Photo: Pier 1 Alternatives
Posted by latoga | Filed under Cityscapes, Photos
I spotted this image while out on my photowalk of San Francisco last week. As soon as I saw the flag illuminated at the end of Pier 1, I had this image pop into my head. Occasionally, as you work on processing the image, variations can evolve out of the original. Each one can carry it’s own set of strengths and stand on it’s own. Sometimes, when this happens, you can’t play favorites with your children but allow them both to have a chance in the world.
Flip between these two alternatives by clicking on the image above and viewing it in the lightbox. Which one speaks loudest to you and why?
Tags: Cityscapes, Photos
Photo: Grand View of Sunset
Posted by latoga | Filed under Cityscapes, Photos, Travel
Some of my regular San Francisco based readers will recognize this view…it’s one of the many hidden parks in San Francisco that photographer Jim Goldestein shared with me a while back. I was passing on the secret to a few other photographer friends of mine from southern parts of the Bay Area on a recent crystal clear day we had here in San Francisco. No gorgeous clouds or encompassing fog for me this time around. However, I still love the multiple layers of this image: from the bath leading you into the image to the city to the Golden Gate Bridge peaking out over the hill.
Tags: Cityscape, Photos, San Francisco, Sunset
Photo: Let’s Start Walking
Posted by latoga | Filed under Announcements, Cityscapes, Photos, Travel
Next week I will be in Las Vegas for a technology trade show. I’m excited about the possibility of getting together with an old friend who is a pilot for a helicopter tour company. There is a slight chance that I’ll be able to bum along on a flight and get some great aerial photography of The Strip and The Grand Canyon. Keeping my fingers crossed…
Tags: Las Vegas, Pano, Photos, The Strip
Photo & Words: 9-11 In Remembrance
Posted by latoga | Filed under Cityscapes, Musings, Photos, Travel
Photo By Jon C. Hodgson
I wasn’t planning on posting anything today about the 9/11 Anniversary, but after hearing a few references to the day I changed my mind.
First I heard someone say “Remember” with reference to today. That kind of struck a chord with me as the saw it as a politically charged word. 9/11 has been used as the reason for too many bad decisions and then to reinforce those bad decisions. Personally I think “In Remembrance” is a much better term to use for 9/11 as it removes the politics from the day without forgetting the impact that the day had.
Second, I was listening to Talk of the Nation today as they discussed Seven Years Later, Listeners Reflect On Sept. 11. I found it interesting the different reactions that people had seven years after the day. One women didn’t want her young son to know about 9/11 in order to protect him from it’s ugliness. I feel that this is wrong as that young boy will be living with the ramification of that day for the rest of his life; missing out on that day having any impact on him as he grows up is wrong.
I was also shocked how some major news outlets let the moment that defined 9/11 pass with indifference. I can’t believe that the media already chooses to ignore 9/11. Is this an attempt to persuade people that the problems we face today were not created by the decision made in the shadow of 9/11? I think right now is the ideal time to do a deep dive revisiting of 9/11. Let’s sit backward on our horse for a moment and take an honest look at the mistakes of the past seven, ten, twenty, or thirty years. Especially with this being such a key election year. Let’s put the rhetoric aside and do some introspection.
This afternoon I took some time to remember this morning seven years ago, the bright blue sky as I drove my convertible into my office located in the DC suburbs. I remembered the strange feeling as I walked into the office and saw people huddled around a TV in the main conference room. I remember sitting in my neighbor’s office watching TV five minutes later and watching the first tower collapse as I uttered “that’s it, we’re going to war”. Of watching the second airplane and then desperately trying to contact people from my company that I knew were traveling that day.
I remember sitting at home later that afternoon, watching the same images over and over on TV with my roommates. Realizing how unhealthy that was and forcing ourselves to go out and do something to take our minds off it. Heading to the tennis courts on the outer edge of Arlington, VA where we lived. Hearing the deafening silence of the world around us and then being shocked as we heard an airplane. Watching that airplane, Air Force One with an escort of 4 fighter jets, fly over the southern sky as it descended into Andrews Air Force Base.
I remember being one of 5 passengers on an flight a week after 9/11; having more flight attendants than passengers (and how the airline still made us sit in our assigned seat class). I remember my visit to New York City a month later to visit a customer on Wall Street. That un-natural silence still embracing New York City a month later; no horns honking, no crowds bustling. Of sitting in my customer’s office watching snipers on the roof tops of the buildings around us as the President visited Ground Zero.
Time passes.
Memories fade…but not all.
What are your remembrances of seven years ago?
About the Photos
World Trade Center Tribute in Light was taken by New York City photographer (and close personal friend of mine) Jon C. Hodgson. It has been featured in various New York City area publications and used here with permission.
Bruised & Battered But Still Standing was taken by me during a trip to New York City in April of 2002. The Sphere was a sculpture that was part of the World Trade Center plaza fountain and (mostly) survived 9/11. It was moved, in it’s damaged state, to Battery Park where this photo was taken.
Tags: 9/11, Anniversary, Remembrance
Photo: San Francisco Over the Headlands
Posted by latoga | Filed under Cityscapes, Landscapes, Photos
This weekend I’m getting to play tourist in my own back yard. My brother and his family are in town kicking off a week long trip down the California coast. We started off the weekend in Marin. It was a sunny clear day, a perfect day to visit the top of Mount Tamalpais (Mount Tam). The view from the drive up to the summit as well as the summit were amazing. On the way down, I pulled over and zoomed in to take this picture of the San Francisco. Even with the harsh mid-day light I knew I could do something with the image. Black and white it was.
Tags: Black and White, San Francisco
