Uncle Jonesy's Slides

My mom's side of the family had our annual gathering in the Chattanooga area. A fun day of food, fellowship, swimming, and honor was had by all, but one of the most enjoyable moments took place in the evening when we gathered in my cousin's living room for an old fashioned slide show with some of the hundreds of slides that my Uncle Jonesy took over nearly a forty year period of time. We focused on the slides of family, and the joy of seeing childhood or teenage photographs of many of us in the room was pure joy and elicited much laughter. My brother, Kelley, and I took turns operating the vintage Argus projector, just as we did when we were kids. After showing a number of trays, I announced that the slideshow must come to an end as we had to go, and their was a collective groan of disappointment in the room.

Earlier in the day my brother, who had brought the entire collection of slides, two projectors, screen, and projector table, asked if I would take possession of the collection for awhile, as he and his wife were getting ready to move to a new house.

I agreed, and now the collection is in the upstairs bedroom/office in my house. Whenever I see it, I am so thankful that Jonsey took the time, effort, and expense to create a tangible history of our family and his travels. It’s a treasure.

Obviously, there is a lot of photography here, and my brother and I are making plans to systematically scan every slide and make it available for viewing in one handy site. More on that later.

Since you are reading this blog, I will assume that photography is something in which you have some level of interest. I believe that we photographers have a calling to capture and preserve life as it happens by showing up with a camera and using it with an eye toward the future. Somewhere down the line, there will be those who think of you and be very grateful for what you have down with your camera. Families make history. It’s up to us to capture it.

New Home for Carter Dog

For about seven years now, my wife and I have been happy grandparents to a granddog, whose name is Darlin.’ My oldest daughter, Megan, recused her from a Nashville shelter when Darlin’ was eight months old, and she has been a much-loved member of our family ever since. She’s a great dog and truly loves her mother and her G-Mommy and G-Daddy. We cherish every visit she makes at our house.

This spring, Megan noticed that her next-door neighbors were keeping a dog all day long outside in a crate much to small. Megan was heartbroken by seeing the dog day after day in such conditions and eventually decided to act. So, one day she gathered up some cash, knocked on the door of the house, and offered to buy the dog. The neighbors accepted Megan’s offer, and suddenly we became grandparents to Carter Dog.

We got to meet Carter shortly afterward and found him to be a large, happy, and rambunctious, ten month old puppy who loved to play and be loved. In fact, he pretty much demanded total attention constantly. I was hard not to like him, but he was a lot of dog.

Now looking for a flash bracket.

We soon learned that Megan had planned to take a month long cross country trip, eventually visiting our other daughter, Amber, in Seattle, and that we would be needed to keep the granddogs while she traveled. My wife, Debbie, and I are both school teachers, and summer is usually when we get the hell out of town. However, we agreed to help out, knowing that we also could do some much needed home repairs while we kept the granddogs. However, it soon was clear that Carter was not a perfect fit, as he needed lots of space, especially outdoors with a fence. It was Megan’s original intention to find Carter a new home eventually, but naturally, she had become attached to this goofy dog. After talking it over with Megan, we decided to try to rehome Carter.

I created a Facebook post and some Craigslist ads with photos I had shot using my newly-acquired Rolleicord Vb. I really want to get handy with this camera that is so different from all the SLR’s I have used in my life. I used some Kodak Ektar 100 and processesed it at home using the Unicolor C-41 kit from the Film Photography Project Store. For the indoor shots, I used  a Vivitar 252 flash unit, which has its own PC cord attached. I didn’t have a way of mounting the flash to the Rolleicord, so I simply handheld both the camera and the flash, not knowing at all what the results would be. Actually, I was really pleased with the results, and I am looking for a flash bracket for the Rolleicord.

We had Carter for over a month before we took him to his new home. Wouldn’t you know it? I found that I, too, had fallen for this lovable goofball. I think of him every day and truly miss him. However, I know he is happy in his new home and being loved by the couple who are his new parents.

I urge you to take photos of your pets, or your grown children’s pets. You will never regret having them as treasured reminders of these furry family members.

Happy 4th of July from Uncle Jonesy's Cameras!

American Independence Day is special for many reasons beyond the historical event it celebrates,  but for me, it will always be associated with the intersection of family and picnic. This is because July 4th was “Camp Dixie Day,” my family's yearly celebration of, well, family. I was blessed to have a large extended family on my mother's side, and while we saw a lot of them often, due to the fact that most of the lived in the Chattanooga area, July 4th was a day my brother, Kelley, and I looked forward to all year. The whole family would gather at a picnic facility owned by and named after Dixie Yarns where my Aunt Claire worked as a secretary. There would be swimming, miniature golf, fried chicken/macaroni and cheese/baked beans (killer combo), and general good times.

My great uncle, Charles, with grandson. 

Of course, no Camp Dixie Day would be complete without Uncle Jonesy taking lots of snapshots with his camera. He used an Argus Autronic always with slide film. A lot of the time he shot Kodachrome, but because he worked for 3M in Chattanooga, he also shot a lot of Scotch Chrome, an E-6 slide film that was made by Ferrania. It wasn’t the best film to begin with, and now decades later,  the colors have faded considerably. The Kodachrome slides, however, looks just as good today as they did the day we first viewed them

I don’t have to tell you how important and cherished these photographs are to both my remaining family members and those who have come along since. Uncle Jonesy used his camera to preserve our favorite family memories on film, and in doing so, fostered a love of photography that remains with me today. As I journey into new stages of my life, I now see this is how loved ones remain with us even when they are no longer with us.

My wife, Debbie, and our two daughters, along with (L to R) Uncle Jonesy,
Aunt Claire, and Ruth and John, my grandparents, July 4, 1996 at
Camp Dixie. 

So please, get out your camera today and capture your family’s moments. And while you are at it, take some time to show some children how your camera works and pass on your passion for photography. Years later, some kid will remember you for it.