Author: Gage Caudell

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Faith

Up until our move last year to Fort Wayne we would make the trip from Cleveland to Illinois a couple times a year to visit family. We always took a shortcut on US Highway 20 that would allows us get on I-69 in Angola, IN. I must have never paid much attention to my surroundings because on each of these trips we would pass this old white church that set off the main road about 1/4 of a mile. One afternoon, while driving back to Cleveland after preparing for our move to Fort Wayne, I noticed the large white church. I pulled over and liked its simple architecture and its weathered look.

Recently, the caretakers found me and commented on a picture I took of Powers Church on flickr (they said it was one of their favorites). Anyway, I never realized the importance of this church to the local community until I read a few articles about it. It was built around 1875 for less than $2000 by one of the original settlers in the area, the Powers family. At one time it set unused for over 20 years.

If you want to read more information about the church, you can find great articles in the USA Today and the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Also, there is information on wikipedia.

Below are a few pictures I took, including the picture the caretakers liked.

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Red Door

Last fall a friend of mine asked for me to take a few family pics of them at a local park.  As I was leaving I came upon a large red barn.  The barn was sitting on a 7 foot stone block base.  The doors were weathered and really stood out because of the surrounding stone.  Here is one of those doors.

P.S.  Recently, I got invited to google+, a new social networking site by google.  I think most would agree there is a lot of potential.  You can see more about google+ here.  Also, you can find my google profile here.
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Abandoned Crossing

If you haven’t noticed I have an interest in railroad tracks. Probably, most photographers do. I think a lot of it has to do with the rust, age, and symmetry of these structures. They often, can make a boring landscape interesting. I also like taking pics of railroad signs. This one was taken on a small dirt road. As you can probably tell, it was not often used therefore there was no need to change the sign.

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Our Future @ 4 weeks

One of my first posts on this site was titled “Our Future”.  Another photographer recommended trying to take the same picture monthly (eventually putting clothes on her) so that we can watch her grow.  Definitely, at one month she has filled out, in comparison to her original pic.  She has a lot of room to grow before she even comes close to filling the couch cushion, let alone the length of our couch.

Click on the picture to see a larger version and also see a comparison shot.

Have a Happy 4th of July weekend everybody!!!

 

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Looking Onward

A couple years ago my family and I drove to Vermilion, OH. It’s a small town that has a marina where the Vermilion River connects to Lake Erie. There are many local shops and restaurants (one of my favorite restaurants Chez Francois is located there) that bring tourists to the area. On the lake, there is a small lighthouse that is now a historical monument next to the Inland Seas Maritime Museum. My nephew was visiting from out of town and his mother thought this would be a good place to take some photographs. As you can see from the picture it was a beautiful day with low lying clouds. The museum sits to the southwest of the lighthouse and casted a shadow over the south side of it. There was a ledge that stuck out from the lighthouse about 3 feet above the ground. My nephew was able to stand on it while I shot from underneath him. I used a wide angle lens which allowed for me to capture the sky and entire lighthouse. Shooting people with wide angle lenses is not always good because of the distortion but in this case I thought it added a little drama to the scene.

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“Bokeh”

If you’re not familiar with Leica, you probably are not aware that they are well known for shooting at low apertures and creating bokeh.  Bokeh is the blur seen in photography or more specifically the quality of the blur.  Each Leica lens is known for there unique bokeh.  Yes, you will find this with almost all other cameras and lenses but many don’t have the quality seen in Leica lenses.  I’ve shot with many Canon dSLR’s and low aperture lenses and have never been impressed as much as I am with the Leica m-mount lenses.

If you would like to read more about “bokeh” I’ll forward you to Steve Huff’s website for an article written by Ashwin Rao’s titled “What is Bokeh?”

Below are a few examples of shots taken with my Leica 50mm Summilux and 35mm Summicron.

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Leica M9-P

As many of you know Leica announced an updated version of the Leica M9 yesterday, the M9-P.  No internal changes, only visual changes to the body consisting of removal of the front “red dot” and “Leica” logo and placement of an engraved logo on top, a leatherette grip, and a new sapphire anti-reflective lcd cover. Definitely gives the camera a more “retro” and “stealthy” look.

Amazon.com  (black or chrome) and B&H Photo now have it listed and for pre-order.

Below are a few pics and video.

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Indiana Sunset

Living in Cleveland, OH for 5 years I got accustomed to grey skies. It seemed as if we would have one blue sky in the winter maybe 1 or 2 times a month. When I moved to Fort Wayne, I was hoping to see more blue skies and fortunately I do but still not as often as I would like (I’m sure others agree in Northeast Indiana). One evening in January, while driving home from work we had one of those rare events. I was driving on the interstate staring at the sun and noticed 2 trees in a field with nothing around them. I immediately took the next exit and drove into the field where they were located. Fortunately, I was able to catch one of these rare Indiana sunsets.

P.S. This is a good reason why you should always carry your camera equipment, you never know when you will find a good picture opportunity.

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