Main Pit at Ruggles Mine
Aug, 2013Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in the "Main Pit" area of Ruggles Mine in Grafton NH. I was there with my family for just a fun day trip. Ruggles mine is an open pit mineral mine that was in operation from the beginning of the 1800's until around 1960. It was opened to the public in 1963 as a tourist attraction, and there are some 70ish different minerals that you can hand mine, and carry out. It's a really interesting place!Time
A lot of how, what or when I shoot is driven by circumstance, and this was no different. Being on a family trip, priority one was spending time with the family....so once they were sufficiently settled into what they were doing and really didn't want me interrupting anymore is when I had time to wander and shoot! That ended up being around 3:30 in the afternoon for this shot.Lighting
It was very bright, being the middle of the afternoon in August, and I do remember sort of feeling like the contrast was going to be to much to deal with in post while I was shooting. I exposed for the sky here, and it reallly worked out perfectly.Equipment
This was shot with a Sony a57 and the 18-55mm Kit lens. No other equipment was used for his shot.Inspiration
Just the scale of the place. It's pretty amazing that this giant hole in a mountain is tucked away up here and, really, not that many people know about it. My family and I take a LOT of little mini-trips, so much of what I do photographically is simply to document certain aspects of those trips. In this shot I was really trying to capture the scale of the main pit.Editing
Yes, all the post for this was done in Lightroom 4. The biggest adjustments that I made were to the contrast and the shadows. I pulled the shadows as far up as I could to make sure that I could get the detail and the people along the left of the frame. I also really wanted to pop that big beautiful blue sky right out!In my camera bag
This is becoming a growing list! I really probably ought to start to scale it back. but here goes: Sony a57 SLT 18-55mm f3.5 Kit lens 75-300mm f4.5 50mm f1.8 prime Extra camera battery HVL-F43AM Sony External Flash 8aa batteries for flash Bounce Card 12" multi surface reflector Extra Memory Cards (More than I'll ever need in a day) Polarizing Filter 3 Circular ND Filters. (.03, .06, .09) Cleaning cloth for lenses Wireless shutter remote Corded timer remote w/aaa bateries and one of those little air bulb cleaners. I do also carry some non-camera gear, because I bring my camera bag hiking with my kids often, so I keep a couple different versions of pocket knife and a small multi-tool with pliers on it in the bag as well. It doesn't go in the bag, but I also bring my Tripod MOST of the time now to.Feedback
The best advise I can give is to be patient. If it's at all possible, take your time. Compose your shots purposefully. Try several similar, but different composition's of the same scene. You may surprise yourself when you get back to post...and it really helps to get your creative thought process going. If you're not feeling overly confident about having got the shot you're looking for.....try several different exposure settings to. Now with Digital, it doesn't COST anything to screw some shots up....and you'll learn more.
