It was 3:30 A.M-ish when I peeked at my phone, shielding the light from Cora in order to avoid an elbow in the ribs. Joe Biden had taken the lead in Georgia. Well, that was like the wee hours of Christmas morning when you hear the rustling of wrapping paper downstairs and sleep becomes the …
Featured image: San Francisco’s famous Painted Ladies as seen from Alamo Square. It’s not a difficult thing to find colorful buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. A drive down Highway 80 from home brings me to Oakland’s Chinatown where the buildings are alive with murals. Below the mural on a city owned building is …
This week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, hosted by Amy focuses on negative space in photography. My understanding is that negative space is the area that, by definition, you aren’t necessarily supposed to focus on. Negative space is the lack of clutter surrounding the main subject that allows us to focus on the main subject. The photo below …
A few months ago when the new normal predictions were all the rage and being tossed around by everyone from my personal friends to pundits, psychologists, CEOs and politicians, I threw the “bullshit flag.” Human nature is what it is I objected. As soon as the all clear sounds people will flock back to stadiums, …
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge for this first week of September is Commercial Buildings and Store Fronts. One of my favorite places in San Francisco is Chinatown. There are two major streets through Chinatown. Grant Ave. which I try to avoid, is where the souvenir shops peddle threadbare t-shirts, postcards and plastic Buddhas. Stockton Street is …
In keeping with the current architectural theme, this week Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge focuses on modern homes and apartments. This colorful apartment building sits just on the fringe of Chinatown in San Francisco. Maaaaay-be there’s an apartment in there somewhere. The most prominent building in the photo below is the Salesforce Tower. I’d be willing …
This week’s Fun Foto Challenge is anything to do with boats. Happily boats and ships are favorite subjects so I have some archives to fall back on. Thank you to Cee for this week’s topic. To view her gallery and those of other contributors please follow the link to visit Cee’s site. Emeryville, California. The …
Washington Square Park is the centerpiece of San Francisco’s North Beach and it represents my earliest memory of San Francisco’s Little Italy. October, 1964, I’m on the cusp of my 12th birthday and President Lyndon Baines Johnson is appealing to San Francisco’s grass roots. It’s less than one month until the presidential election and I’m …
Reminiscences of San Francisco’s Little Italy, from the beats to the eats to America’s longest running play.
This week’s Lens-Artist Photo Challenge comes from Ann-Christine who suggests that we find images with delicate colors in celebration of Spring. While sunrise and sunset often treat the viewer to brilliant, bright and vibrant views, dawn and dusk can also deliver the softest hues. Below are two views of nearby San Pablo Bay at sunset. …
Taking a breath of viral free air to offer something pleasing and to try to relieve some of the angst if only for a few moments. The San Francisco Bay Area is rich in street art; some of it sanctioned and some not. Below is a small sampling of images of a few of the …
It isn’t the end of days but, as the bard Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan) wrote, The Times They Are a-Changin. I’ve published one piece about the coronavirus and have begun another but I can’t seem to keep up with the a-changin’ times. What was relevant two weeks ago is ancient history. Hell what was …
This week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge presented by Patti is “Change your perspective,” in other words look at an image or shot from a different point of view. Take a break from the tried, true and sometimes trite perspective of straight on from your standing eye level. “Look up and down and round about you.” ~ John …
This week Tina’s Lens-Artists Challenge is Treasure Hunt. The mission should we choose to accept it (Yes that’s a nod to Mission Impossible) is to search for specific items from the list below and present our images of those items. Extra credit items are a bit more challenging. Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold …
My San Francisco is a series of posts that describes my own personal relationship with The City. My San Francisco pieces might be photo essays; they might be life stories or they could be commentaries. They might be a combination of some or all three. My impressions aren’t always paeans to San Francisco; it’s a …
For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, the topic chosen by Amy is narrow. Water creates its own path through the narrowest of spaces, eventually eroding cracks and making them channels. Below are images of California’s Stanislaus River from a narrow rapid to the narrowest of passages. Below, a narrow section of waterfall cuts through Oregon’s …
Ramshackle looking cafe/diners dotted the area. Places like Susie’s, family owned and looking sketchy on the outside and maybe a little greasy on the inside offered simple fare and good service
My San Francisco is a series of posts that describes my own personal relationship with The City. My San Francisco pieces might be photo essays; they might be life stories or they could be commentaries. They might be a combination of some or all three. My impressions won’t necessarily be paeans to San Francisco; it’s …
The City doesn’t beckon us back; we simply waiver and then cave. And so a few short months later I’d fallen in love again. That’s how it goes. It’s love/hate/love.
I was feeding the parking meter at the corner of Spear and Howard Streets in San Francisco’s south of Market area when Cora pointed up at one of the many high rise buildings going up in the area. “Look at that building.” Following her finger I gazed up at a strange twisted tower. It looked …