Tag Archives: iPhoneography

Looking for my iPhone pictures? Here’s where they are

keith instagram

Longtime readers of this blog know that I used to post iPhone photos I’d taken here.

I haven’t done that a lot lately and Instagram is to blame!

Actually, I just think Instagram – the photo sharing and filtering app – is a better forum for iPhone photos. I still post some photos here occasionally – the sky and cloud photos with my recent post about being a weather obsessive were photos that I had taken – but Instagram is the place to go to find the best phone photography. Even from me.

It’s strange to say that, because I was pretty skeptical of Instagram at first. Its a photo filtering app, right? Who cares about that?

Well, it is true that the novelty of being able to make your photos sepia-toned wears off pretty quickly. But Instagram is photo sharing in a very pure form. It’s just your photos and a couple of words or sentences of info and feedback from readers.

You can find my Instagram page online at instagram.com/keithroysdon but I’d encourage anyone who likes taking and seeing good photos to get the app and enjoy it that way. Just as with Twitter, if you’re uncertain about who to follow, take a look at who I follow. It’s a mixture of Indiana folks and people all around the world who have something to contribute, phone-photo-wise.

Enjoy.

iPhoneography: More on the Ski-Hi Drive-In

ski hi tower concession april 2013

About a year ago I wrote about and posted some pictures of the Ski-Hi Drive-In, my community’s shuttered but last remaining drive-in theater – remaining, at least, in the sense of the shell of the screen tower and dilapidated concession stand/projection booth remain in place, where two highways meet north of Muncie.

Since that time I’ve talked to the owner of the property for an upcoming story for publication in my real job. He encouraged me to go onto the property and take pictures, so I thought I would share some here.

ski hi screen tower april 2013

The back of the screen tower, which greeted patrons – and now looms over passersby – is in pretty rough shape. The owner told me there was an apartment at the base of the tower that someone once lived in.

ski hi screen april 2013

It’s not that hard to imagine – and, for me, remember – movies playing out on the big screen framed by the Hoosier night sky.

ski hi longshot screen april 2013

You can still make out the earthen ridges made to elevate the front ends of patron’s cars, trucks and vans.

ski hi concession side april 2013

The concession stand exterior, with the expected graffiti.

ski hi broken door april 2013

The door broken in the past few years by intruders.

ski hi concession april 2013

The concession stand is still recognizable, but has put up with a lot of abuse from vandals, the elements and years of neglect.

I’ll update you when I know something about the fate of this once-grand old drive-in movie theater.

iPhoneography: The cemetery in winter

beech grove military

Maybe it’s laziness. Maybe it’s the lack of good subjects. Maybe it’s my winter fatigue. But I haven’t taken all that many iPhone photos lately and haven’t shared any here.

beech grove rows

So I thought I would share a few that I took with my iPhone a couple of weeks ago.

beech grove branches

We’re only just now getting out of the grip of winter, but to have a snow like this in March was out of the ordinary. So I thought a trip to Beech Grove Cemetery here in Muncie, Indiana, would make for some nice photos.

beech grove solo

Regular readers know I love old cemeteries. They’re wonderful spots for photography.

Turns out they’re pretty good for wintertime pictures as well.

 

iPhone Christmas stuff: Cap and Darth

cap christmas stocking

Here’s another coupla pop culture Christmas thingies, courtesy of my iPhone.

Above is a bonafide Captain America Christmas stocking, one of several focusing on popular Marvel heroes and Avengers.

I would have loved one of these as a little geek.

darth vader nutcracker

And speaking of little geek love: A Darth Vader nutcracker.

If it was a talking nutcracker, oh the things it would say:

“Join me, Luke, and together we can crack nuts throughout the galaxy as father and son!”

Well, you don’t think he used the Force just to choke out Imperial lackeys, do you?

 

iPhoneography: Christmas ornaments .. oooh, pretty colors

colorful ornaments

Nothing snide or crass here (that’s coming in another installment). Just pretty ornaments via my iPhone.

Love the bulbs above.

red and white ornaments

And these little red and white guys.

christmas owls

These little owls are really cute.

pink santas

And these pink Santas, while I thought they looked washed out originally, are kinda nice.

Okay, next time back to snark and goofy.

 

iPhoneography: Christmas ornaments good enough to eat

hot dogs ornaments

Here at the blog this time of year, we seek out all kinds of Christmas ornaments. Most of them are tacky or silly or fun pop culture-based baubles.

Sometimes they make us hungry.

Example? The hotdog basket ornament above. The iPhone snapshot doesn’t do it justice. This is a realistic looking dog. And the little container of ketchup!

ketchup and mustard ornament

And what better to go along with it? (Just in case you didn’t get enough on the side.)

iPhoneography: Charlie Brown Christmas tree and stuff

charlie tree assembled

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: That’s right. It’s time for iPhone photos of the best and worst and most offbeat Christmas stuff out there in retail land.

Since 1965, when “A Charlie Brown Christmas” debuted on CBS, the images from that series have been a part of our culture. Maybe now more than ever.

A few years ago, Peanuts Christmas decor started popping up, including little figures of Charlie and friends in wintertime scenes.

The ultimate Peanuts Christmas decor has to be the little tree, as seen above.

charlie tree box

Nothing like a pathetic little tree to inject some cheer into your Christmas.

charlie tree close

Really, though, what I want to see is a larger-than-life version. Surely somebody has turned this little twig into their Christmas tree at home?

peanuts box

This one puzzles me. A Charlie Brown lighted box? To hang over your bar?

 

iPhoneography (and otherwise) Falls of the Ohio fossil beds

The Falls of the Ohio State Park, on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, is a beautiful place. The river runs between the park’s starkly modern interpretive center and downtown Louisville.

Along the river are 390 million year-old fossil beds dotted with millions of tiny animal and plant remains embedded into rock as well as tiny tidal pools full of water from the river.

There’s an otherworldly feel to the landscape, with driftwood piled high on the Indiana side and the locks of the river on the other.

I’ve been a couple of times now and here are a few pictures, iPhone photos and ordinary digital pics.

Above is a digital shot of sunset along the river.

I love the contrast of tidal pools and the city in the background.

 

iPhoneography: Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville

I love cemeteries. Pioneer cemeteries that stand isolated in farm fields, huge, old city cemeteries, they’re all beautiful, peaceful places. And good subjects for iPhone pictures.

Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the Midwest. Located on 300 acres of land in the heart of the city, Cave Hill has rolling hills, soaring monuments and more than a little quirkiness.

Many of the cemetery’s monuments are fairly traditional.

Some less so, including this one with a beautiful stained glass inset.

One of the best ideas I’ve seen at any cemetery was at Cave Hill, where families can plant trees to remember their loved ones. I really enjoy that this one was for a fan of “The Big Lebowski.”

Two of the most visited graves at Cave Hill are for gentlemen that have a common history in food.

One is Harry Leon Collins, a professional magician who, according to Internet sources, was a longtime spokesman for the Frit0-Lay snack company.

Apparently in performances he would often, instead of saying “Abracadabra,” say, “Frito-Lay!”

The most notable celebrity at Cave Hill is undoubtedly Col. Harlan Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

A yellow line along Cave Hill’s interior roads leads tourists to the colonel’s grave.

And believe me, the tourists show up to pay homage.

Aside from the pop culture elements of Cave Hill, there’s a lot of truly beautiful work there.