Smile ! Say's This Perry Fire Department Photographer
Jim Duell started taking pictures way back in 1972 after becoming an active member of the Perry Fire Department in Perry, NY. Perry is a medium size town with a population of about 4500 people. The number of alarms that we get each year averages around 100 - 110 and now answering natural gas orders in town has brought the numbers up. We, a couple years back were divided into the Citizens Chemical Company and the City Protective Company and the Training Company for new members coming in would learn to use all the different tools, hoses, ladders, and much more. After they went about a year of training they were voted into the company they signed up with as an active member. Now within the past year the two companies have been disbanded and we are now all one department. Jim Duell is the departments Fire Photographer for the department and does all the pictures of all espects of the department. Jim started out using a small Kodak Instamatic 30 camera that took 110 cartridges for prints. Each cartridge has 24 pictures in an ASA of 100 , 400 which is the two most popular film in this style. For the first 5 years this is all Jim used. In 1976 Jim purchased a Yashica 35mm Camera which was a first in this size. This was used with a 50mm manual focus lens that came with the camera. After a 3 year period of using this camera there was a time to upgrade. Making most every alarm the camera's settings were not the best to follow. In May of 1979 Jim started purchasing Minolta Brand camera's. Minolta had different size lenses and was a very easy camera to operate. Jim took about 500 to 600 pictures a year after getting this new camera. From then on the total number of pictures went up each year doing more and more picture taking. This Minolta XG-7 came with a 50mm lens and a case for protection. Jim got a new 200X Flash Unit to work with this camera. Soon after a couple of years using this he got a new Minolta XG-A 35mm body and a Kiron 100 - 200 mm with a 1.5 Match Mate extention lens. He also purchased a Spiratone 400 - 800 mm Lens with a 2" Extention tube to shoot the moon. This was an aussome lens. Came with a special T-Ring just for Minolta Brand Camera's. Jim did a Eclipes of the sun using a dark glass out of his dad's welding googles and put it over the lens and took a picture of the eclipse about once every 20 minutes till it was done. He also used it for a Eclipse of the Moon a while later. Really now starting to take a lot of pictures. In around the late 80's Jim purchased another Minolta X-700 Camera Body and a 28mm Wide Angle Lens that came with this body. He also purchased a new Sunpac 522 Automatic Flash Unit with a Remote Sensor Unit that hooks where the camera flash on the camera goes and a PC cord and attaches to the flash unit and the remote sensor. A large bracket holds everything in one bundled package. Works swell, especally at night when good shots are needed. In 1993 the fire department purchased a new Minolta package. Using grant monies available from the Arson Bureau of our department Jim went and got a Minolta 5xi Auto Focus Camera with a 35 - 70mm 4.5 macro zoom lens and a 3500xi Flash Unit, A Hard Plastic Case with a Foam insert for storage of all the parts, Also he got a Portrait Card, Closeup Card, Automatic Depth Control Card, Exposure Bracketing Card, Flash Bracketing Card. This all come as a package for one price. We had went to 3 different places to get quotes and ended up getting it at Image Makers in Arcade, NY. Now its time for some reat pictures !! The first time Jim used this camera was at a house fire on the corner of Route 246 and Sands Road in Perry. That night winds were at 60 to 70 mph. Jim had already done one roll of film and working on the second when the camera totally froze due to the wind. Jim's hands were about the same, using only one glove. He sat in the State Police Cruiser thawing out both his hands and the camera. What a night it was. He was sure glad that they got the extra 3 year extended warranty cause it may have been handy the first time out. It was hard getting use to a Auto Focus Camera and not having to roll the film back into the roll after completed each roll. Jim has used this camera for everything that a picture was needed. He purchased a new 100 - 300mm Telephoto AF Lens to use with this camera. After the first year he had done about 2000 pictures. This camera was the best ever. in 1990 Jim put in a darkroom in at the fire hall. He took 2 courses at BOCES in Mt. Morris, NY to be able to develop both negitives and prints in Black and White only. He can also develop color negitives In 1992 Perry had the Western New York Volunteer Firemens Assoication Convention and Jim took photos of every part of this convention and Program Book. He developed all the pictures for the book and took about 400 prints of the whole convention. Jim has usually taken at least one roll of film at each alarm that he attends. In April of each year the firemen have there Annual Banquet and dinner. There are Service Awards given out every year. Jim usually gets about 100 pictures every year. In 1997 Jim recieved his 25 year service award getting a plaque and a certificate and a Fire Department 25 year service award pin. This was a great evening and ready for 25 more. Jim has got a new job now at Kodak working 12 hour trick shifts. These consists of 4 nights of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, & Monday night from 6:30 PM to 6:30 AM each night then has Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday off Then works Days Friday, Saturday & Sundays, Then Monday Off then Tuesday Night, Wednesday Night & Thursday Night and Friday, Saturday & Sunday off then work Monday Thru Thursday Days then off till a week from Friday Night. 8 days off to recoupe. Then Start the pattern all over again. Starting in August of 1997, It took a lot of getting use to and there wasn't much time for the Fire Department. In August of 1998 Jim purchased his first computer. It was a Packard Bell with Windows 98. I had to install a CD Recorder in it and a week before Christmas I purchased my first Kodak Digital Camera 210 Plus with a 8MB Picture Card. It can hold about 300 pictures without downloading. This was great! He got a couple packages of Rechargable Batteries and already has a charger for these and can shoot a couple hundred without changing batteries. Started storing photos on Floppy Disks and in 1999 I got a Omegia 250MB Zip Drive Storage Unit for Christmas. This is a new type of photography totally new. Not use to having photos come off of a picture card into a computer and onto a floppy for storage. No running the to the store to get film or get some developed. Started having 2 weekends a month off so, Jim is starting to go to the different Fairs & Festivals around the State Of New York. Taking pictures is something that I really enjoy doing wheather it be at the scene of a fire or at a balloon festival in the other end of the state. In 2000 still working at Kodak I got a new kodak 290 digital camera with a 64 MB picture card. Now having 2 different size digital camera's and 4 different size picture cards that can hold up to 1500 photos without a download. The 64mb card in the lowest profile can hold 987 pictures. This is a great invention that came to the photography world. Spending a couple weekends a month going to all the Fairs & Festivals around New York State. Jim & Carol took about 300 - 400 digitals on a good Saturday. Now using both 35mm and digital in 2001 and spending every weekend going someplace different to get some great pictures. In 2001 Jim took a total of 5,015 pictures using both digital and 35mm prints. This was a great year for pictures. Just about every weekend was a very sunny weekend. All the rainy days came during the week days and not on the weekends. Having all these memories in albums and on the computer. He has gathered many family photos both black & white and colored. Jim has built about 25 different websites using all of his 30,000 pictures since 1972 and even some of his families black & white photos from 1948 and up. Jim being the oldest of 6 children his mother and father took lots of pictures while his 4 brothers and 1 sister while growing up. If anyone was to go to Yahoo or Netscape and typed " Jim Duell " in the search bar and a lot of Jim's sites are on the first page and so on. He has had a lot of great feedback from a lot of people who has viewed all the different sites. Keep it coming. Many of Jim's pictures contain photos of the Perry Fire Department as well as Travel Pictures such as Hot Air Balloon Festivals, County & State Fairs, Harborfests, Family, 1000 Islands & Lake George areas Lighthouses (Carol's Favorite) Large Buildings & Structures, Bridges, Railroad Depots and Trains, Clocks, Jim's Diecast Truck Collection. Jim works with a lot of different size camera's. He has all 35mm camera's that he uses when traveling to all the Fairs & Festivals through out New York State. He uses a variety of Minolta, Kiron, Spiratone, Quantaray, Focal Lenses. Size does matter when it comes to lenses. The ones He uses are: 28mm Wide Angle Lens, 50mm Lens, 28 - 105 AF 1.7 Lens, 35 - 70mm 4.5 Macro Zoom Lens, 35 - 75mm AF Lens, 28 - 90mm AF Lens, 100 - 300mm AF Tech 10 Lens, 35 - 135mm 3.5/4.5 Zoom Lens, 1.5x Match mate MC Converter Lens, Auto Teleplus 3x Converter Lens, 80 - 200mm Lens, 400 - 800mm Telephoto Lens, T-2x Converter Lens, 2" Extention Tube. Jim's Camera Bodies include: Minolta XG-7, XG-A, X-700, 2 - 5xi bodies, Maxxum 5, 450E , Freedom Vista Panorama, For Flash Units Jim has a Minolta 200x Electronic Flash Unit, Sunpak 522 Flash Unit with a Remote Sensor and a QBC-5 Quick Charger, Vivitar Auto Thyristor 550 FD Flash Unit, Minolta 3500xi Flash Unit. He carries a 52mm Polarized Filter to use on his Auto Focus Lenses. He also has many colored Glass Filters and a selection of Cokin Square Filters and Holder. Jim uses a variety of different films for all his camera's. Each camera has a different speed film in that special camera. He buys his film in 30 roll incriments. Using both Kodak & Fuji with films like Select, Super HQ, Royal Gold, Gold, Superia X-tra, Superia, Portra, Velvia, Sepria. ASA Speeds include 25, 50, 100, 160, 200, 400, 800. Also available is ASA 1600 and ASA 3200. He hasn't found any of this type yet to experiment with, so hopefully he will soon. With going to the balloon shows these colors in these balloons need truely be captured on the best film available. Some of the subtle tones of an overcast day which may be at the Oswego Harborfest or checking out different lighthouses next to a grey colored sky as a background when getting these great photos. These are also excellent films for night time photography like doing beautiful fireworks display and a lightning storm. Jim also uses Fuji Velvia 100 at those special times a day near dusk or dawn and for really beautiful soft lighting conditions. In some cases Jim will use an ASA 25 or ASA 64 by Kodak and a ASA 50 by Fuji. He doesn't do slides that often but, he uses these for sunsets and sunrises when the time is right or places like the County and State Fair's at dusk when the lights on all the rides makes a great picture. These photos really look alive when the prints come back from processing by Kodak. Doing digital photos at night is really different do to the 10 -20 seconds wait time before the next picture can be shot. Jim is looking to purchase a new Canon 10D Digital soon. In the past few months Jim has purchased an Enlarger and developing trays, and other darkroom tools to set up in his darkroom at home. This will be for making enlargements like 11"X 14" prints and larger. He has all the skills for developing negitives and printing out prints for his collection of pictures. He has a sink but, needs to be new drains and faucets hooked up before it can be used. Jim has also taken a Photography Course at Genesee Community College and a Video Photography Course at the New York State Fire Academy in Montour Falls, NY. He can use color negitives to print out Black & White Toned Pictures. The three chemicals are all mixed in brown glass gallon jugs with water and has a 3 week or so, shelf life. It is interesting how the prints are made and the negitives are developed all just with 3 chemicals and then after processed the negitives and prints are soaked in running water at about 68 to 75 degrees for best results all in total darkness. This is a hands on skill using no lights is a complete skill. Hopefully! 2004 will be a good year for pictures. With the new terminal and fast ferry coming to Rochester, NY Jim has already been to the new terminal to see what progress is being made and get some pictures. It looked like it is comming along just fine and should be ready by May 01. With the snow and high winds that has hit us this winter its amazing that so much of this new terminal has been done. While visiting Ontario Beach Park in Charlotte,NY a week ago the water on Lake Ontario was pretty rough and choppy and the temprature was a breezy 38 degrees with 30 - 40 MPH winds to the south. Weather permitting the new Breeze Cruise Ship should be in the Port of Rochester around the first part of April from Austrailia where it was built. This boat is a Monster!!! The Rochester to Toronto trips will be starting the first part of May. The one way price per person could be a .00 fee. Then another .00 to come back. Vehicals are more. While the boat is still coming from Austrialia the freight trains are still passing through Hornell where a total reconstruction of the Erie Railroad Depot has finally been completed. It took about 2 years and the inside is just magnificant. It is going to be the offices for the people at Alstrom who will be sending all of there department vice presidents world wide to have an office in this new depot. Jim has many, many pictures of all the different stages that has gone into this depot with new street lights, a newly paved Loder Street which now a museum is being put in on the west end. Jim and his mother visited the open house back in June of 2003 where area people got a tour of the finished depot. Jim used his digital camera for this tour. His mother is from Hornell and has taken the train out of this depot many times in the late 40's back and forth to beauty school in Buffalo, NY every weekend. Her father John F. Muchler of Hornell was a railroad employee so, she could ride on his pass. The Depot Foundation is looking for memoriblia from the old Erie Railroad that could be donated by people of the families of employees of the railroad. Hornell is a small city that the train passes through many times day & night from New Jersey to Ohio going through New York State. It has had a few owners since the Erie sold out to the Baltimore & Ohio back in the late 60's then in 1972 sold to Conrail then Conrail sold out to Norfolk-Southern then now the owner is CSX Railroad. Jim spends a lot of his time when in Hornell at the Erie Depot getting photos of the trains passing through or stopping and parking cars at Alstrom and picking up finished cars bound for New York City Transit Authority. Some other places to get some good pictures using both 35mm and Digital are Hot Air Balloon Shows that come to many different town's and villages through out the spring, summer & fall seasons of every year. Jim & Carol starts the ballooning season by heading south to the village of Wellsville, NY to be of the photographer at the Great Wellsville Balloon Rally which is a 3 day festival that Wellsville has every July about the third weekend starting Friday with sidewalk sales in town and a large balloon show at 6:30 PM every evening and another sunrise launch at 6:00 AM. They have around 25 to 30 balloons with more every year. A week later is the show in my hometown of Perry, NY where the Sea Serpent Festival starts on Friday and go till Sunday which includes a sunrise show at 6:00AM and a 6:00PM show each day. There are food consessions in the Village Park along with a super breakfast put on by our great volunteer fire department which Jim is a 33 year member of along with all the pictures he has done at alarms. The balloon show has about 20 balloons that are surly beautiful when they are all getting aired up for lift off on the ball diamonds. This is the last full weekend in July. Then on Labor day weekend we head for Dansville, NY for the 3 day New York State Festival Of Balloons which has over 50 brightly colored hot air balloons. They have food and arts & crafts on display all three days with a morning and evening balloon launches with some favorites like, The Purple People Eater Balloon, Smokey The Bear Balloon, Uncle Sam Balloon, Noah's Ark Balloon, Jesus Balloon, Wicked Witch Of The West Balloon along with many others. Jim usually gets over 100 photos at this festival. He uses both digital and 35mm photos. This is September 3 - 6 2004. The colors of these balloons are super, but, the best of the best balloon festivals that we attend every year is the Adirondack Balloon Festival in Queensbury, NY at the Floyd Bennett Municipal Airport. This weekend is the best if the weather cooporates. Jim & Carol has been there 5 years in a row and have had 2 bad years in 2000 and 2002 with rain and fog and cold weather. In 2003 there was toronado warnings for the Friday show. It was really windy that day but, no tornado. It was to windy for balloons to lift off so an extra show was on Sunday afternoon. On a good 3 day weekend Jim will take over 1800 pictures of the balloons and in 2003 there was a 100th Anniversary ceremonies and giant parade in Lake George to celebrate the Anniversary. This He took about 100 pictures of. The village of Lake George has just been totally revamped. The parks along the lake and the beach look supierior and a great job was done by the village workers. We also have taken the 3 hour steamship voyage down the lake and returned back. This boat was hugh. check out Jim's Webpage at jimduell.freehomepages.com and see all the great times that can be done in a 3 day weekend. We also took a climb to the top of Prospect Mountain which is 5 miles up. There was a great view from the top. You can see Glen Lake in the distance and a picture up here on a clear day is worth a thousand words. It just doesn't get any better than this for pictures. Spend a morning a few miles north heading to North Creek, NY to take a ride on the Upper Hudson River Railroad and visit the depots in North Creek and in Riverside where the train stops and while it is changing positions the passengers has about 30 minutes to walk around and get some ice cream or go down by the river. Jim got several pictures here. In the afternoon we took a trip up the length of Lake George and stopped at Fort Ticonderoga and visited the inside of the fort. This was great and we will do it again. It sure is a special weekend when you download 1800 or more pictures from 4 picture cards. Then to top it off by having 20 rolls of 35mm film developed. Some other shows around the state that we do not go to due to being to small and to far or both. These include the Coors Light Balloon Festival in Jamesville, NY, Cambridge Balloon Festival in Cambridge, NY then there is The Great Northern Catskills Balloon Festival in Greenville, NY the in Binghamton, NY is the Annual Spiedie Fest & Balloon Rally and then there is the Mid-Hudson Balloon Festival in Pouchkeepsie, NY then Sky Jam 2004 in Jamestown, NY and finally the Saratoga Balloonfest in Saratoga Springs, NY. These all are a very good place to spend a day or a whole weekend. Other than Balloon Festivals we also love to spend a whole Saturday from 9:00AM till 11:00 PM is the Oswego Harborfest in Oswego, NY which is on Lake Ontario about an hour from the City Of Rochester, NY. Here you will find lots to do and I mean lots. There are Tall Ships on display that can be boarded and toured, the U.S. Coast Guard has a large boat in the pier that can be toured. There is food and drinks every corner of the City. There is live bands playing all afternoon along with lots and lots of gorgous woman walking around and laying in their boats on the canal, a maginificat site. A small carnival is in the inner harbor for the kids. The Oswego Firemen have a Firemens Museum that is opened during the whole weekend and then there is Fort Ontario on the hill where the best view for the 10:30 Fireworks display can be seen. We also can't forget the Oswego Inner Pier Lighthouse that is Carol's favorite of everything. in 2003 Jim took about 150 35mm photos and about 50 digital pictures including the fireworks display. These were exceptional. The boats are in and out of the inner harbor. The New York State Canal System is in total operation with boats of all sizes coming up the Cayuga - Oswego Canal into Lake Ontario. This is a great city for touring. The New York State Armory has a antique sale going on during Harborfest then the county office building is a super looking building that goes back to the early 1900's.Then there is the Oswego County Courthouse that sits on the hill on Route 104 which is east of the bridge over the canal. Then on the same side before the bridge heading east is the Oswego Memorial Hospital another large building with many floors. Jim & Carol usually go and spend the Saturday touring all of the city. The spectacular fireworks draws a million people each year. This will be held on July 22, 23, 24, 25 2004. Come and have a blast. Its Worth The Drive From Anywhere. As August comes around and the first Sunday each year is the Antique Truck Historical Society Truck, Tractor, & Construction Equiptment Show at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY. Jim goes to this show every year. He gets a picture of every vehical that is entered in the show He uses his digital camera for this so his pictures can be uses for the yearly newsletter each year. There is 9 different catagories that is being judged every year. This year's show is Sunday August 01, 2004. August also brings the County & State Fairs through out the whole month. Jim & Carol only go to the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY and the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. We hit the fair around 10:00 AM and leave around 9PM in the evening. Jim enjoys taking pictures just about sundown time with all the lights and the sunset in the background. We check out all the different buildings of arts & crafts and informational events advertised in all of the buildings. Course! can't forget the hot ham sandwitches and fried dough to end the day. Other buildings include: Erie County Firemens Museum, State Police Building, New York State Energy Building. On this same line is the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. Jim likes going on the Sunday before Labor Day Weekend. Jim tries getting new styles of pictures each year we attend. Being on the same grounds and area sights don't change much over the years. On Saturday November 08, 2003 there was a total eclipse of the moon. Jim had his camera setup in the back yard on a cold but, clear night. The moon was golden brown. He used a roll of Fuji 400 film with 36 exposures. Used his Kiron 35 - 135mm Telephoto lens with a 1.5X converter. He took a picture every 20 minutes until the full eclipse was done. The pictures on the negatives were about the size of a sharp end of a common pin. It was visible on each frame. Jim will need to get a larger lens before trying this next year when the eclipse comes again. It was really thrilling to get at least an image of the moon on each frame. On December 21, 2003 the Duell Family had their family christmas party with about 30 people. The family did not exchange gifts but, we had a great meal. Everyone brought a gift for mom Duell. Carol was home sick with the flu for a whole week over the holidays. Jim took about 100 pictures of the party and photos of mom opening all her presents.