Happy Valley Ironman

Evening before the race

Beaver Stadium

Penn State, University Park

July 1, 2023

iPhone 12 Mini

Going left, then up.

College Avenue and Harrison Road, headed towards Nittany Mountain.

Pleasant Gap, PA

July 2, 2023

iPhone 12 Mini

The Cakeshop by Tati

Pleasant Gap, PA

July 2, 2023

iPhone 12 Mini

Colors

I’ve been posting a lot of either signage or black and white photos lately and wanted to change things up. So here is a short series of photos that predominantly feature one primary (or near-primary) color.

A large, red, cinderblock wall. A green wooden door is set into its center, surrounded by light blue wood panel. One way street sign on the far left.

Red
November 9, 2022
Bellefonte, PA
Ricoh GR II

The underside of a bright orange storefront awning.

Orange
May 11, 2011
Somewhere in Midtown East, New York City
Canon S90

Shrubbery with bright yellow leaves in a front yard. Green grass and fallen leaves below; fence and stone house behind.

Yellow
October 20, 2020
Pleasant Gap, PA
Ricoh GR II

One open green door on the left, propped open and overlapping a closed one on the right. Three printed signs with directional arrows read: MEN'S BATHROOM <-. WOMEN'S BATHROOM <- ("(ANOTHER)" hand-written across the top). WOMEN'S BATHROOM ->

Green
May 16, 2015
Collins Auditorium
Fordham University, Bronx, NY
iPhone 5S

Trees and leaves would've been the obvious picks for green, so I'm trying to be a little clever. I found that I had two copies of this photo—one that included more of the door frames and surrounding area, and this one, cropped so there's nearly nothing but green. There's something comforting about recognizing that the same sorts of things have caught my eye over time, and this photo has two of them—signage and large swaths of color.

Evening. Overcast sky, saturated blue clouds. Silhouettes of trees. Foreground: shadowed house with yellow light visible through windows.

Blue
July 3, 2021
Ricoh GR II

Indigo
January 11, 2005
Italy
Sony Cybershot DSC-P93

Indigo's a tough one. I'm kinda guessing here. Unfortunately, I don't recall exactly where in Italy this was taken, except that it was at a point in the trip when we were doing day trips to towns in Umbria.

Violet
May 16, 2021
Ricoh GR II

COVID-19 Signage Project: Changes to Normal Operations

 
Sign in plastic vertical sign holder on a counter: "NOTICE PRODUCT TASTINGS ARE SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY." Store magazine titled *Taste* on counter in front of the sign.

May 28, 2021
Fine Wine and Good Spirits
Southridge Plaza, State College, PA
iPhone 7

Sign in produce section of a grocery store: IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN PROPER SOCIAL DISTANCING, WE ASK THAT YOU DO NOT SHUCK YOUR CORN IN-STORE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.

September 3, 2021
Weis Markets
Bellefonte, PA
iPhone 12 Mini

Pharmacy counter with two containers of pens (repurposed orange pill canisters). Left container labeled CLEAN PENS. Right container labeled USED PENS.

October 27, 2022
Weis Markets
Bellefonte, PA
iPhone 12 Mini

Printed sign taped to the front of a shelf of toys: Kid to Kid FOR YOUR SAFETY Do not allow children to touch the toys unless you are ready to purchase. We know that's hard and we're sorry. Let's stay healthy!

December 18, 2021
Kid to Kid
State College, PA
iPhone 12 Mini

Printed sign affixed to a brushed metal plate: To help decrease the spread of COVID-19, the water fountains in our stores have been turned off. Sorry for the inconvenience. Bottled Water is available to buy at the Restaurant and Bistro. Ikea logo.

October 16, 2021
Ikea
Conshohocken, PA
iPhone 12 Mini

This set took me a while to finish posting, but I finally got there. It's partly due to time constraints—I post another picture into a set when I get a free moment, and as brief as it may take to post a photo, write caption info + ALT text, and share it on a few platforms, time's been in short supply lately.

A quirk of this particular set, too, is that what I'd originally classified as "Changes to Normal Business Operations" previously included signs with now enough fellows to fit into posts and categories of their own, to be posted later, including in particular Staffing and Supply Chain-related signage.

One of my models for this project, Neil Kramer's Quarantine in Queens, seems to be nearing its end, though my own (while not nearly as prolific) is likely to continue for some time. Part of this is, once again, due to time constraints—I have many more sets of photos collected that I have yet to post.

Part of it, too, is the lingering nature of signage. It ages over time and shows that age, and depending on the particular one, it's also likely to just continue to hang out there.

These particular signs are probably the outliers—I think the water fountains at Ikea are running again, you can pick up the toys at Kid2Kid, and as far as I recall, corn shucking at Weis is once again permitted.

The ones that seem likeliest to linger are the floor markers. I continue to see them, though I think they're much less frequently adhered to than they were a few years ago.

Pleasant Gap Fire Company Parade and Carnival 2022

 
An open-topped red vintage fire truck in a parade. Children are in the back of the truck, and parade spectators can be seen on the curb across the street.

Fire Truck
July 28, 2022
Main Street, Pleasant Gap, PA
Kalimar Spirit SP, Fuji C200

A parade. Two women in flowing renaissance-style gowns ride two horses. A man is on foot beside each horse.

July 28, 2022
Main Street, Pleasant Gap, PA
Kalimar Spirit SP, Fuji C200

Tractor
July 28, 2022
Main Street, Pleasant Gap, PA
iPhone 12 Mini

The back of a school band in red t-shirts as they walk towards an intersection with a red light. They are backlit by the sun.

Crossing College Avenue
July 28, 2022
Main Street, Pleasant Gap, PA
Kalimar Spirit SP, Fuji C200

Left: cotton candy stand at a fair. Right: parking lot. Partly cloudy above; sun in upper right creating lens flare effects around the edges of the photo.

Flare at the Fair
July 30, 2022
Carnival grounds, Pleasant Gap, PA
Kalimar Spirit SP, Fuji C200

State College in Black and White (Post 7)

 
Black and white. A person wearing a messenger bag and riding a bicycle. In the frame, they're riding from right to left, beneath a ONE WAY sign pointing in the same direction.

One Way
September 20, 2022
South Allen Street and West Calder Way
Ricoh GR II

From behind a floor-to-ceiling plate glass window at the end of a hallway. A person below at a sidewalk intersection on a college campus. Dappled light through the trees on the hallway floor.

Framed from Burrowes
September 20, 2022
From the Burrowes Building, facing the library mall
Ricoh GR II

Black and white. A closed storefront on the first floor of a brick building. Paper covers the large glass windows. Hand-painted on the paper are the words "Thank You State College."

Thank You State College
January 5, 2022
Saint's Cafe
Canon 60D, Sigma 30mm f/1.4

Wide angle, high contrast black and white image. Roofs of buildings and a parking garage. A large apartment building in the distance. Thick clouds overhead.

Cloudy Sky
September 22, 2022
From atop one of the downtown parking garages.
Ricoh GR II

Black and white. An old wooden door in a brick wall. Thin, short vines trail down over the top third of the door.

Door
October 10, 2022
Canon 60D, Sigma 30mm f/1.4

Click here for all photos in this project thus far.

Kalimar Spirit SP

 

Kalimar Spirit SP
July 7, 2022
iPhone 12 Mini

This next set of photos were all taken with this camera—a Kalimar Spirit SP. I know nothing about this camera in every sense—I found it while digging through my old room looking for a different film camera, and there this was, in the plastic bag it apparently came in, and seemingly never used.

What I do know of the model I found while poking online, and even then, there's not much to know (or at least, that I'd enjoy getting into). It's a black plastic box to take pictures, with an output probably comparable to what you'd get out of a disposable film camera.

While I wouldn't use it all the time, I did really enjoy what I got out of this one. I feel like a bit of a bandwagoner to say this, but I'm drawn to the imperfections in its photos—vignetting, mediocre sharpness, underexposure[^1]—these remind me of some of the film photographs that were taken in my childhood, and something feels very anchoring in that sense.

Its photos are anchored by these characteristics to similar images of a past era. Its photos are also, in that way common to all film photographs, materially anchored to specific places and times, created by the light of a moment affecting the film material in the camera.

[^1]: And underexposure in this case is caused by operator error, my choosing to take a shot in non-ideal conditions—this camera does no adjustments for exposure whatsoever.

Back of a two-story outbuilding with a peaked roof, chimney, and wooden siding, lit with dappled sunlight through the trees. One window at top, row of four windows across bottom. In front, tall wildflowers and shrubbery.

July Flowers
July 30, 2022
Kalimar Spirit SP

Passenger-seat view from a car driving down a four-lane highway. Road curves upwards further into the frame. Overhead, billowy clouds and blue sky.

Simpsons Sky
July 30, 2022
Kalimar Spirit SP

Flowers in Lemont
July 16, 2022
Kalimar Spirit SP

View through the large glass window pane of an attic door, at roof level to a campus building opposite (three dormers and windows set into a shingled roof). Behind that, brick wall and windows of two peaked roof buildings. Bright and cloudy sky behin

Attic View
From Ihlseng Cottage, Penn State, University Park
July 13, 2022
Kalimar Spirit SP

A picnic table pavilion with a peaked roof. Foreground: gravel parking lot. Background: small portion of a lake can be seen. Trees and low mountains.

Bald Eagle State Park
July 10, 2022
Kalimar Spirit SP

Rhinebeck, NY

 
A three-story Victorian home at dusk. Golden lights on in the bottom right two windows.

A home in Rhinebeck, NY
December 4, 2021
iPhone 12 Mini

Four persons in colorful costumes strut down the street. Smiling spectators and bare trees in background.

Parade
December 4, 2021
Rhinebeck, NY
Ricoh GR II

Black and white. Parade on a town main street, from behind framed windowpanes of a shop. Musicians walking by on stilts, crowd along sidewalk.

Parade, Framed
December 4, 2021
Rhinebeck, NY
Ricoh GR II

Starr Institute
December 4, 2021
Rhinebeck, NY
Ricoh GR II

Looking onto the water
December 5, 2021
Staatsburgh State Historic Site, Staatsburg, NY
Ricoh GR II

Nittany Lion Inn Furniture Sale

 
Black and white. Penn State’s on-campus inn in the rain.

The Nittany Lion Inn
Penn State, University Park
December 6, 2022
Ricoh GR II.

Took this on the way to the furniture sale. The inn is closing down for two years while it’s renovated by its new owners. So all the furniture and furnishings were being sold off this past week.

Pillows
The Nittany Lion Inn
Penn State, University Park
December 6, 2022
Ricoh GR II

Black and white. Two framed pieces of wall art, on the floor leaning against a wall. Rough beam of light from upper left.

Pictures
The Nittany Lion Inn
Penn State, University Park
December 6, 2022
Ricoh GR II

CAUTION / CUIDADO
The Nittany Lion Inn
Penn State, University Park
December 6, 2022
Ricoh GR II

For Sale
The Nittany Lion Inn
Penn State, University Park
December 6, 2022
Ricoh GR II

Black and white. A wooden ceiling. Sunlight coming through a cupola at its center.

Until next time.
The Nittany Lion Inn
Penn State, University Park
December 6, 2022
Ricoh GR II

That's a wrap for the 1/60 video series!

Alas, the dissertation calls! Due to writing deadlines and other work, I won't be able to finish the 1/60 video series on the analog film photo collection. Nonetheless, I do encourage you to check out the print shop in case any of those photos strike your fancy.

Be sure to keep an eye on those shipping deadlines from my last post if you're interested in delivery by December 24. All orders are 25% off through December 31st. No discount code required—this is now just straight up applied throughout the store until the end of the year.

Happy holidays, and I look forward to sharing more new work with you soon!

Rob

Holiday Ordering Deadlines

 

If "quite tasteful wall art" is on your holiday shopping list, be sure to place your order by the deadline listed above for delivery by December 24. While some deadlines have passed for fancier options, for a unique, affordable, and easy gift, I always recommend ordering a photo print and pairing it with a frame from somewhere like Michaels or Homegoods—there's usually a sale, and you can pick whatever color or style of frame you like.

Select a print and enter the code "longlivefilm" at checkout for 25% off your order.