts fairs that fall. The Prater's Mill Country Fair was one of the most successful for me, and I continued to show and sell my books and prints there for about ten years. Basically, until I ran out of books to sell. I have many good memories of days at Prater's Mill.

 Reflections of Prater's Mill in the placid waters of the millpond.

 (This article was adapted from my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia.)

About the photos: The first two photos and the last were all made with an Olympus E-M5 digital camera fitted with the Panasonic Lumix G-Vario 14-140II lens. The picture of the dam was made with a Hasselblad 500CM camera and a Zeiss 80mm lens on Fujichrome 100 film, scanned with an Epson Perfection 4990 PHOTO scanner. 

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags:   photography   digital photography   Georgia     Hasselblad 500CM camera     Zeiss 80mm lens     travel photography     Panasonic Lumix G-Vario 14-140mm lens     Olympus E-M5 camera     old mills     Fujichrome 100 film     film photography     Prater's Mill

Autumn in Walker County, Georgia

Clearing storm over Lookout Mountain. Georgia Hwy. 193, Walker County.

Since I posted fall photos from north central Georgia in my previous blog, I thought I would post some from Walker County in northwest Georgia, where we lived for 33 years. These pictures were all made within 20 miles of our home in McLemore Cove, most of them closer than that.

Last cutting of hay. Lookout Mountain from McLemore Cove.

The c.1890 Andrews-Guthrie House on Andrews Lane, MeLemore Cove.

 

Autumn Sky, McLemore Cove.

 

 Ricky's Trees. Daugherty Gap Road, McLemore Cove.

 I call these "Ricky's Trees," because Ricky Smith, who worked for us during our last years at Deer Run Farm, had helped plant them many years ago when he was a young man.

Our pond at Deer Run Farm, McLemore Cove.

Since these pictures were made with various cameras over a period of thirty-plus years, I don't remember all the specifics. I do, however, remember that the one at the top was made with a Canon EOS A2 camera and the great EF 80-200L lens, the one photographers called "the Magic Drainpipe." The film was Fujichrome 100D. The one at the bottom was made with an Olympus E-M5 and the Panasonic 14-140 lens, a bit magical in its own right.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags:   photography   digital photography   film photography     Canon EOS A2 camera     Canon EF 80-200L lens     travel photography    Olympus E-M5 camera     Panasonic 14-140mm lens     Fujichrome 100D film     Fall color     Walker County, Georgia     McLemore Cove     autumn

Autumn in the North Georgia Mountains

 

On November 5th, 2008, I went ramblin' along  the North Georgia backroads northeast of Ellijay and south of Blue Ridge to photograph the fall color. It was the peak of the season, and altogether a most memorable day.

I was inspired to show these photos by friend and fellow photo-blogger Dennis Mook (https://www.thewanderinglensman.com/) who has been running a series of his own fall photos on his blog. His are better than mine, but I'm putting these out in hope that you might receive some enjoyment from them.

Since these were all taken in the same area with the same camera and lens -- a Canon EOS 5D Classic and the Canon EF 24-85mm lens -- I'm posting them without any further captions or comments.

 

 

 

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags:   photography   digital photography   Georgia     Canon EOS 5D camera     Canon EF 24-85mm lens     travel photography     North Georgia mountains lens     fall color     autumn