My family lives on 100 acres in Central Ontario. Our farmhouse is circa 1888 and the remnants of the original windmill are seen here. My husband has looked for blades to complete this structure and make it usable again. It is not easy to find working blades and we are still looking. At one time there was a shallow well beneath this structure which supplied hogs and cattle with fresh water. Patience is needed with respect to rebuilding the past. At some point we will be able to rebuild this once important structure of past farming life. Windmills are becoming more common structures with respect to renewable energy and my husband hopes that when we are able to rebuild our windmill, we will be able to use it for some electrical applications for our property.
Windmill in black and white, Copyright 2014, Teresa Coppens
Windmill in black and white, Copyright 2014, Teresa Coppens
This picture was taken today. The winds were high and had there been blades they would have spun furiously. I used Pixlr, and under Adjustment, used the color lookup tool. I chose two black and white options which gave very different results. I like them both. In the first, the windmill stands out in stark black against grey sky. The second photo enhances the windmill in white, giving an electrical appearance to the clouds. I thought that was quite prophetic considering the use of windmills in electrical generation.
In addition to being part of Photo101, this post is also part the Phoneography and Non-SLR Digital Devices Photo Challenge. Click to find the rules. Check out other entries in this week’s Nature challenge.
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I love the old windmills, so I really enjoyed your photos. Good luck with yours!
janet
Thank you. We’ve love them too and really hope to get this one back to its former glory.
I think I like the second one better, can’t really say why. I hope you can find the proper blades for your windmill. Do you have anyone who could just make them for you? Do you have the plans/design? It sounds like an interesting project. My dad made some fantastic designs for windmills a few years back (long time ago actually), but the city refused to let him ever build them (they wouldn’t have effected anyone else’s property). UGH! Living in the city with unreasonable ‘authorities’ is not really where I want to be, but so hard to find a way out.
My husband has considerable welding talent but up until recently commitments to the activities of three boys and renovations required for a century home have kept us busy. My husband does have plans for a unique set of blades. It will happen. And yes I too prefer a lot of the freedoms the country has to offer!
The processing on the second image really brings out your subject. works really well in monochrome. Please let’s bring back the windmills. I’m an advocate for the environment, and wish the landscape was dotted with more of this simple technology. I do hope that you can rebuild that precious resource. Happy Photo Challenge.
As our kids grow further to adulthood we find ourselves with increasingly more time. I am sure my husband with an abundance of welding talent will be able to retrofit blades if he cannot buy a replacement set.
Nice one and a beautiful link between the past and the present world of sustainability.
Yes it certainly is. Individuals, I believe need to do more to add renewable energy sources to their own properties if possible. Every home or small neighborhood is unique with respect to renewables it can tap into. Thanks for commenting on my photo.
You are most welcome. Absolutely right. We need to reduce carbon foot prints individually and collectively to protect the environment and reduce energy cost on the long-run