The Caboose

My wife and I were back in Jeffersonville for another of my son's classes.  In my last post, I wrote about how we found this really cool, vintage Argus C-3 rangefinder camera at a local antique shop. Well for this trip, I decided I would take my Canon 60D and get some pictures of the downtown area. Jeffersonville is a quaint, little town on the border of Indiana and Kentucky.  Jeffersonville sits right on the Ohio River and you can see Louisville just to the south. After we dropped my son off for his class, my wife and I grabbed some breakfast at Adrienne & Co. Bakery and Cafe.  For anyone in the Midwest, if you're ever in or around the Louisville area, make a stop at Adrienne's.  As you can see from the picture below, I couldn't wait to take a bite before snapping a picture!  We both enjoyed their freshly baked donuts and even took a piece of the pumpkin cheesecake home to enjoy later.  

Blueberry Donut & Chocolate Long John

After enjoying our coffee and donuts, we headed out on our photo walk.  For this trip, I only took my Canon 50mm/f1.8 lens.  I wanted to travel light and this is by far my lightest lens.  Because this is a prime lens, I knew it would challenge me to think a little bit more about the shots I was getting, too. As we got closer to the Ohio River, we came across this little red caboose.  The caboose is parked next to Preservation Station.  The caboose really caught my eye for a couple of reasons.  First, it's not typical to see a caboose parked in or around homes and shops.  Second, its red color just popped out against the cold, gray sky.  

Jeffersonville Caboose

All editing for this photo was done in Adobe Lightroom.  Some cropping was done to straighten the composition and I used a Lightroom preset called "Sharpen - Scenic".  I love what it did for the color of the caboose!  This preset is part of a Lightroom preset package from Improve Photography that I was able to get on their Black Friday deal.  These presets are awesome!  I heard about these presets from the Improve Photography Podcast that I've been listening to for the past few months.  If you haven't heard of Improve Photography, I would definitely recommend that you check out their website and podcast.  The guys that contribute to the site and podcast are a wealth of information.  From listening to the podcasts, I've been inspired to try some new things with my photography, to shoot more, and to do more blogging in 2016!

Have you set any goals for the new year?  I'd love to hear what they are!  Comment and share below!

The Brick

My family and I were recently in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where my son was taking a class. Just to pass some time, my wife and I decided to walk around the downtown area of Jeffersonville.  We came across an antique store called Sugar Maple Antiques & Gifts.  While we were looking around, my wife called me over and was excited about something she had found.  She had found a vintage camera, complete with a leather case and neck strap.  Although the leather case was in a bit of disrepair, the camera was in really good condition.  I looked the camera over and even tested the shutter and it seemed to work just fine, so I decided to buy it.  I figured for $25, even if it doesn't take pictures, it would make a pretty cool conversation piece!

Leather case 

C-3 with 50mm f3.5 lens
     

Film speed dial
    

C-3 from the top

Inside the C-3

After I got home that evening, I began researching everything I could about the camera.  According to Wikipedia, "The Argus C3 was a low-priced rangefinder camera mass-produced from 1939 to 1966 by Argus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA."  The Wikipedia article also noted that the C-3 is commonly known as "The Brick".  I soon figured out why...it's heavy!  As I kept digging, I found another resource where I was able to identify the specific model of my camera and the year it was most likely manufactured. The website, Argus Collectors Group, is a great repository of information about all things Argus cameras!  Based on the model number, which is found inside the back of the camera, this camera was produced in 1948.  As you can see from the above pictures, it's in really good shape for being 67 years old!

Even though the camera is in pretty good shape, it still needs to be cleaned up a bit on the inside.  I was able to find some YouTube videos that will walk me through how to safely clean the camera and get it working.  I'm excited to try and shoot a couple of rolls of film with it and see how it works!  I'll post some of the pictures (if they turn out!) and share how things went.

Does anybody else like antique stores?  What's your coolest find?  I'd love to hear your feedback, so feel free to leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

Spring Flowers

I believe spring has finally sprung in Indiana!  It seemed like winter seemed to hang on for an extra long time this year, so when the warm weather finally arrived, it was definitely a welcome change.  Although, as I write this post, the temperature outside is in the 40's today...so maybe spring hasn't quite sprung all the way!  Oh well, at least it's better than snow on the ground and temperatures in the 20's.

Spring brings many things.  In addition to the warmer weather, spring also brings the green grass, planting the garden, mowing the grass, as well as baseball practices and games.  School is almost done and summer vacation is right around the corner.  Everything is new and alive.  The possibilities seem endless!

Spring also brings blossoms on the trees.  In our neighborhood, all of the houses have ornamental pear trees planted in the front yard.  These trees can grow to heights of anywhere between 49-66 feet, and they produce beautiful white flowers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrus_calleryana).  These flowers make the trees look almost completely white, with just a few small bits of green foliage showing through.

These flowers are only out for a short amount of time before the spring winds and rain make them fall like snow from the trees.  This leaves a fairly small window of opportunity to capture the beauty of these little white flowers; however, I was able to snap a few quick pictures before they were completely gone.  I swapped out my zoom lens for a Canon 50mm/f1.8 lens and decided to get a few shots.  I wanted to isolate the flowers as the focal point.  The bokeh turned out nicely and the light was just right to capture that warm, spring feeling.  Very little editing was done to this one.  Adobe Lightroom was used to adjust the tone curve and bump up the clarity and vibrance.  Other than that, this is what the RAW image looked like straight out of the camera.

I hope that wherever you are, you are able to get out and enjoy the spring weather this weekend.  Although it's cooler today, it sure beats snow!

I also wanted to say, 'Happy Mother's Day' to my Mom, my wife, and all of the other Moms out there!  Thank you for all you do and enjoy your special day!