Wegman’s Truck
I drove over to Albany yesterday to work with Peggy on the Willard suitcases website and meet with the museum people about resuming photographing the cases. The meeting went well and I really hope to be able to get started soon. I am planning to have the complete willardsuitcases.com site up and running in the next few weeks and it should be pretty cool. / This truck was parked at the Blandford rest area on the Mass Pike and for obvious reasons caught my eye.
AT&T Park, Giants v Nationals
Yesterday I went to see the Nationals play the Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco. It was an interesting game. Very few hits and not much scoring. The Nationals won in 10, 2 to 1. As you can see it was a beautiful day, perfect for baseball. I was at the mercy of the guy selling the tickets, and just asked for a very cheap seat. Ended up in section 302, which by my estimation is the nicest place to sit in the whole park. The only problem was that for the first time in all my years of going to baseball games, it was difficult to concentrate on the action with this amazing view of the bay always pulling me away from the game. Even if you HATE baseball, it is totally worth $24.00 to sit up here for an afternoon drinking a few beers and being part of a crowd of very friendly people. / After the game I blasted over to the offices of Collector’s Weekly and met with Hunter Oatman-Stanford who wrote this article about the suitcases that really opened a lot of doors for me. We were joined by two other editors and had a great chat about this and that. I was totally blown away when they told me that the story had generated roughly 600,000 views on their site. I really owe a lot to Hunter for his great interview and interest in the project. / Made it out to the airport in time to catch the redeye back to Boston. Got home at about 9.30 this morning and was happy to see the Pearl, who after a bit of a scare this weekend seems to be back on her feet.
California Coast
This will be a picture heavy post without too many words.
We stopped in Pismo Beach, which is a sweet little town with a nice pier. I like being able to shoot from above, which is a great angle to document guys with metal detectors.
Morro Bay is another pleasant town. We were blown away to see these sea otters rafting at the end of the day so near to the town. The wide angle lens doesn’t make them seem so close, but they were right there.
Next stop was the amazing elephant seal beach just near to San Simeon. These seals have been coming to this location since the early ’90s. Noisy and smelly (but in a very nice way). Remarkable to be so close to these creatures.
They are molting at this time of the year and aren’t particularly active.
Next up, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park near Big Sur. Well worth a visit.
It is Spring out here and wild flowers are everywhere. This looks to be some sort of iris.
This spectacular field is just off Highway 1. We came around a corner and this scene took our breath away.
California poppys. Cris says they are the state flower.
Point Lobos State Park is a wonderful place to hike and get close to the ocean. The trails are extensive; it would be easy to spend a whole day here.
I had never been in the redwoods before. This same photo has probably been taken a million times, but who could resist. Big Basin State Park is just north of Santa Cruz.
Since I’m in California, I can get away with the word awesome. Truly amazing.
Had a nice walk yesterday from the Exploratorium up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Finally saw “The Changing Face of What is Normal” exhibit and will post some shots and my reaction soon.
Stahl House (Case Study House #22)
I have been fortunate as a photographer to get into a number amazing buildings. Not many quite as incredible as the Stahl House in LA. Cristine’s sister Lynne and her husband John are docents there, and on Sunday evening we had the privilege to be in one of the most iconic mid-century homes in the world.
The story of the house is well documented so I will not go into it, but it is well worth reading about. Click on the Stahl House link above and you can read a bit more about it here.
The most amazing aspect of the house now is that it is still family owned, and they have graciously made it open to the public. For what is a very reasonable fee, small groups can have guided tours (possibly by Lynne and John) that allow visitors to experience something so rare that it is almost inconceivable. (Cristine looks quite at home in this shot.)
This is a stitched photograph (2 images) that is not perfect (one funky area that I noticed right away), but it shows the house pretty well at twilight. / Big thanks to the Stahl family, and especially to Lynne and John who have become experts in mid-century architecture and artifacts. They also docent at the Eames House, which is open to the public on a limited basis. / Go to the Stahl House website to poke around and set up a tour. If you are in LA it is easily one of the top 5 things to do.
South Carolina Beach
Cris and I celebrated our 25th anniversary yesterday with a very long walk on the beach. It was a beautiful day and the light was perfect for me. And as you can see, it was mostly deserted.
When we walk, I am constantly stopping to take photos. She usually just keeps moving but I eventually catch up.
Some of these guys are really tiny. The shell on top with the red bit was no more than an inch across. The guy above was probably 3 inches.
I have only occasionally seen the above type of shell. Reminds me of an exotic African cat.
This shell was very small, but so beautiful.
There is usually quite a bit of plant matter laying about. We saw what was left of a huge palm tree at the high tide line. I am not sure if the plant above is a water or land based plant.
Sand dollars are somewhat rarer this year. We didn’t see any until yesterday.
I say it to people all the time when I am complimented about my photographs, because it is important for me to give credit where it is due. I absolutely could not do what I do without the constant support and encouragement from Cristine. Not just emotionally, but in practical terms as well. She works very hard at a demanding job to provide us with all the things that a photographer with a spotty income could never provide. For that and the last 25 years I am more grateful than I can say.
Petey’s Summertime Seafood and Bar
Welcome to those of you who have found this site through the Slate article. I am very grateful for the job David Rosenberg did, and the response that the suitcases are getting. It is a bit overwhelming at times, but I am so pleased that the project is reaching so many new people.
I had a shoot in Exeter, New Hampshire for the Old House Journal today. Peter is home for a bit and he came along to hang out with me and continue our fried clam odyssey (See more here). After working, we drove to Rye, NH to check out Petey’s Summertime Seafood and Bar. The clams were fantastic; among the best yet. / It is always somewhat surprising to come upon the ocean after a short two hour drive from Western Massachusetts. Today it was beautiful.
Sutro Baths
I am sitting in the San Francisco airport waiting for my redeye flight home. This morning’s quick meeting with the team ended well. I know know pretty much what I need to do in the next few weeks as far as printing goes.
I had yesterday pretty much to myself. Around noon I met with an old friend from Ithaca, Katie Harhen and we ate a couple of dozen oysters in the Ferry Terminal and had a great time catching up. She is a really wonderful person and has created a great life out here in the Bay Area.
I had been hearing about the Sutro Baths from the Exploratorium folks and Stephanie Bailey said it was her favorite place in the area. I hopped on the Geary bus and after a long ride out to the western-most part of SF got to a cliff above the ocean.
I especially like the fact that except for a few spots one is totally free to roam around the ruins without having to be warned of imminent danger. It is part of a National Park, and for now the only areas that are closed off are to do with a river otter that has taken up residence. (He wasn’t there when I showed up.)
There was a little tunnel through the rocks that was kind of eerie. You could hear the waves crashing and in a few spots could actually see the water.
The ocean was a steely gray for most of the time I was there.
It was foggy and quite cold when I arrived and just as I was leaving at about 5.00, the sun came out.
The flora reminded me a lot of what you would see on the Cornwall coast.
It is a very special place. And the gift shop at the top of the hill is way cool. I got a great mug and a bunch of vintage postcard reproductions. It is always completely baffling to me how something as cool and popular as the baths can virtually disappear. Check out some other links to the history of the place and be sure to visit if you are in the area.
Stadium Thing
I am not really sure what to call this post. Just now when I uploaded the photograph, I saw that my shorthand for it was “stadium thing”. I guess I’ll go with that. I believe that it was built to sell snacks during UMASS football games, but I have never seen it in use. If you look to the right of the photo you will note that there is a second one just to the south. I have spent a lot of time around sports venues and never seen anything like it. Oddly beautiful though.
Air Force Two
I had to take my iMac over to Dan to have the hard drive replaced (Apple warranty). Fortunately it hadn’t died yet so not much more than an inconvenience. I have been keeping my laptop open in order to skype with Cris in the West Bank and the screen saver went to a folder of postcards that I used to make and send out to friends. I really like some of these images and realized I could share them here on my wordpress site. It’s fun to think just how much of an impact the digital world has had on photography. I used to print 10 or 15 of these and mail them to friends and clients. Now I can post this and who knows how many people will see it./ This picture was taken at the airport in Elmira, NY. I spent a lot of time covering the 1984 presidential race, and I think this was the Bush VP plane. It reminded me of the election on Tuesday and thought it would be a good time to encourage everyone here in the States to get out and vote.
Hadley, MA field
I don’t know if it makes sense to post this panorama at only 720 pixels (maximum wordpress size for this template), but I like this shot. If you are trying to look at it on your phones, I would forget about it. On a big screen it should look pretty nice. I took the three photos on Friday and stitched them together a few minutes ago. / All of on the east coast are in for a wild few days with hurricane Sandy starting to rile things up. Lots of rain and high winds beginning tomorrow.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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