Belt Drive

2501-05hdrpsnx 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Machinery fascinates me. I'm sure this fascination was fostered by a couple of factors: Dad had a farm equipment dealership when I was growing up and I have been a farmer all my life, so I have always been around machines. I'm naturally mechanically inclined having designed and built a number of pieces of farm equipment including a pulling tractor. So throw in some old equipment to tie together my interests of machines, photography and history and I'm in a fun place. The horse era was during my Grandfathers time, which is the waning era these photos represent. Keep in mind that at this time, much of the economy, including agriculture and transportation, was still horse powered. But not for long! In a few short decades, life had drastically changed.

These images capture cutting edge technology of the day. Almost all of the machinery on the top floor of the old Silk Mill is powered by single electric motor. I would wager all of the machinery on this floor was originally powered by that single motor. A few rows of machines on one end of the factory floor appears to be newer and each line was powered by it's own, smaller electric motor. More on that in a future post. The power was transmitted down the length of the building via two drive lines attached to the ceiling: One drive line powered the rows of machines on each side of the main, center isle. The direction of rotation had to be reversed from one side to the other, which was the purpose of the figure eight belt in the top photo. The large pulleys and belts seen here and used to transmit power was typical of the early 1900's. Farm equipment from the same era used similar shafts, pulleys, belts and bearings. This type of power transmission was a carry-over from steam powered engines days. It was how things were done in that rapidly changing era of the Industrial Age prior to WWI. When the Silk Mill addition was built around WWII, the power trains had evolved and I will post an example of later.

Good Morning

3660-66hdrpsnx 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

We had fog every morning last week- an unusual occurrence. I took this on my way to work one morning as the sun was starting to break through the fog.

Forsythia

_DSC3562_DxOpssa 72dpi(c), originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Continuing to explore the painterly look. My grandfather gave me a cutting when I was perhaps 7 or 8 years old and I've been fond of forsythia ever since. The reflection in the window is what drew me to this image.

Spring Tree Color

_DSC3595_DxOpsplcepnx 72dpi(c), originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

For about a week every spring, just before the green leaves emerge, the local trees are full of color. Some years much more so than in the fall, which I find fascinating. I took this image yesterday morning at the local pond just as the fog was lifting.

Due to a light breeze the water was rippled and the trees were moving so I resorted to dialing up the Vari-n-duo neutral density filter to attain a several second exposure to smooth the reflection in the water out a bit. The exposure was very flat due to the fog, so I went Topaz Adjust for correction. For the fluttery tree parts I painted in a low opacity of Snap Art Impasto, a tip I picked up from John Barclay. A few NIK filters through in along the way. Unfortunately, I have an older 70-200 f2.8 Sigma that is a bit soft and the Blue Heron was not as sharp as hoped for- maybe he moved a bit during the long exposure. So I finished off with a bit of diffusion from Red Giant Photo Looks to compensate for the softness. Lot of moves in the "darkroom", but it was a fun exercise.

Green Conduit

2515-19hdrpsplnx 72dpi(c), originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Another fav from the silk mill. I was drawn by the "S" curves in the conduit. It seems that level of craftsmanship is nearly lost these days. It is fun to imagine what the place looked like 50 years ago before the paint cracked and fell off.

Donna's Flowers

IMG_0230, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

The early spring flowers are coming and going in a hurry this year! Snapped this little scene of my wife's flowers last evening when I got home after work. Capture- iPhone4s:6x6 Process- AutoPainter, Painteresque, Snapseed, Blender, Photoforge2, Impression.

Textured Blossom

_DSC3410_DxOps 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

The blossoms in the church parking lot were at their peak last Sunday. What better opportunity to work my Lensbaby and try some texture overlays? This my first tentative attempt. Looks like plenty of adventure ahead.