Scale, Fiddletown, California, 2008 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Four: The Workplace -- essence of a culture > Scale, Fiddletown, California, 2008

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18-MAY-2008

Scale, Fiddletown, California, 2008

During California’s Gold Rush, many miners came to Fiddletown to buy their supplies. This scale, made in England, could possibly have been used by these miners to weigh gold bearing rocks. While rusty, it still bears some of the green paint that brightened a workplace. I moved close to reveal texture and color by spot-metering on the brightest point and letting the shadows add a sense of dimension.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/500s f/7.1 at 22.9mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		22-Jun-2008 02:10
Thank, Corey, for visiting this gallery. I am glad you found this example useful -- in such lovely light as this, a very simple subject like an old scale can be made into a memorably expressive image.

Guest		21-Jun-2008 23:39
Excellent composition and light. A relatively simple subject classically portrayed. Well done.

Phil Douglis		08-Jun-2008 06:12
That's the purpose of such images, Christian -- story telling is certainly a form of both expression and communication. See my gallery devoted entirely to story-telling pictures athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/story_telling Thanks for your comment.

Guest		07-Jun-2008 21:23
This one really tells us a story....light, shadows and shapness of the details...Perfect !

Phil Douglis		04-Jun-2008 19:55
Thanks, Baine, for recognizing the role that light and shadow plays here. It adds dimension, warmth, and as you note, vitality, to the image.

Guest		04-Jun-2008 11:11
Great eye for light; the shadows & backlighting really give life to the rusty ole subject

Phil Douglis		28-May-2008 21:10
You make an excellent point, Cyndy -- photographs of objects, if made in an expressive manner, can trigger thoughts in the minds of its viewers that can bring the past, and all of its people and stories, to life again.

Phil Douglis		28-May-2008 20:20
Thanks, Chris, Rusty, zyziza, and laine82, for your comments. It is wonderful to find that an old scale can draw such attention. With this image, I've tried to demonstrate the principle that it's not WHAT we shoot that is the most important factor in expressive photography. Rather, it's WHY and HOW we shoot it that really expresses the idea. In this case, it is the scale of the scale (pun intended), those rusty details that both Chris and Rusty mention, and the deep shadows and old colors of time itself that make the image speak.

Guest		28-May-2008 20:18
Remarkable lighting to reveal the textures and detail. A lovely object from the past; just think of all the hands that touched it and the stories behind those lives...

laine82		28-May-2008 19:58
Drawn here by Steve Morris's link...another great shot of important historical pieces.

zyziza		28-May-2008 14:50
Aaaaaaaa, here You are...! Very good haevy metal work!!! V

russellt		28-May-2008 14:13
I don't know of anyone making such music out of blazing sunlight, and old rusted... well I won't say junk. I recall walking thru downtown phoenix junkyards, on the verge of heat stroke, where it was impossible to evaluate anything on an lcd, and your returning with such graceful mellow images...

Chris Sofopoulos		28-May-2008 08:06
It looks so huge! It's like a big mouth ready to eat:) I like these rusty details.

Phil Douglis		27-May-2008 20:53
The internet is an amazing place -- I post an image I made in Fiddletown, California, of a 19th century English scale, and within hours after doing so, viewers in England are adding bits of context that makes the image all that more fascinating. Thanks so much, Steve, for letting us know this scale was manufactured just down the road from where you live in the UK. Your comment inspired me to do some internet research of my own. I learned that Henry Pooley & Son was the biggest manufacturer of weighing machines in its time. They were often used in quarries to weigh rock. H. Pooley & Son has since been absorbed by a competitor, W&T. Avery. I also found a Wikipedia item on the Soho Foundry, and learned that its gates were originally made by Henry Pooley & Son about 1840 for the Liverpool Sailors Home (see article on them athttp://www.liverpoolmonuments.co.uk/gates/pooley12.html ) and that the Avery and Pooley Foundries were amalgamated in 1931. (Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soho_Foundry) So the company that made this scale was apparently a foundry as well as a scale maker. Thanks for your comment, Steve.

Steve Morris		27-May-2008 19:24
This was made just down the road from me Phil - a beautifully elegant set of scales!! The dramatic lighting from the left shows the details of the markings so well. The rust and green textures are very revealed!!! It definitely looks like paint I agree with Tim. Sadly I can't seem to find out anything about the manufacturers on the Internet!! +++V

Phil Douglis		27-May-2008 19:11
Wonderful point, Tim. The California Gold Rush drew miners from all over the world. The fact that this scale was made in England does not surprise me. The industrial revolution had already started in Europe, and its technology was state of the art at the time. American technology was still in its infancy.

Tim May		27-May-2008 17:57
I think it paint - because of the chip below the word pool. You also capture here the internationality of the Gold Rush. Not only did equipment come for other countries, also many people did.

Phil Douglis		27-May-2008 16:54
Thank you, Mary, for your kind words and for researching the manufacturer. I would agree that the manufacturer was H. Pooley and Son. And thanks, too, for noting the Royal Warrant. This scale was obviously a high tech instrument in its time.

Mary Bowles		27-May-2008 10:10
A lovely, crunchy image of some high-tech equipment from long ago. (The old song called "Any Old Iron" comes to mind.) Excellent composition and focal point.

Phil Douglis		26-May-2008 23:23
Good point, Dan. I did not examine the scale. I photographed it from a distance. It looked like paint to me, but then again it could also be some form of algae, lichen, or oxidation that is creating the green coloration. I'd like to think that we are looking at traces of the original paint that once graced this scale.

Dan Chusid		26-May-2008 22:56
Are you sure that's paint on there Phil? I was thinking maybe it was algae that had dried and hardened.

Phil Douglis		26-May-2008 22:00
Thanks, Sofia. I agree -- if this scale could speak, it would have quite a tale to tell.

Guest		26-May-2008 21:08
Great Workplace object, it can tell many stories... V

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