Where: Parc de la Pointe-du-Moulin, Ile-Perrot, Quebec, Canada.
About: This wonderful historic site is at the end of my main street, I lived here close to 3 years and never got the chance to visit it. I always saw pictures of it and wanted to give it a shot. A month ago I passed by it and took a look at entrance fees, and opening hours, to my amazement, they open at 9:30AM!! I wanted to take a picture for the Mill at Sunrise, as its places perfectly where the sun rises. Called the parc 4 times over the month to ask about their policy regarding after/before hours visiting, no one ever picked up or bothered to answer my voice mail back. Too bad .. or too good
Visited this parc at 4AM, didn’t jump the fence as technically there is no fence, just a closed gate that I walked around it. Creepy like hell the parc was at night. After 30 min of searching I found it. I wanted to try star trails for the first time, but the mill was under 4 huge spot lights , I was thinking of putting garbage cans and whatever I can lay my hand on in front of the light spots to block it, then I noticed the big board saying Surveillance Cameras, that was the end of the star trails dreams. Happy no one interrupted the shooting, and I got to watch the sun rise in one of the most beautiful places in Ile-Perrot.
The History: The history of the site dates back to 1672 when Intendant Jean Talon granted the island to a M. François-Marie Perrot who opened up a fur trading post. Another thirty years passed when a gentleman by the name of Joseph Trottier Desruisseaux, the new seigneur of the Island, constructed a windmill in 1705 that the inhabitants of the island extensively used to transform their harvest. This windmill , although pretty much rebuilt by the government of Quebec in 1978, is located on an extreme portion of land that extends into Lac St Louis.
Process: 3 different exposers using bracketing -2, 0, +2,Merged in Photomatix to HDR, then exported to CS4. Duplicate layer setting the new layer to screen then mask the mill to bring some light and details to it. Saturate, dodge and burn, neat image, save for web.
Thanks to every one who made this challenge as wonderful as it was, so far this was the best challenge I entered.
Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this picture to ColemanGariety, Thank you for your kind comment,
These are my outtakes,
Statistics
Place: 5 out of 155 Avg (all users): 6.9036 Avg (commenters): 8.2727 Avg (participants): 6.4286 Avg (non-participants): 7.2566 Views since voting: 4935 Views during voting: 476 Votes: 197 Comments: 24 Favorites: 7 (view)
Camera Work/Technical: Nicely focused and pleasantly crisp.
Lighting: The sunrise is unbelievable. Wonderful colors and well captured. I'd like to see the tower exposed a little more, but not enough to take away from the score.
Composition/Content: Nice composition. The tree touching the mill is a slight bit distracting. Perhaps a slight change in your point of view would have remedied that.
My Opinion: As a general rule, I hate HDR. However, you pulled it off well which is especially evident with the glow of the sunrise. This image is nicely captured and well placed in the challenge. Your score reflects that perfectly.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a critique on your entry,
Eric
What great colors! The subject seems a little dark, though, as well as the front where the fence is. I guess the fence is ok like that but I'd like to see a little more spotlight on the windmill (it's so cool looking, though!).
Great composition. The sky is a bit oversat for my taste. It's probably that magenta band that curves up around the top of the structure which distracts me the most. Some haloes on the brick sides. Very acute angle to the sun. Good job of using HDR to show some details in the shadows. 8
I'm in love. This need to get a blue ribbon. Or nobody gets a blue ribbon. Amazing sky colors. Only thing, tree near the edge of the windmill is a little distracting. but I can look past that I swear. Instant fav, ill check out your page when challenge is over...
This is just a wonderful storybook scene. The only minor thing that hurts the illusion is that small sign on the left, which could have been cloned out under advanced rules.
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