Category: Photography

This is the best I can muster today.

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

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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.

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.

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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. 

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.

Bonus shots:

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In August 2000, I made a major road trip from San Francisco to Roswell, New Mexico. Why you ask? Mostly because I’d never been, and was in the thrall of the series Roswell at the time. (Even then I was much older than their target audience, but I found the series compelling, and I had to admit that Jason Behr in the role of Max Evans was dreamy….

But I digress.

Since visiting Roswell was not on our original itinerary but within the scope of our trip via a small detour, Ben and I decided to change our original plans and visit the place. He had never been there, and I wanted to do some “then and now” photos and figured this was a good chance to do so.

Of course, the only real tourist destination in Roswell is the International UFO Museum and Research Center on Main Street. It was a cheese-fest when I was there in 2000 and had no reason to believe it would be any different 22 years later.

And in case anyone was wondering, yes…the place remains just as cheesy as it was 22 years ago, although they’ve definitely upped their game as far as the displays are concerned.

Was the International UFO Museum and Research Center worth a visit if you’re passing through town, ultimately heading somewhere else? Yes. The gift shop alone is worth the “outrageous” $5.00 admission. Is it a destination worth making a trip all the way from another state? Oh hell naw. I remember thinking in 2000, “I drove all that way for this?!“

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Tucson, AZ – January 1981

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Don’t tell me you didn’t see it. Don’t tell me you didn’t think gloryhole the moment you saw it. Because I know I did!

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I hate to admit it, but I am very impressed with the camera on my new phone.

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We went to the Desert Botanical Garden to see Chihuly.

Lots more to follow…

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…will never change the fact that I cannot convincingly pull of the catcher look. Not now, not even when I was thirty years younger.

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“San Francisco is my home. I love The City and The City loves me back.” This was a personal affirmation—my mantra if you will—for the first couple years I lived there because as much as I’d like to think I took to the city like fish to water, my ex is always quick to point out the transition was not painless…

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What? You were expecting a naked man?

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Not me this time, but my late friend Steve Golden, spinning at Hotbods in Phoenix, spring 1983:

And in a more relaxed state of mind…

He always thought me silly because of the number of photos I shot of him at work in the booth, but now, some 39 years (!) later, I’m so glad I did. Yeah, I was new to 35mm photography, never did really get the exposure right, and a lot of the shots are out of focus, but I’m so glad I took them. But that last one? Chef’s kiss…

He would’ve been 64 last year.

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Some days the best I can muster when I’m out in public and dealing with the hordes of unmasked animals, is a selfie-smirk.

Ben takes much better pictures of me than I do of myself. Maybe it’s because he elicits a smile in me when I look at him, such that it is.

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Otherwise known as, “Date Night!”

Las Noches De Las Luminarias is something the Desert Botanical Garden does every year, although Ben and I hadn’t been since 2009. This year we decided to eschew exchanging gifts (we both have everything we want or need materially at the moment), but decided to make Luminarias a shared gift. (We’re also returning in March to capture the ongoing Chihuly exhibition at “golden hour.”)

I just got a new phone, and figured this would be an excellent opportunity to put its camera to the test. It didn’t disappoint.

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