Thirty Years of Photography (Part I – 1989-1999)

Roll 1, Frame 1.

This is my cat Khan (named after everyone’s favorite Star Trek villain, Khan Noonien Singh) at my old trailer in Los Osos.

Taking selfies before selfies were a thing.

This is also from 1989 and still on that first roll of film.

Everything was new and exciting on that first road trip. I just had to stop and take a picture of this dry washout somewhere in either eastern Nevada, the northwest corner of Arizona, or the southwest corner of Utah.

My first “wildlife” photo: a squirrel at Zion National Park.

It’s been a really long time and I can’t remember where this grove is, just that it was somewhere between Arches National Park and Denver. It was the first time I’d ever seen white trees.

Once reaching North Carolina I traveled to the nearby states. This is “New” Cape Henry Lighthouse at the Colonial National Historic Park, Virginia. (Built in 1881. This photo was taken from the top of the old one that was built in 1792.)

Ruins at Jamestown Colony, Colonial National Historic Park, Virginia, and the road that meanders through Jamestown Island.

Monument Valley. I’m almost sure this is in southern Utah, but it may be in the very north of Arizona. Either way, a spectacular site.

Yosemite National Park, 1990

When we set off on our cross-country trip our course took us through Yosemite. Being California Natives, we had been to the park a few times before so we thought we’d drive straight through with minimal stops. At the entrance gate we asked the ranger how long traversing the park would take, and when she said four hours we thought that was a serious overestimation. Since we wouldn’t be stopping it shouldn’t take but a couple of hours. So we went through, ended up stopping all along the way, and made it to the east gate in almost exactly four hours

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri – 1990

Gateway Arch – St. Louis, Missouri – 1990

When traveling, I always check the map for the side roads. This is a little road that cut in from Hwy 101 through the forest and connected back at some point farther north.

North Cascades National Park, Washington – 1990

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington – 1990

I’m going to call this Oregon. They may have been in Washington, but I think not.

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon – 1990

Lassen Volcanic National Park – 1990

Lassen Volcanic National Park. This looks like Sulfur Springs – 1990

Kings Beach, California – 1990. “Mr. Video” was the old site of “Kings Beach Liquors”, the store my parents used to own in the late ’60s. My first memories were in the apartment upstairs.

Pinnacles National Monument, before it was a National Park. 1990

This is looking east towards San Luis Obispo. Hollister Peak is in the background. Nearly the entire farm in the foreground has since been reclaimed by native plants along Chorro Creek.

Morro Bay has been described as an enchanting seaside village. This photo shows its two most famous landmarks – The volcanic plug that is Morro Rock, and the stacks of the old PG&E power plant.

Looking over the estuary of Morro Bay towards Los Osos, where I lived.

Most of my friends wouldn’t take me for a biker, but for a few years in the late ’90s this cycle took me everywhere.

The photo of the mustard flowers was on Old Creek Road that goes through the hills between Cayucos, California, and Highway 46. I am lucky to live is this area. I’ve often said that if I had passed though an area like this in all of my travels, I’d want to move here.

The photos below are from the San Luis Obispo train station. I was heavily into trains in the ’90s and 2000s, and have more photos than I probably should of the subject. The locomotive below is painted in what was called the “Kodachrome” scheme, a name taken from the color slide film that Paul Simon didn’t want his momma taking from him. Of course, over the years both disappeared.

Lava Beds National Monument, California – 1991

World’s First Nuclear Power Plant, Arco, Idaho – 1991

Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho – 1991

Arches National Park, Utah – 1991

Delicate Arch from afar – Arches National Park – 1991

Delicate Arch from a-close – Arches National Park – 1991

This is Penn’s Cave in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania. It was a slow day and it was just me, my cousin, and the tour guide driving the boat. We told him that he could skip the spiel and we would just enjoy the view, but it was not to be. He pointed his light as we passed by the named landmarks and droned on and on: “An Elephant’s Butt,” he would seem to say as we first saw a formation. Then, as we passed by he repeated, “An Elephant’s…(pause)…Butt.”

This shot is from Cape May, New Jersey, as we waited for the incoming ferry that would take us across the mouth of Delaware Bay to Lewes, Delaware.

Boston, Massachusetts – 1991

Lobster Sandwiches and Clam Tenders at a Boston McDonalds.

You learned about it in school and now here it is, the famous Plymouth Rock – landing site of the Mayflower. Just a bit underwhelming. See the line cutting diagonally across the left side? That’s where it had to be cemented back together after being dropped and broken in half.

The Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. – 1991

The Jefferson Memorial, photographed from the top of the Washington Monument.

Also from the top of the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial. The roundish pool near the bottom of the frame is now home to the World War II Memorial.

The Capitol Building from the top of the Washington Monument. When visiting the National Mall we asked someone where the Smithsonian Institution was. We were pointed in every direction. All of the buildings lining the mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol building in this picture are buildings of the Smithsonian.

I’m a big Star Trek fan, and have been ever since I could remember. The original 11-foot filming model hung in the Air and Space Museum when we visited in 1991. Since then has moved to the gift shop where it deteriorated as it hung there for years. In 2014 it began a two-year mission of restoration, the Smithsonian staff bringing it back to it’s original condition and put on display in the Milestones of Flight exhibit.

Washington, D.C. – 1991

My favorite building, the Chrysler Building, sits in the center of this shot from the top of the Empire State Building. Also visible is the Pan Am building, for those of us who remember Pan-Am Airways.

Looking south from the Empire State Building – 1991

Upper New York Bay and The World Trade Center – 1991

This is my favorite photo from New York. I really like the contrast between the textured buildings and the concrete monoliths that were the Twin Towers.

Approaching Ellis Island. This is the where about 12 million immigrants, including my Italian father, entered the United States between 1892 and 1954.

The Statue of Liberty at dusk.

What do you do in Pennsylvania when you have a car and your brother is at work all day? Drive out to Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Harrisburg, of course.

This tree is on Los Osos Valley Road between San Luis Obispo and Los Osos. I always thought of it as the brain of Los Osos. Do you see the cerebrum and brain stem?

One of my first night photos. This is in the harbor of Morro Bay.

The Lone Cypress(tm). On the 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, California, this tree and the surrounding property is a private development. As such, the tree’s image is trademarked, and any artist who doesn’t have $50,000 to fight a lawsuit will just have to avoid selling pictures of the tree.

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay – 1992

You won’t see this show anymore. Marine World in Vallejo, California – 1992

These are the kinds of screwy shots that got me where I am now. Just shoot it and see what happens, and don’t let anybody tell you you’re a nut.

And here’s the setup for that picture at The Salty Pelican restaurant where I worked for the man who let me take all the time off for these travels.

Montaña de Oro State Park near Los Osos, California.

Morro Rock taken from Sweet Springs Nature Preserve in Los Osos.

This farm photo was taken near Hollister, California.

And the moon over some of the hills around Hollister.

This was shot with my favorite film – Kodak Ektar 25 print film. It’s big claim to fame was that it was the finest grain color print film, but I liked it for the high contrast prints it produced.

This one was taken on Stenner Creek Road just up Highway 1 north of San Luis Obispo.

The American Motorcycle Association races at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francsico – 1993

I don’t take many pictures of people, and I took even less back in the nineties, but this shot is one of my all-time favorites.

Mother and child, shot on Kodak Tri-X film.

This photo is from Los Osos…

…and this one is from the Salton Sea

Upper left: Pismo beach or Avila beach. Lower left: Morro Bay. Above: Los Osos.

I’m going to say, based on my other motorcycle picture, that this was taken in 1993. I had two cameras so it’s conceivable that I had one with slide film and one with print film in them at the time.

I was heavy into model trains in the nineties. I have LOTS of train photos.