About 45 minutes north of Portland, after a scenic drive through the country, you will find the
Cedar Creek Grist Mill. Built in 1876, the mill was restored to working condition by
The Friends of the Cedar Creek Grist Mill in 1989 and is now on the
National Register of Historic Places. It is a great place for photos with a rushing river, scenic foliage, and a covered bridge. I visited in the early spring and it was still wet and overcast. The clouds help make the light better for photos as the mill is only open mid afternoon on the weekends.
This has been added to
the list of places I bring guests when they visit me. I plan on bring my 2-year-old niece here when she visits this summer. There is just enough to see for her attention span but not so much that she will get bored. I would say plan on spending about an hour there. If you are going to be focusing on photographing the area you might want to plan a little more time.
A Working Museum
One of the coolest things about this place is the fact that it is a functional mill. The mill itself is open on the weekends and I suggest arriving right with it opens. The volunteers give a talk about the history and then demonstrate the mill in action. The Mill is water powered, turning a grinding stone as grain falls in through the hopper. Out the bottom comes flour which visitors can take home. Want pancakes made with fresh milled flour? This is the place to come. I would suggest giving a donation to help pay for the grain and upkeep of the mill.
In addition to the grist mill, the structure also housed a blacksmith, shingle mill, and a machine shop. The ceiling has a series of belts and wheels transferring the power of water to the machines that would have been in the shop. These present great opportunities for close up shots or video of the moving wheels.
Photographing the Interior
“If your Photographs aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”
I used my 50mm f1.4 for a lot of these interior shots. Take
Robert Capa’s advice: “If your photographs aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” I follow this for a lot of my interior shots in general. I used my iPhone to get the above wider shot of the interior. Often when I am shooting with my 50mm, I will use my iPhone for wider shots instead of constantly switching lenses. It’s about composition, not the equipment you use. Your camera and lens are tools, the art comes from the photographer. My 50mm allows me to get very shallow depth of field while my iPhone is the camera I always have with me and the camera on it is a pretty damn good one.
Talk a walk outside
If the mill itself isn’t open, there are still plenty of photo opportunities. Across the river from the mill is a short walking path giving you some great views of the mill, the covered bridge, and the river. There are some picnic tables and lots of shade. The paths are not very long so I wouldn’t venture here for a hike. Along the path are great locations to photograph the mill or the river. I suggest bringing a tripod (as you should always do with landscape photography). I do tend to shoot a lot handheld, but to get those cool water smoothing affects you need a longer shutter speed. The tripod will also help you keep your ISO low to avoid digital noise.
Cedar Creek Grist Mill from
Match Bradford on
Vimeo.
Outside, I use a 18-55 kit lens for wider shots. I also have a 24-120 that is my main walk around lens that I used for some of these photos as well. I set my shutter speed to 4/5 to get the smoothing effect on the water, any longer gets too blurred for my taste.
Getting to the Grist Mill
From the drive to the mill, you can take in how beautiful the area is. There or lots of open pastures and picturesque barns. When I make a drive like this, I often think it would be nice to have a house with lots of land in a place like this. I know my dogs would love to have so much space to run around. In the spring, you might spot a new calf with their mother and possibly a colt if you are lucky. Flowers are abundant as they are everywhere in the pacific northwest int he spring. Unfortunately, I enjoy living closer to the city too much to move to the country and the commute would be hell.
Cedar Creek Grist Mill is located in Woodland which is just north of Vancouver, WA. From Portland you can take I-5 north and exit on 503. Cell phone reception can drop off pretty quickly so you probably want to
download a map of the area. There is a small parking area on the side of the road and there isn’t much traffic.
As of the time of this writing, the mill’s hours are Saturdays 1:00 to 4:00 and Sundays 2:00 to 4:00, but I suggest checking out the
website for the most accurate information. Also worth checking out are the
special events. Each month from May to October, there is a special event at the Mill. From fresh churned butter to apple cider pressing, it’s worth taking a look at what’s happening.
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One of the coolest things about this place is the fact that it is a functional mill. The mill itself is open on the weekends and I suggest arriving right with it opens. The volunteers give a talk about the history and then demonstrate the mill in action. The Mill is water powered, turning a grinding stone as grain falls in through the hopper. Out the bottom comes flour which visitors can take home. Want pancakes made with fresh milled flour? This is the place to come. I would suggest giving a donation to help pay for the grain and upkeep of the mill.
In addition to the grist mill, the structure also housed a blacksmith, shingle mill, and a machine shop. The ceiling has a series of belts and wheels transferring the power of water to the machines that would have been in the shop. These present great opportunities for close up shots or video of the moving wheels.
If the mill itself isn’t open, there are still plenty of photo opportunities. Across the river from the mill is a short walking path giving you some great views of the mill, the covered bridge, and the river. There are some picnic tables and lots of shade. The paths are not very long so I wouldn’t venture here for a hike. Along the path are great locations to photograph the mill or the river. I suggest bringing a tripod (as you should always do with landscape photography). I do tend to shoot a lot handheld, but to get those cool water smoothing affects you need a longer shutter speed. The tripod will also help you keep your ISO low to avoid digital noise.
Cedar Creek Grist Mill from Match Bradford on Vimeo.
Outside, I use a 18-55 kit lens for wider shots. I also have a 24-120 that is my main walk around lens that I used for some of these photos as well. I set my shutter speed to 4/5 to get the smoothing effect on the water, any longer gets too blurred for my taste.
