Time Travel Thursday: Vietnam

Something different today... my aunt sent me these photos just a couple days ago. This is my uncle Gary, who was killed in Vietnam in 1972. She recently received these pictures from an Army buddy of his who had seen a comment she made about Gary on a website a few years back. These are most likely the last pictures ever taken of him. Apparently he adopted a dog, who he called "Lady," while he was there. The third shot is of the camp near Khe Sanh where he spent his last days.

Gary was one of the smartest and most talented persons I've ever known in my life. He was an accomplished musician who played guitar, keyboards and clarinet proficiently, and he was a whiz at languages. I still miss him, and always will.

More...

Shimmer

*I changed the title shortly after posting.

Baby Blue

Seen in an art/curio shop on Hyde Street at Union.

Tomales Sunset

This one's for Donna.

San Francisco

No, really? Do tell.

Martini Monday

What the cool kids are all drinking:

2 1/2 oz. roasted-beet-infused vodka
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth

Stay

Saw this in the Tenderloin while out shooting with my pal Marty on Saturday.

Diagram

In the Artist's Shadow

A mural artist paints a piece on Haight Street in the late afternoon, creating a looming shadow over his work. Perfect for Shadow Shot Sunday. To see some of last week's entries, just click here. You know you want to.

Shadow Shot Sunday

One of my cases settled on Thursday so yesterday morning I took my time getting in to work, taking a leisurely detour over to the Ferry Building and Pier 14. Caught this shadow along the way.

Shadow Shot Sunday is the meme heard round the world.

Souvenirs

My group at work was part of a department-wide open house yesterday, and I was responsible for, among other things, making souvenirs to give away to all employees who took the tour through our labs. These are what I made to hand out; they're just sealed glass ampules with colored water in them. If they were real, they'd be red and would contain protein-producing human or animal cells. And they'd also be frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen.

Biotech? Hell, I was an English major!

Tidepool

On Great Wass Island, Maine

Beast

On a traffic signal box on the Embarcadero near Clay.

Cityscape

Early morning, from the building I work in.

White Baby Ringed by Poodles

One last one from MOMA. This is an older exhibit that has been put up again in a display called "From the Archives." I never got a chance to shoot it the first time it was up, so I was happy to see it resurrected last Saturday.

Pin Field

One more from Allison's show.

The Future Above Me

The stairway skylight at SF MOMA.

Portal

A tomb at Olivet Memorial Park in Colma.

Nest

Martini Monday

Somewhere in downtown Boston.

Worshipping Marilyn

I took a visit to the SF MOMA this past weekend, and was lucky enough to catch this in my viewfinder at the Richard Avedon exhibit. This is my new favorite picture.

Golden Ship

Commute-hour traffic under the Bay Bridge, from behind the Ferry Building.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Red Relief

The outline of a Highlander playing the pipes fills the back door of a local pub known as Edinburgh Castle. In the late afternoon, the shadows give it relief. It must be Shadow Shot Sunday! Check out some of last week's entries here.

Cosmopolitan Shadow

A Cosmopolitan (vodka, unsweetened cranberry juice, fresh lime juice, triple sec) in bright late afternoon sun.

Shadow Shot Sunday is FDA-approved, and it's the latest dance craze.

Update: for more shadows this week, check out these photos of my friend Allison's art show. Posted them yesterday, and it didn't even occur to me how appropriate they would be for SSS...

Art Show

Recently, thanks to the miracle of Facebook, I got back in touch with my college friend Allison--who, as it happens, has a show in San Francisco (at the Toomey-Tourell Gallery, 49 Geary). So I went over there last night, caught up with Allison and her husband (whom I knew in high school, oddly enough), and shot a bunch of her work.

More...

This is the piece shown in detail above the fold--thousands of resin-tipped butterfly pins fixed to a reflective surface.






One of several small (~6") porcelain cubes that you can pick up and look into.


John calls this one 'Aquarium', but the real name is something else.


Another hollow cube, this one in layered resin.

Mosaic

In My Neighborhood

Geary Parkway Motel at 12th & Geary. This is one of those signs I can never resist shooting. This is the first night shot of it I'm really happy with, though.

Travel Thursday: Stinson Beach

Stinson Beach is a huge, popular stretch of coastline with a cute little town just west of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County. In the summer, it's jammed, and the line of cars trying to get there stretches for miles and miles back to 101. On a beautiful November Sunday, though, it was easy to get to and not crowded at all.

More...

Kaleidoscope

Taken on the CALIBER photowalk last Saturday.

See Your West

Castle Peak from U.S. 395 north of Conway Summit.

In My Neighborhood: Last Night's High Heels

Found on Sutter Street near Polk, Sunday after Halloween.

Alexandria Sunset

The classic movie theatre (which, alas, closed years ago) at 18th & Geary.

Old Paint

Photowalking

The good folks over at CALIBER -- Julie, Troy, Stuart and Brad -- put out the word a week or so ago that they wanted to invite any local photographers who might be interested to join them in a Halloween photowalk around San Francisco. Of course, I jumped at the chance to meet some of these picture-takers whose pictures I've been admiring for a while, and I signed up right away. I don't think they expected quite as many people to show up as actually did -- in fact, I know so -- but once all (approximately) 50 of us assembled at Powell and Market Streets, there was no stopping us. We walked up Market, through Civic Center and Hayes Valley, on up to Alamo Square, then down Divisadero (with a slight detour on to Grove and back) to Castro and 18th. It was one hell of a fun time, and I look forward to doing it again.

To see more pictures that I took and that were taken by a number of other participants, go here.

Praying Angel

Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. Color version below the fold.
More...

Black and White and Color and Ansel Adams

Since we often talk here about the relative merits of the color and black-and-white versions of a photo, I thought this would be interesting to y'all: Smithsonian magazine has an article about Ansel Adams and color photography. He was mostly dismissive of it, but not entirely unconflicted (especially when he got lucrative commissions to shoot in color), and the article is illustrated with some gorgeous examples of his work in color.