Argust 15th, 2015

All photographs this page © 2015 by the respective photographers.

Please click images to view full resolution file as submitted by the photographer.

Earl English

Left Image - Argus C3
Film: GAF Hypan-X (Probably from 170's) shot @ ISO 100. Processed in PC-Glycol 1+50 for 7"30" @ 25º.

Right Image - Argus CR-1
Film: Arista.edu Ultra 100 shot @ ISO 100. Processed in PC-Glycol 1+50 for 5"30" @ 25º.

I shot the GAF film hoping that a known fungus problem on the film would not show too badly. The first 7 frames are so badly pocked that they are not useful. Fortunately this frame and 2 others are not so bad. Amazing thing is there are any images at all on the 45 year old film.

Scanned on Epson Perfection 4990 Photo.

Heinz Link

Taken last Sat Argust 15th, in San Francisco California.

Images made with Argus C3, at f8 - f11 / 1/300th on Arista Premium 400 and developed in Accufine 6min.
Scanned on Epson V700 @ 3500dpi.

Dave Thomas

For Argus Day, we continued where we left off last year by running some 28 year old Kodak Panatomic-X through a now 58 year old Argus C-3. We spooled a couple of twenty exposure rolls from a 100 foot bulk roll, expiration date: December 1988. The Colebrookdale Railroad dates back to just after the Civil War, built to serve various iron making operations along the Manatawny and Ironstone Creeks north of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Later it became part of the Reading Railroad and ran from the Reading Schuylkill Valley mainline at Pottstown to somewhere north of Boyertown. A non-profit group is now operating tour excursions on the line. Last year for Argus Day, Ye Olde Photographer explored some of the southern (Pottstown) end of the line. This year he went to the northern terminus in Boyertown.

Picture #1 is a loading crane in the remains of a small rail yard in the center of Boyertown. The rail yard is now the northern end of the tourist railroad. Ye Olde Photographer did a series on the crane in the past, when it was in a deliciously rusty state offering all sorts of tones and textures. Now with the new tourist operation, the crane was cleaned up and painted so it looks new. That was no doubt needed for its preservation, but Yours Truly liked the rusty version. The crane goes back to the 1860s, as does the railroad line, and was a product of the Phoenix Iron Company in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, once operating not too far from this spot.

Picture #2 was a serendipitous happening. Checking the railroad's web page, we discovered they just received delivery of a steam locomotive, and luckily it was accessible. It is quite some distance from running any tours, but is believed to have its serious mechanical parts in solid shape. We offer here a shot of a Westinghouse Air Brake Company steam driven air compressor, one of two on each side of the smokebox. The 0-6-0 side tank switching locomotive was built in Pittsburgh by H. K. Porter as its number 7462. That was in 1942, one of hundreds of this design built for the US Army Transportation Corps. It later served the E. J. Lavino Company in Sheridan, Pennsylvania where Ye Olde photographer had the pleasure of hearing a whistle exchange between it (or perhaps its sister) while riding by on a Reading Railroad "Iron Horse Ramble" in the early 1960s, an excursion pulled by two 400 ton Reading T-1 class 4-8-4s -- whoooie, the good ol' days!

In addition to these shots, a modest selection of the day's results, along with a few cellphone color shots, may be seen in the photographer's PBase gallery at http://www.pbase.com/dw_thomas/argust15th2015. The gallery includes links to info on the railroad and the locomotive project. Ye Olde Photographer had intended to do more, but, perhaps distracted by chatting passers by, he managed to bump the end of the roll loose from the spool. So what felt like rewound film wasn't! This was noted when the back was opened and film appeared -- whoops! So not having a changing bag at hand, it wasn't even possible to swap to a new roll without more damage. Fortunately that incident only cost about four or five frames at the end of the roll. That's actually part of the fun; every year is an adventure.

Edmund J. Kowalski

Image 1: "Rescue Squad," Argus STL-1000 (speed dial on front) with GAF 1.9 / 50, loaded with Fuji 200 print film. The High Ridge Fire and Rescue Squad were finishing up an exercise run at Big River Access, Rockford Beach and Dam.

Image 2: "Rockford Dam," postwar Argus A2B, loaded with out of date Kodak Gold 200 from my freezer. This was once the site of a grist mill on Big River. The mill structure has been gone since the 1960's. Dam shows new damage from recent high water volume. Swimmers beware, this can be a dangerous place, as well as scenic.

More of my Argus Day images can be seen in a gallery at:
http://www.pbase.com/edkowalski/argust15

Joe Smith

Both photos taken on Campebello Island New Brunswick.

1st photo of Head Harbour Wharf. Argus CR3 Kodak Gold 400 ISO film, 250th sec at f16.

2nd photo taken at Liberty Point. f11 at 250th sec. Film developed In Tetenal C41 kit.

Steven Tryon

Argus C3, 35mm lens, amber filter
Ilford Delta 400
Negative scan worked up in the Gimp

Richard Heather

We were on vacation on the 15 so we were lucky to be in one of the most scenic areas of the country. The Owens Valley runs north-South to the east of the Sierra Nevada main range. The apex of the range, Mt Whitney, tallest peak in the lower 49, sits just west of Lone Pine. It was very hot and the light was not great but we had a nice sunset. We started the day with a hot climb to find famous but uncharted petroglyph site. We had some tips and Google Earth to help but we still had to climb around the rocks to find it.

Camera C44r 35mm lens Chinese "Shanghai" iso 100 film. It is a little grainy but not bad.

Herb Ellis

Photo #1 Tomato Plant by Herb Ellis
Argust 15th gave us thunderstorms interrupted by sunshine. I was just able to shoot my stalwart tomato plant this morning before the rain came again. Argus C44r with 50mm Cintagon lens, Fuji 200 color negative film.

Photo #2 Action Shot by Herb Ellis
In the evening of argust 15th we had a birthday party for a dear friend. For this action shot of her blowing out her candles I used the Argus C44r with the 50mm cintagon lens, a Vivitar 283 flash (from the 1970's) in a bounce configuration and the camera synch set on the x setting. Shot at 1/125 at f5.6 on Fuji 200 color negative film

Wesley Furr

Argust 15th turned out to be the same date as an open house of a 200 year old home in the small town of Bridgewater, VA. The owner has lived there since she was a child in the 1940's, and was also a 5th grade teacher of the photographer.

Later in the day, the family had a picnic supper and photo outing to a local park, complete with a Poet Tree and swinging bridge.

Other photos taken can be seen at http://www.megley.com/photos/argus/argust15

Photos taken with a colormatic C3 on 200 speed Fuji film, processed by the sole remaining film processing store in town, and negatives scanned with a Nikon LS-2000 film scanner.

Bruce MacLellan

The topiary sheep were shot with an Argus Super Seventy Five on Foma 100 in front of the McGill Library in Burnaby. Really underexposed. I had to fight in the darkroom to get a useable print.

The shot of the beach is at Cates Park in North Vancouver BC. Camera was a STL1000.

Vaughn Martens

#1 - The Dennis O. Sullivan in port. A reproduction of a classic Great Lakes Schooner. Built by hand in Milwaukee a few years ago and operated under the auspices of the Milwaukee Museum. It was part of a Scouting program sponsored by the Racine Yacht Club.

#2 - Art fence in Up Town Racine, part of a revitalization program in Racine.

Adrian Gray

Figured I'd get my C3 Matchmatic (with a glass eyeball in the flash gun instead of a bulb, very Harry Potter) out again - I last contributed to Argust the 6th.

This is the Cropredy Festival in England, the view from our tent, and someone's business their canal boat.

Ron Pollack

Pic #1
Subject: Penn Station (Pittsburgh, PA) Built 1898–1903
Camera: Argus 40
Film: Kodak Professional Portra 160
Lens: 75mm
f-Stop: 22
Speed: 1/150

Pic #2
Subject: Penn Station (Pittsburgh, PA) Built 1898–1903
Camera: Argus C-3 (Seventh Variant)
Film: Kodak Professional BW400CN
Lens: 35mm
f-Stop: 16
Speed: 1/300

Bob Helling

The vase shot was taken with my Argus Super 75. Ilford FP4+ film developed in Ilfosol 3 and scanned on an Epson 4490 scanner.

Westbound Freight at the Salina, KS depot taken with my Argus C3. Ilford FP4+ developed in Ilfosol 3 and scanned on an Epson 4490 scanner.

Tom Hoglund

Photo 1: Taken with Argus C3 Golden Shield, 50mm Cintar lens, US Navy Blue Angels flying over Navy Pier during Chicago Air & Water Show

Photo 2: Taken with Argus C3 Golden Shield, 100mm Sandmar lens, helicopter warming up on Launchpad of US Coast Guard station during Chicago Air & Water Show

Angie Barnickle

These were taken with my Argus C3 with Cintar lens - 50mm/f8 - using Kodak TMax 100 asa film.

Brad Bull

The first is of The Barbell Guy. The statue sits on top of the York Barbell Company in York, PA. He often rotates, but this day he was stopped in this position. I was kind of glad I didn't have to worry about motion since I had never shot with the Super Seventy Five before. Reportedly he is modeled after Olympic weightlifter Norbert Shemansky's body, but not his face.

The second is of the beautiful Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge. I took the shot from a river access on the Wrightsville, PA side of the Susquehanna River.

James M. Surprenant and Ellen M. Cosgrove

Argust 15th found us out in Paso Robles, California to attend a friend's wedding. Paso Robles is wine country and the wedding took place on a hilltop vineyard at sunset - an absolutely lovely setting. We brought along our trusty Argus C3 camera loaded with Kodak Gold ISO 100 color print film.

Photo 1 (James): The Avalon Motel on Spring Street in downtown Paso Robles was a very popular and classy place to stay back in the 40's and 50's. It originally featured an outdoor pool. Prior to 1945 it was known as Bennet's Motel. In the 1950s a restaurant was added and it was renamed the Fentress Motel and Coffee Shop.

Photo 2 (James): The studios and offices of broadcast radio station KPRL are located on 32d street in Paso Robles. KPRL broadcasts a 1.0 kW signal at 1230 kHz on the AM dial and local programming on this news-sports-talk station features a popular call in swapper program called the Country Store every Saturday morning. The station also broadcasts the local Paso Robles Bearcat football games and is the local affiliate for San Francisco 49ers professional football.

Photo 3 (Ellen): This still life composition presents some of the fabulous spread of wines, cheeses and fruits our generous hosts provided during the cocktail hour at the wedding.

Photo 4 (Ellen): The hilltop view from the vineyard where the wedding was held presented a 360 degree vista of vineyards and mountains lying beyond. This view looking east as sunset approached was one such scenic view.

Robert Dungan

Farmers Market
Film: 120 ISO 100 Arista.EDU Ultra (generic Foma)
120 film hand rolled onto 620 spool
Filter: Green
Camera: Argus Seventy-five
Developed Caffenol–CM(rs)
Scanned Epson V600 Edited in Adobe Elements 10

Perry Bain

The photo of the trolley was taken at the Seashore trolley museum in Kennebunkport, Maine with an Argus Golden Shield C3 and Kodak Portra 160 film.

The lighthouse photo is the Nubble Light in York, Maine, taken with an Argoflex E with Kodak Portra 160 film.

Sam Hotton

For all photographs we used the following camera: 1962 Argus C3, Serial number 1922202551.

Film used was Lucky SHD 100, rated at 100 ASA.

Film was processed in Rodinal 1 + 50 for 12 minutes at 20 degrees Celsius.

I chose to use the Lucky SHD 100 film because it has virtually no anti-hallation backing and with the highly polished pressure plate and lovely Argus lens, one can obtain an old-style look to the negative.

1. The Sharptown Firemen's Carnival dates back to 1926. It is famous for oyster fritters and old-time kiddie rides. This photograph shows the line of folks waiting for their oyster sandwiches and the Ferris wheel in the foreground. Exposure was EV 14.

2.This photograph is of my beautiful Mairead on the Ocean City (Md.) boardwalk. I am enjoying a lovely ocean breeze with my sweet lady.

Megan Pomeroy

For all photographs we used the following camera: 1962 Argus C3, Serial number 1922202551.

Film used was Lucky SHD 100, rated at 100 ASA.

Film was processed in Rodinal 1 + 50 for 12 minutes at 20 degrees Celsius.

We chose to use the Lucky SHD 100 film because it has virtually no anti-hallation backing and with the highly polished pressure plate and lovely Argus lens, one can obtain an old-style look to the negative.

1. It seemed appropriate to take a picture of Sam, who grew up on a farm, next to a Farmall Super M tractor at the Wicomico County (Md.) Farm and Home Show. His father used a Farmall Super M at Willowbrook Farms when Sam was a boy. I set up the shot so he would look completely of the era, with his work clothes on and the barn in the background for authenticity. 2015 - or 1952? You decide.

2. The evening light was fading, and I thought these two tractors looked so beautiful with the fence and trees. I set the f-stop to 3.5 and the shutter to B, and held my breath for the count of two. Here is the result!

Richard Chiriboga

Argust 15 Julie and I went to visit The Old North Bridge in Concord MA, where the revolution started. I used an Argus C33 with 200ASA film and the sunny 16 method... The first is a picture of the Monument placed at the spot where the British troops stood. The second shot is of the bridge itself... not the original, of course.... It is a very moving spot.

Ron DeBlock

I used an Argus C3 that my Father purchased new in 1956. It hadn't been used in over 30 years, and the shutter was not working correctly when I got it out of the closet a week before Argust 15th. Fortunately, a Google search revealed lots of good repair info so I was able to get it working again.

Dad was excited to see me using it after all these years. I only shot one roll of Fuji Superia 400 Extra because I didn't know how well the camera would work. Next year I'll shot more!

Here are the two photos that my wife liked best.

Photo 1: Miata and Mercedes. My son's 1990 Mazda Miata with my brother's 1996 Mercedes Benz 300D in the background.

Photo 2: Boats at the Lake. There are a lot of colorful canoes, kayaks and small boats on this rack. A wide angle lens to include more of them.

I created a Flicker album with a few more at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ron_deblock/albums/72157657819026820

Rich Reeder

#1: Taken 8.15.2015 with a 1941ish Argus C3 #03-49533. 1/50 sec, f/6.7. My 2 year old grand-daughter contemplating her world while cooling off on a hot summer day in Arizona. Ilford FP4+ film, ASA 125, developed with Kodak HC-110.

#2: Taken 8.15.2015 with a 1959ish Argus Matchmatic C3 #1829356767. 1/60 sec, f/4. Same grand-daughter taking a swig from the cool garden hose on that hot summer Arizona afternoon. Kodak Gold 100 processed by Tempe Camera.