CLIFTON MILLS HOLIDAY LIGHT DISPLAY - December 30, 2021
I didn't know about it. One evening I was researching old mills in Ohio and came across it -- the historic Clifton Mill in Clifton, OH. It just happened to be a week before Christmas and their website advertised the holiday light display they put on every year (and it boasted as one of the best holiday light displays in the US). Their address showed it was 3.5 hours away. It was fortuitous I had the next day off, so I figured a road trip was in order.
The plan was to arrive an hour or so early before the show started, to get some shots of the mill with some daylight. I had never been to this mill before, so I didn't know what to expect as far as layout and if I was able to fly my drone (it turns out - no). It was disappointing to arrive early and have to wait until the "doors opened" to the property. I was first in line, so I figured I could get some images of the mill before the crowds arrived. It turned out there wasn't a good straight-on shot of the mill, because of the tall wooden fences and the covered bridge we had to walk through to get to the mill. This is the best straight-on shot there was.
I also walked to the front door of the mill to capture a photo.
Once I got a layout of the place, I moved towards the back of the mill to get a good vantage point of the show. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't long until the show started. All of the lights came on in one fell swoop, and the crowds oohed and ahhed. Not too soon after, the music started and the lights started to blink on and off to the harmony. I waited until the show ended, when all of the lights came back on again. Now, it was time to photograph. The first thing I wanted to do is to captured a panorama of the lights which included the covered bridge to the left and the mill on the right.
I also captured some other views of the mill.
After capturing what I wanted, I moved on to the covered bridge, even with a fence between the bridge and the mill I decided to still shoot a panorama.
Even though it was a 7-hour round trip from home, it was still worth it. I would like to photograph it one day in the spring or fall.
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