Eckley Miners' Village -- coal breaker
Eckley was a "patch town" in the anthracite coal-mining region of eastern Pennsylvania. Such towns were built to house miners in remote mining villages during the mid-1800s. Travel was difficult, so the miners essentially needed to rent the duplex houses from the coal companies and buy goods at the company store. There is evidence of much change in some other patch towns, but the buildings in Eckley look much like they must have long ago before the mining operations were modernized and the need for so many laborers diminished. Although a few people still live there, the community is now under the administration of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. In 1968, Paramount used the location for filming The Molly Maguires, starring Sean Connery. Up until the age of 14, when they would have gone to work in the mines, children worked in the bottom of the coal breakers, throwing away waste rock and helping to sort the coal by size. This breaker and a few other buildings in town were built -- probably to replace ones that were no longer standing -- by Paramount for the movie.
Nikon D3S, ISO 400, f/22, nine-exposure HDR at 1 EV intervals, zoom lens at 24mm
processing highlights
- Topaz Simplify -- saved watercolor preset
- Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved watercolor wash preset, Hard Light blend mode
- Nik Color Efex -- Tonal Contrast
- Fractalius -- three black & white layers; Multiply, Divide, Multiply blend modes
- Snap Art Line Art -- two black & white layers; Multiply and Divide with inverse masks
- Simplify -- saved black & white Edges preset, Multiply
- Alien Skin Exposure -- mostly sepia-toning and vignetting, 55% opacity
