Posted on Oct.01, 2011, under Michigan

(Nikon D700, 28-300mm at 28mm, ISO 200, Exposure 1/125 @ f/16)

This is a shot taken recently in Chelsea, Michigan home to Chelsea Milling, makers of Jiffy Mix and also the home town of Jeff Daniels, whose family owns Chelsea Lumber Company. The main subject in this shot is the Clocktower, which was built by the Glazier Stove Company which once operated the worlds largest oil stove factory on the site. The Clocktower building was once the tallest structure in Washtenaw County. The tower served the dual purpose of holding a 20,000 gallon (76,000 liter) water tank for fires and for keeping time. While the Clocktower no longer serves as a water tower, but the old water tank is still encased within the tower just below the clock faces. The building just to the right of the clocktower is the Welfare Building built by the Glazier Stove Company. The building was built for the welfare of the employees of the Glazier Stove Company. According to a report in the Chelsea Standard on November 2, 1905: “This building will be given over entirely to the employes (sic) of the factory. It will contain reading rooms, supplied with the best current literature, swimming pool, shower baths, separate lockers for the men’s clothes and there will also be a fine, thoroughly equipped gymnasium in charge of a competent instructor.” Additional information about this site can be found here

I’ve taken shots of this part of Chelsea before but I really liked what the clouds were doing that day so I decided to get another shot. Out of camera, the image seemed a bit soft, so I used Topaz Detail to bring out more details. I pumped up the ‘large’ details just to the point where halos started to appear and then I backed it off. I then took the image in to Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro 4 and played around with some of the options in that application. I ended up using one of their ‘recipies’ called Soft Landscape which did a nice job adding a bit of vignette and making some other subtle changes. I finished things off by sharpening.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions.

Copyright ©2011 James W. Howe – All rights reserved

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