I Know I've Posted This Before…

Land's End, San Francisco, November 1987

…but it's probably my favorite photo from that time period.

Despite the smirk, I did still have some innocence left. The City had not yet completely chewed me up and spit me out.  It would take another twelve years and two aborted six-month absences to break away from its spell before that would ultimately happen.

From the Analog Archives – San Francisco and Environs in the Late 1980s

Point Bonita Lighthouse
Downtown SF from the Sausalito Ferry
Downtown San Francisco from Twin Peaks
Castro Street looking south from just north of Market
At the base of California Street
Somewhere in the Richmond District
The bridge from Golden Gate Beach
Downtown from the Golden Gate Bridge Visitor Center
Palace of the Legion of Honor
Golden Gate Beach looking north toward Marin

It's a sad commentary and a reminder that you've gotten old when your own photographs start looking like the shots you see in faded magazines.

And you may be wondering why I'm posting all these analog archives things. Well, I ran across a forgotten folder on my drive called "scans (to be sorted)" and it's full of scanned slides that I'd created when I had a slide scanner (well before the fire and never replaced) with the intent of swapping out the poorer-quality scans in my virtual photo albums that I'd made from photo prints. Obviously life sidetracked me.

So hell…why not post them?

Infrared Photography is Cool

Unfortunately, I've never mastered it.

(And I literally spent the last two hours pouring over all of my photos since we moved back from Denver trying to locate the one successful attempt I did make. Sadly, I could not find it.)

This-n-That

I had to drive up to Prescott yesterday to pick up Quirky & Company after having some post-restoration tweaking done to the power amp by my tech… and to drop off his next project.

I left the house early to hopefully miss the usual holiday traffic that clogs I-17 heading north.

I took my time and generally stayed in the right lane and drove the speed limit, allowing everyone else who was hell-bent on getting to hell before me to do their thing. Better to arrive late and alive than not arrive at all is my motto—especially on a holiday weekend. I got to Randy's house around 10:30 and after verifying that the problem had been fixed and a sharing a bit of vintage audio reminiscing, I headed home, stopping at Lucky's BBQ (love this place!) for lunch.

It was really shaping up to be a beautiful day and I was in no particular hurry to get home. I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of much of anything lately, so I decided to stop at Sunset Point.

At one point—like when I still had a full head of dark hair and a porn star 'stache and long before I met Ben—in addition to having gorgeous views of the adjacent valley and mountains, Sunset Point was also known for an absolutely notirious t-room.  ADOT's attempts at keeping the gloryholes sealed up were no match for the hoards of horny truckers and their efficient metal-cutting tools who passed through the area. But sadly, after years of this seemingly never-ending battle those—pardon the expression—heady—days came to an abrupt end when ADOT went nuclear and built new completely cockhound-unfriendly facilities immediately adjacent, and sealed up the originals like tombs, effectively putting an end to the era.

Just Because

Spotted downtown as I was leaving for lunch today. My photographer's eye said, "DO IT."

Scenes from 1983

In the Barrio, Tucson AZ
In the Barrio, Tucson AZ
In the Barrio, Tucson AZ
Dennis Shelpman
Your Host
Your Host
Dennis Shelpman
Your Host
Dennis Shelpman
Your Host in Sabino Canyon, Tucson AZ
Scott West in Sabino Canyon, Tucson AZ
The Patio at the Connection, Phoenix AZ
The Connection, Phoenix AZ
Brett Walker tending bar at the Connection, Phoenix AZ (Yes Virginia, that's a real Mack truck.)
Saint Tropez performing at the Connection, Phoenix AZ
The Patio at the Connection, Phoenix AZ
Your Host in Sabino Canyon, Tucson AZ
My workplace at the time, CSA Architects, Mesa AZ
My workplace at the time (my desk dead center in the photo), CSA Architects, Mesa AZ 
The Patio at the Connection, Phoenix AZ
Donnie on the Patio at the Connection
My workplace at the time, CSA Architects, Mesa AZ

If we had digital cameras or cell phones when I was in my 20s I would've taken a lot more photos.

Scenes From a Road Trip: White Sands

Though White Sands was one of the main destinations on our itinerary, we almost didn't stop. We'd just come over the Sacramento Mountains where we were alternately fighting rain and snow flurries, and it seemed more storms were heading in our direction from the west—something guaranteed to spoil any photographic hopes we'd had. But not knowing when we'd be this way again, at the last minute we said fuck it, and—deciding to risk the whims of the weather—made the turnoff to the National Park.

I'm so glad we did. Of all the times we've visited White Sands, this time I think we got some of the best pictures ever.

Just as I'd done with Anderson when he was new, I wanted some glamor shots of Rabbit in the sands…even though—much like his daddy—he's no longer new at all.

Click to embiggen

Influencer influencing influences

The picnic enclosures in the park always reminded me of the sand ships from the 1980 production of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles (starring Rock Hudson, no less)—even though I know in actuality they look nothing like them.

And that's all folks! We overnighted in Deming, stopped in Tucson for lunch, and were back home by mid-afternoon! Total miles traveled on our little adventure: 1445.

Scenes From a Road Trip: Decay

Another perk of having diverted through Roswell is it gave me an opportunity to rephotograph one of the hundreds of abandoned and decomposing structures along the New Mexico highways that I stopped for in 2000.

This little fixer-upper is located at 33° 20′ 24.4″ N, 105° 4′ 27.98″ W, on the north side of State Route 380/US-70 west of Roswell. 

August 2000
March 2022
August 2000
March 2022

I wanted to recapture this building since when I first stumbled upon it I'd taken most of the photos with a crappy Sony Mavica digital camera (the one that had  the 3-1/2" floppy drive for storage) and the resolution was abysmal. Even the shots I took with my 35mm film SLR weren't what I was hoping for. So it was time for a do-over.

Amazing what 22 years of technology—and constant exposure to the elements can do.

August 2000
March 2022

Bonus shots: