Stretton Water Mill

I just happened upon this place by chance on my way home from a

fishing trip. The Mill is first documented in 1351 when Griffin & Elena

Warrenne were granted the Manor of Stretton. Parts of the Mill today

date back to 1630, (you can still see the original oak frame inside). In

1770 there were a number of changes, the building had its original

thatched roof replaced with slate, the walls were clad with local

sandstone and a second wheel was added. Best of all though it all still

works! The image is of the rear of the mill, which looks a whole lot

better then the front in my opinion, maybe I'll post a photo of the fron

just for comparison. Your thoughts and comments are always

appreciated. Thank You.

Lovely work! Warm regards, Ilkka

Very beautiful and stunning image. Impressive post processing work with all the details and textures coming to life due to your carefull handling of the tonemapping and afterwork. The colors looks great and the image has a very pleasant lighting in it as the sky . The reflections in the water really adds to the total impression as your background story of the Stretton Water Mill. Wonderful presentaion Alf. Take good care and all the best to you and tour family from Jannica.

To me this is an example of a nice photo that becomes less because of too much post processing. To me it seems the sky doesn't belong here and the saturation could be less (for me:-)

Its a very striking image, the reflection in mill pool is super. The compostion is very good. I would agee the sky is over processed and less would be more. But still a pleasure to view.

Alf just a quick one. the Shot Outfall was really perfect. There you got the processing and photography perfect. Here I feel the sky is just a touch to much. The mill house and pool reflection is perfect.

Very admirable composition,tonality and reflection...I really like your processing method.

Regards(Bobby).

Know the mill well and you have selected the best view possible across the mill pond. Excellent framing with lovely detail and reflections. I acknowledge the comments about the sky but it's one of my great failings, so i can't be critical. Great shot.

Regards.........John

Very beautiful, excellent work as always.

Alberto

Stunning shot Alf.

ILKKA

Many thanks for your very kind comments, much appreciated!

Kind Regards

Alf

JANNICA

I am really pleased you liked it, particularly as you have a wealth of knowledge concerning HDR images. Your help and encouragement has been invaluable to me, my sincere thanks.

Hope you had a great weekend with your "little friend"

Warm Regards

Your good friend in the UK

Alf

JAN

Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate your visit. HDR is not to eveyones taste, but a bland flat HDR in my opinion is a waste of time, this image has had no increase in saturation, though there may have been some increase indirectly through increasing the contrast, however I find this step vital in bringing the image alive, all a matter of taste though. But thank you for your thoughts

Kind Regards

Alf

CARL

Many thanks for your kind words and feedback I really do appreciate it. In all honesty I did struggle with the sky on this one, it was very dark to one side and I have tried to even ot out, the sun was behind me and to the right, so the mill house was illuminated, but the sky was very dark, I might try blending the HDR with a normal jpeg exposed for the sky and see how that turns out. Thanks again Carl!

Kind Regards

Alf

BOBBY

Many thanks my dear friend! Your words of encouragement are really appreciated!

Warm Regards

Alf

JOHN

Many thanks for your kind comments and observations , I did have to cheat and trespass on the golf course to get the perspective right, but then you probably knew that : - )

I did struggle with the sky though, thanks again John

Take Care

Alf

ALBERTO

Many thanks for your very kind comments, I really appreciate your visit!

Warm Regards

Alf

BIRTE

Thank You! Much appreciated!

Kind Regards

Alf

Alf,

  Wow.....this is stunning with wonderful details & reflection.  Thanks for sharing this wonderful story. Take care, Patsy

hi Alf !

Beautifully balanced in composition.

Amazing detail and colours.

Warm regards,

Isabelle

Really a wonderful landscape, my friend!

A nice image, a bit like an old postcard. The HDR brings out the textures making this work look closer to a painting than a (traditional) photograph. Because old painters knew about local adaptation while cameras and photography prior to tome mapping did not.

Regards, Tibi

A gorgeous scene, with outstanding p/p work.....Regards

PATSY

I am really pleased you enjoyed the little bit of history and the image Patsy, your thoughts and comments are really appreciated.

Kind Regards

Alf

ISABELLE

Many thanks for your visit and very kind words, very much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Alf

MAURIZIO

Thank you for stopping by and for your very kind comments

Warm Regards

Alf

TIBI

A very interesting and flattering anaolgy, this is the kind of effect that I had hoped to achieve, many thanks for your thoughts and kind comments, much appreciated.

KEITH

I am honoured, as I am great admirer of your PP work, you made my day!

Cheers Mate!

Regards

Alf

Very nice work!

Hi Alf,

I've decided that HDR is a lot like rock and roll. Not everyone likes it. I think you know which side of that fence I stand on. I think this is superb. Great detail and contrast. I really looked hard for some digital artifacts and couldn't come up with any. What a great find and a bonus to have a cloudy day! Very nice job with this one Alf.  Till later-Jim

DR DIDI

Many thanks for your visit and kind comments.

Kind Regards

Alf

JIM

You are so right, HDR is not everyones cup of tea, the question is, would the people that dislike HDR's, only decide they didn't like an image after they discover it is HDR?, I think maybe so, in some cases at least. My own views are simple, the end justifies the means, if it looks good, go for it. I'm really pleased you liked this one Jim, Sincere Thanks for your imput!

Kind Regards

Alf

HDR isn't my cup of tea but when the image works with it and it's well done like this is, I think it's great - very nice work here.

P.S. I still don't know exactly what people mean by HDR though - to me, I thought it was just 3 exposures of a scene with a high dynamic range of brightness levels combined into 1 where the result was an exposure that was more even but to everyone else, it seems to refer to a "look" such as this image exhibits.

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind comments and imput. You are right HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is a combination of several images 3, 5, 7 even 9 are possible at measured exposure levels, the RAW files or Tiff files are blended in a programme (I use photomatix) and a rather flat image is produced that can then be edited in another part of the programme, known as "Tone Mapping", and finaly completed in photo shop. There are a number of different HDR "looks" that can be achieved, painterly, natural, grunge etc, though I suspect the type of look, that most  people refer to when they mention "HDR look" is the quite obvious painterly type, though it must be emphasised that there are many HDR photographs that look so natural, it's difficult to tell that they are HDR. I hope that clarifies the subject to some degree Dale, Thanks again

Kind Regards

Alf

Beautiful picture and reflection , fantastic place for photos . Regards Dan

Many thanks for your visit and positive feedback, much appreciated!

Kind Regards

Alf

Eye catching, impressive final result. Guess all is said above... Remains for me to congratulate you for your work.   Compliments!