Lime Kiln Burn at the Avondale Preserve

In early November I had the opportunity to tour an antique house that was undergoing restoration.  In order to keep the restoration authentic, the builders had to make plaster in a manner true to 1700s.  Apparently, colonials made plaster by burning huge piles of oyster shells, then mixing the cooked shells with water and sand.  The restorers collected about one ton of oysters shells from bars over the summer.  Unfortunately, the oysters had already been burning for a couple hours by the time I got there.

Seeing as how the subject I was photographing was on fire, I figured this would be a good opportunity to experiment with the exposure settings on my camera. 

Standing from about ten feet away, the heat coming off this flaming heap was intense.

This is my favorite picture taken from that day.  I love that the tool marks in the beams are visible.   It really shows just how serious these historians are about authentic restoration.  The omnidirectional position of the wooden beams are almost disorienting and invoke ideas of the works' of M C Escher