When I get to a new community, one thing I like to do is pick up some brochures of what’s in the area. One in particular caught my eye. It was the one for White’s Mill.
Taking pictures for a magazine, like Images of Washington County, sometimes requires a little on-site research.
The brochure gave me a little bit of information about it’s history, which dates back about 120 years. It was added to the Virginia and National Registries of Historic Places in 1974 and was still powered by water up until 1989. The mill fell out of production leading up to the turn of the century and, in 2001, the White’s Mill Foundation was formed and purchased the mill.
But it was the photo on the brochure that really piqued my interest. It was the mill at dusk with the warm glow from a floodlight illuminating it as it was reflected in a pond. Very cool shot. I wanted to try my hand at it and see if I couldn’t improve it a little.
I made the journey out to the mill a couple of hours before sunset one night. It’s about 15 minutes outside of downtown Abington, on, you guessed it, White’s Mill Road.
I grabbed my lightstands, tripod and camera gear and headed over to the pond. I found the angle I liked and set up my tripod. I then broke out the lightstands and starting setting up my flashes, a pair of Canon 580EXII’s. They’re small and powerful enough to illuminate the side of the mill.
As I walked over to the mill to place my lights, a little kitten popped out of nowhere and immediately attached itself to me. It followed me all over the place: to placing a light next to the floodlight, to placing one on the unlit side of the mill and then back to my tripod.
It hung out with me as I trekked back and forth to my lights, adjusting power and placement. Never venturing more than a few feet away. You’d almost think my pockets were filled with catnip.
Finally, the sun began to set and twilight started to take over. I started taking pictures.
After a few frames, I grabbed my camera off the tripod and changed the angle from which I was shooting. This time without the tripod.
I was using a Canon 24-105mm lens with internal stabilization. This allowed to drop the shutter speed and handhold the camera. With a normal lens, I probably wouldn’t have been able to let loose of the tripod.
The whole time, that little kitten was still attached to me.
I felt bad when it came time to leave. I’m sure the little thing started having separation anxiety as it saw me drive off.
Hopefully, I’ll get to see my little friend again next year, because this is definitely a place I’d like to revisit. (Hint, Hint)
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