Blow-Me-Down Mill, A Welcome Photo Assignment

Blow-Me-Down Mill

Blow-Me-Down Mill in Cornish, New Hampshire is a lovely place to photograph, but what’s with the name?

I love an assignment so when Cam Mirisola, Senior Editor for New Hampshire To-Do Magazine emailed me last week about a project

Aspet House, Saint Gaudens,
Cornish, NH

for an up-coming edition, I got excited. Cam was looking for images of Cornish New Hampshire, specifically, any showing the beautiful Saint Gaudens Historic Site in the spring. I was a little disappointed that I already had pictures of the site which seemed to satisfy her request from a couple of years ago, but she also mentioned a location that was entirely new to me. At once I knew I had my assignment.
Saint Gaudens Retreat Blog

Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge
The next day I got up early to search Cornish for the intriguingly named “Blow-Me-Down Mill”. Of course I first Goggled the mill and learned that it was now part of the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site. In the morning I cruised up Route 12a along the Connecticut

Cornish-Winsor Bridge, Mount Ascutney

River stopping at the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge. The bridge was completed in 1866 and spans the Connecticut between Cornish New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont. At 449 feet, it was the longest covered bridge in the country, until 2008 when a new concrete piered bridge was opened in Ohio. Really, 2008, Concrete, Ohio? Should that count? Anyway, the Cornish-Windsor Bridge still has the longest single span that carries vehicular traffic. On Monday morning, the sky was overcast, but I always find it difficult to pass by without grabbing a few shots with Mount Ascutney in the background.

The Cornish Art Colony
My initial directions to the mill were unnecessarily vague and sent me

Cornish Colony & Mill

off along the back roads of Cornish. After a lovely exploration, I eventually circled around and found the site, right on Route 12a, just few hundred yards north of the main entrance to Saint Gaudens. There had been a mill on this site dating back to the 1820’s, but the current structure was built on the direction of Charles Beaman in 1891. Beaman, a wealthy lawyer from New York City, had built his summer retreat in Cornish in the 1880’s and was instrumental in enticing the famous sculptor August Saint-Gaudens to build his summer home and studios nearby. Saint Gaudens was one
of the founders of the Cornish Art Colony. The Colony was renowned as a seasonal gathering place for a remarkably varied group of prominent artists of the time, including painters, sculptors, writers and actors. The Blow-Me-Down Mill was used by the community as a grist mill until its close in 1920, Now, only the restored building remains, along with a nice mill pond/wet land and a water fall.

Working the Mill
The day remained mostly overcast with only early hints of spring foliage, but the area provided a wealth of interesting angles and I had a great time exploring the various options. My first challenge was to find a place to park the car that wouldn’t intrude on the pictures.  Despite my efforts, I still had to relocate as I moved around the site. The waterfall had good flow, and with the overcast sky, I was able to get a nice soft effect with only my polarizer and f22, but I also pulled out my variable neutral density filter to extend the exposure over several second. The compositional challenge was to find angles that included a nice balance of the mill building and the falls. From the side the building was rather flat and one dimensional so I moved down stream for better
perspective. During the summer and fall with the trees in full foliage views up the brook to the mill house would be obstructed, but on this

Four Second Exposure with Variable ND Filter

day, I was able to get a clearer look. The scene taken from the Stone
Bridge offered an especially nice perspective on the whole site. Along the edge of the brook, I used my trusty Mini Bungee Cords to pull back branches and, unlike most times, I actually remembered to retrieve the cords when I was done. In most compositions, I tried to minimize the dull sky, but I was able to bring out some of the texture in post using highlight 
adjustments.

Downstream with Bungee Assist

Stone Bridge/Tunnel

Stone 'Bridge"/Tunnel HDR

Downstream from the mill is an impressive stone bridge that, with the movement of the road, is now more of a tunnel. With the bright outside and dark tunnel, it was an excellent chance to apply a little HDR. In my picture I used 7 images. It was interesting how the small water drains lit up along the passage. They looked rather strange, but I decided to leave them in.




Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge

Blow-Me-Dow Bridge over
Blow-Me Down Brook

My “assignment “ complete, I went on to explore the Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge, which, not surprisingly crosses the Blow-Me-Down
Brook. Seriously?!  Is everything "Blow-Me Down" in Cornish?  The bridge itself was not especially unique, but then I move off to the side and discovered that it spans a spectacular little gorge("Blow-Me-Down Gorge I presume). I could have spent much more time here, but I had to get back to town. 

All-in-all it was a productive morning given the weather and the scant early spring foliage. As always I have this place recorded in my brain and in my GPS. I will return. Whether or not something gets in New Hampshire To-Do, I still have to thank Cam for a great tip and a good excuse to get away from the endless spring chores at home.



 
Oh, and the name. From what I read Saint Gaudens himself picked “Blow-Me-Down” as a joke. I’m not sure about that, but it is as good an explanation as any.

 Blow-Me-Down Mill:
 43° 29' 49.806" N
 72° 22' 32.544" W