Weekend Update 6/24/12

[rickb773]

New Jersey.

Is it open to the public?
Where exactly?
What time?

[Hiroe]

Is it open to the public?
Where exactly?
What time?

Oh yes, pertinent details:

Merchantville 2012 Car & Bike Show
Saturday, July 14th, 2012 | Rain Date July 21st, 2012
Registration 12:00pm - 3:00pm | Festivities begin at 3:00pm (Further C&B details here: http://www.merchantvillecarshow.net/ )

We'll be open from Noon - 8~9:00pm at the club itself, to the public at large. However, the church is apparently also having a "fast wedding" that day, from 3-4pm, and has asked that we keep the lot clear for that.

Our exact address:
Cherry Valley Model Railroad Club
Grace Church Undercroft
7 E. Maple Ave, Merchantville NJ 08109


--Drew

[VonRyan]

Drew: Looks like your keeping busier than i am.
DKS: Stunning the under-used modelling section of my brain and did well to poison my Internet-usage part of the brain... perhaps i might begin to make some progress/developments in my new venture into Nn3...
MD: Those snow-sheds are mouthwatering... more so than a quality bacon-cheesburger...
Ed: The Blue fan within me is unconscious as a result of what looks well beyond promising. I look forward to see what develops.

As for my own exploits... other than emptying my wallet on more reefers and 30 NJ International switch-machines...
New Jersey Southern (N-Trak) recently expanded into the mystical realm of T-Trak and i took it upon myself to scenic one of the smaller modules to keep myself busy (that lasted only a day and maybe an hour). I guess you could say i officially started on sunday but the real work began on monday and was officially declared over on tuesday. The photographs of which are forthcoming (within the next 1/2 hour of this post appearing within the confines of this thread) Stand by for... whatever i can be called since i've not come up with anything thus far...

-Cody F.

[VonRyan]

Some photographs (the rest are on my facebook, so for anyone interested they can search Cody Wayne Fisher and the chap with the native american head-dress on is me)


An overall shot

Someone's tail end rolling through

The rusted out Chevy truck with a tree growing through it

The truck and the pulled up right-of way

A closing shot with a good view of the old rail line decaying among the weeds and overgrowth

[pwnj]

Wow, nice one VR!

[VonRyan]

Thanks!

Taking photographs of anything model related is the most labor intensive task i've experienced thus far, plus heat-creating. I'm debating whether or not to start using my grandmother's camera light from the 60s that she used with her Brownie 8mm movie camera.
(yes, we still have the original films, and VHS versions. and i do own a working 8mm projector)

The shots i put up here are the most acceptable, some more than others... i think it is time my mother invested in a new camera...

-Cody F.

[DKS]

For some time now I have been using warm white LED lighting with great success. Undercabinet strips make nice bright diffuse light, while high-intensity spotlights make for pretty natural-looking daylight, all with virtually no heat. I've set the camera to tungsted white balance and have yet to find reason to change it.

[VonRyan]

  ...all my camera does is take pictures...  and hardly that... 

[pwnj]

What make/model camera do you have, VR?  Perhaps there are more features than you know.

[bc6]

Heres a pic of my newish Intermodal/Distribution center.

[VonRyan]

What make/model camera do you have, VR?  Perhaps there are more features than you know.

Its a Kodak "Easy Share" model, 7.1mp, it takes normal and a bunch of fancy type photos which all those don't make a difference, literally...

-Cody F.

[Scottl]

I have not touched or looked at trains for six weeks, but returning to this Weekend Update thread is particularly inspiring.  Tremendous work by so many...

[peteski]

Its a Kodak "Easy Share" model, 7.1mp, it takes normal and a bunch of fancy type photos which all those don't make a difference, literally...

-Cody F.

Are you trying to say that the problem is behind the camera? 
Seriously, with some basic knowledge of how a camera works (aperture, shutter time, etc.), lighting and composition anybody should be able to take some decent photos. Unless you're "all thumbs" and blind.    Or just unwilling to learn the basics....

[VonRyan]

Well it takes pictures and sometimes the thing doesn't want to properly focus before i push the button further to take the picture... It doesn't adjust its shutter time, just goes click and the blurr or somewhat discernible picture shows up on the screen. And the pictures never look the same as the subject matter... I'd probably need the flash from a thermonuclear bomb for that to happen... The day my mother replaces it with an actual camera who's pictures actually look the same as what the camera is pointing at i'm going to take the piece of junk camera she has now and drop it in the deleware.... Yes any pictures i take of models are that horrible......... i'd rather not show any examples either.............

-Cody F.

[pwnj]

You'd be pretty surprised what kinds of photos you can get with the non-SLR cameras.  You might have to try a trick or two to make it happen, but if you've got time, it's not like you have to pay for film developing or anything, so what do you have to lose?  For example, none of these photos were taken using an SLR camera:











If you can tell me the exact model number of your camera (for example, Easy Share C743, etc.), I can see about giving you some pointers.