Oh, the Places We’ll Go… Jerry’s Classic Cars & Collectables Museum

I have made it a point over the years, to visit many of the unique museums we have in the greater Philadelphia area-especially car museums. I don’t have much of an affinity for the cars themselves, but am drawn to the array of colors and shapes. I go to learn and grow, but also to challenge myself to come away with a unique gallery of images from my travels. Jerry’s Classic Cars & Collectibles Museum, located in Historic Downtown Pottsville, PA, may be one of the coolest museums you’ve never heard of! “Do you want to relive the days of the past? The days when cars were classically designed, rock-n-roll ruled everyone’s radio and the nights were about watching movies at the drive-in theater or sipping a milkshake at a local soda shop?” That’s how Jerry’s describes the museum online.

The history of the building is pretty cool, too. According to a sign on the outside of the building, the original portion of the building was built in 1855 and served as the carriage house and stables for the adjacent Atkins Mansion. Charles Atkins, a steel baron during the dawn of America’s Industrial Revolution, was considered to be America’s second richest man. At the turn of the 20th Century, the larger portion of the building was added to serve as a Studebaker dealership. The building was occupied in the 1950’s through the 1970’s by the Scranton Electric Company. In 1994 the building was purchased by Jerry and Janet Enders. After extensive renovation, it is now home to Jerry’s Classic Cars & Collectibles Museum. Pretty neat history!

Even if you are too young to have experienced those days, come experience this era for the first time. This will be an unforgettable experience as you wander through the dozens of classic cars and over 20,000 collectibles! Inside you’ll find two full floors of memorabilia~the car showroom, Barbershop, Drive-In Theater, Band Stand, Auto Parts Store, Millinery, Soda Shop, Library and more!

For car enthusiasts-this place is a dream. For photographers-it’s an endless playground, with surprises and unique images awaiting you at every turn! Two full-and I mean FULL floors are there for you to explore. Every time I visit, a different area becomes my favorite! One of the things I most enjoy while wandering around, is listening to the car enthusiasts as they share their stories-and memories of days gone by. The atmosphere is made even more perfect by 50’s era music playing throughout the museum. The fun factor is high here, and for photographers-the creative possibilities are endless! You can let your creativity run wild as you focus in on colors, shapes, textures, and so much more!

This is the kind of place where you could use any lens you own –  from macro to super wide angle, to mid range telephoto. For those joining me for our upcoming workshop at the museum-instruction will be given on creative composition, how to deal with contrasty light, High Dynamic Range photography-both shooting the images and how to edit, exposure bracketing, depth of field, filter use and more. We’ll create unique images of hood ornaments, car emblems, signs, tools, and other memorabilia. We’ll play with composing images using different focal lengths-my favorite being a super wide angle lens. We’ll discuss how to minimize reflections, set exposures to ensure detail in highlights and shadows, try various camera angles, and more!

This is a great workshop for beginners and more advanced enthusiasts, and we can work with whatever gear you have. Recommended: DSLR or mirrorless camera. Extra batteries. Wide angle or super-wide angle lens, or wide angle zoom. A tripod and cable release. Polarizer and lens hood for each lens.

You can click here https://valeriehoffmanphotography.com/trek/jerrys-classic-cars-museum-trek/ for more details on the workshop. And if you are reading this after the fact, send me a note and and we’ll work on having you join us for a future visit!

You won’t want to miss this fun-filled photo trek! Click on the images to enlarge and check out all there is to see!

Jerry’s is only open seasonally-May thru October. Click on their website for more details. https://jerrysmuseum.com. By the way, Jerry-the owner, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Tell him I sent you:)