Category: Photography

Favorite Pictures of 2011 Group II – San Diego

Posted on by georgefattell

I was originally going to title this post “Group II – West Coast” or “Group II – California”. However, upon review of my pictures taken during 2011 I decided to simply title the post “Group II – San Diego”, because that was more accurate. The vast majority of the pictures I took in California during 2011 were taken in the greater San Diego area. In past years I have made trips to other parts of California and other parts of the West, but for a variety of reasons I didn’t leave the San Diego area too much during 2011, aside from my East Coast vacation. I did make a couple of trips up to LA last year, but did not take too many pictures up there last year due to less than ideal conditions related to the weather. Hopefully, I will have better photo taking opportunities in LA and elsewhere in 2012.

Here are my 10 San Diego area pictures that made the cut for 2011 :

1) The First Avenue Bridge, Bankers Hill, San Diego, CA

This bridge was built in 1931 and spans Maple Canyon, in the Bankers Hill section of San Diego. The steel arch bridge is 463 feet in length and 104 feet tall. I love the 1930’s era character of this bridge. They simply don’t make’em like this these days. On a clear day bridge provides good views of San Diego Bay, Coronado and Point Loma.

The First Avenue Bridge, Bankers Hill, San Diego

2) Santa Fe Station, San Diego.

3) Downtown San Diego. This shot was taken from the parking garage next to the new Hilton Bayfront Hotel.

Downtown San Diego

4) The San Diego Blackout.

September 8th, 2011. This blackout caused the lights to go out in a large part of Southern California, as well as parts of western Arizona and northwest Mexico. Fortunately, the blackout only lasted about 12 hours, but it did bring normal life in the area to a screeching halt. I took this picture at the upper end of Laurel Avenue, on Bankers Hill, facing west and looking down on San Diego’s main airport, Lindbergh Field. The airport had emergency power available for the runway, but not the passenger terminals, so flights came to stop as well.

The San Diego Blackout

5) Blue Angels 5 and 6 head for take-off.

I took this picture at the annual Air Show held at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar during October. The Blue Angels are comprised of 6 F-18’s and at the beginning of the show Angels’ 1,2,3 and 4 line at one end of the runway, while 5 and 6 line up at the opposite end of the runway and take-off separately. I have seen the Blue Angels perform at least 5 times now and they always impress. If you have an opportunity to see the Blue Angels in person I highly recommend it.

6) The beach at Cardiff by the Sea, CA.

There are many towns along the coast of San Diego county that are very picturesque and Cardiff by the Sea is one of my favorites. This picture features the view north, toward Encinitas. I liked this particular picture because of the beautiful meeting of sea, sky and land here.

7) The Holiday Season at Ocean Beach.

Ocean Beach is one of several beachside communities in San Diego. Like many sections of San Diego, Ocean Beach has the feeling of a small town, separated from the larger city. If you blow up this picture you can see the Christmas Tree set up on the beach.

8) The Pier at Imperial Beach.

Imperial Beach is the most southern town on the California Coast. The pier is 1,491 feet in length and provides views of Mexico to south and San Diego to the north.

9) The Silver Line Trolly, Downtown San Diego.

In the fall of 2011 the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System stated running this vintage trolley, aka Streetcar 529, on weekends. It travels on a loop of downtown San Diego called the Silver Line. Streetcar 529 was originally built in 1946 and was recently restored to original condition. I happened to catch the 529 standing still here as it was waiting for a traffic light to change at the intersection of 5th Avenue and C Street.

10) The Surfing Madonna mosaic in Encinitas, CA.

This unique mosaic was installed by under a train bridge in Encinitas, CA back on Earth Day, April 22nd, 2011, by a group of men disguised as construction workers. The mosaic became highly popular, but was taken down by the city after a few months and because it installed without permission from the city. There are plans to reconstruct the mosaic and put on permanent display right off an intersection a few blocks away from the bridge site, but final approval from the city and state has not yet been granted, but hopefully that will happen.

My favorite pictures of 2011 – Group I: NY, NJ & PA

Posted on by georgefattell

I took quite a few pictures with my little Canon S90 and my iPhone 3GS during 2011. I have reviewed the pictures recently and put together two groups of pictures, which represent the favorite pictures I took during the last year. Of course, the Canon takes better pictures than my iPhone, but at least one iPhone shot did make the cut. Group One is comprised of pictures I took in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania during my vacation back east last summer and Group Two is compromised of pictures I took here in Southern California during 2011. I’m still sorting out which shots I want for Group Two.

.I moved to California about 8 years ago and I like SoCal quite a bit, but I have always enjoyed my trips back to NY, NJ & PA because that is the part of the country where I grew up and spent most of life. Here they are:

1) The Geary NY Tower at 8 Spuce Street, NYC

I took this picture with my iPhone 3GS. Frank Geary’s beautiful 76 story sculpture.

2) Columbus Circle, NYC

Columbus Circle in Summer

3)Hell’s Kitchen – 9th Avenue and 52nd Street, New York, NY.

I lived in this neighborhood for about 5 years during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. There are still a few stretches of 9th Avenue that look a lot like they did 60 or 70 years ago and this is one of them.

9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, NYC

4) Hoboken Terminal, Hoboken, NJ

Hoboken Terminal, Hoboken, NJ

5) Applegate Farm, Upper Montclair, NJ

A Northern New Jersey landmark. Applegate Farm has been selling diary products from this location since 1848. For decades it has served some of the best ice cream in New Jersey. I grew up about a mile and a half from Applegate Farm and I visited frequently as a kid. It was great to see that the place has not changed very much in the last 30 years.

Applegate Farms, Upper Montclair, NJ

6) Bachmann Publick House, Easton, PA

Built in 1753, this is the oldest standing building in Easton, PA. This building has a very interesting history. Ben Franklin, John Adams, General John Sullivan, William Ellery and William Whipple all stayed at the House or visited it.

Bachmann Publick House, Easton, PA. July 2011.

7) The Northampton Street Bridge.

This bridge spans the Delaware River and it connects Easton, PA to Phillipsburg, NJ. The bridge was built in 1895 and was designed by James Madison Porter III, a graduate of Easton’s Lafayette College. As you can see from this picture, the bridge is not totally straight. That is due to to the fact that the bridge suffered damage back in 1955, when Hurricane Diane caused floodwaters to pass over the bridge.

This picture was taken on the Easton side of the bridge.

A cold grey day in Ocean Beach

Posted on by georgefattell

The view of Ocean Beach from the OB Pier 16 DEC 2011
I took a trip out to San Diego’s Ocean Beach neighborhood this afternoon (16 Dec 2011). Sometimes I just like to hangout in parts of San Diego other than the neighborhood that I live in, which is Cortez Hill. My neighborhood is one of several that comprise downtown San Diego, which includes everything in the 92101 zip code. I like downtown SD because it is the most urban part of San Diego and it is very walkable. As a former New Yorker I appreciate that characteristic of downtown. However, I also find several other sections of San Diego intriguing because of their own unique character. Sometimes I go to the neighborhoods around Balboa Park, such as North Park or nearby Banker’s Hill. Other days I might go to one of the beachside parts of the city, such as La Jolla Village or Pacific Beach. I also enjoy going across San Diego bay to visit Coronado and Imperial Beach.

Ocean Beach is located on the western side of Point Loma and is, of course, situated next to the beach. The locals refer to Ocean Beach as OB and it is definitely the most bohemian of all of San Diego’s neighborhoods. OB is a very laid back place that has a variety of good little restaurants, bars and coffeehouses, which is always a draw for me. Today I went to a coffeehouse called the Newbreak Coffee & Cafe, which is right across the street from the beach and a few blocks from the Ocean Beach Pier. The pier was built in 1966 and is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast, at 1,971 feet in length.

I went to the Newbreak to do a little work on my iPad (free wifi) over a few cups of tea and a bagel. Afterwards, I took a walk on the beach and along the pier. The weather today was far from ideal, it was cold, grey and windy. Yet, the vistas up and down the coast were beautiful and striking. The sky was filled with clouds of varying hues, with streaks of sunlight punching through the clouds. See below.

Sunset at Ocean Beach 16 December 2011

The view south toward Sunset Cliffs

A few pictures from Christo’s last project, The Gates in Central Park

Posted on by georgefattell

Back in 2005 I was living in San Diego, but I made a trip back to New York in February of that year to see Christo’s last project, which was located in Central Park. The project, called The Gates, was comprised of 7,503 gates, which were installed over the entire length of the park. The gates were 16 ft tall and varied in width, from 5 feet 6 inches to 18 feet. Each gate had a saffron-colored panel of nylon fabric hanging from it. The Gates Project had a life span of two weeks (12 Feb to 25 Feb) and that was it, it was gone after that, never to return. Seeing the Gates was a once in a life time opportunity.

Here are a few of the pictures I took of The Gates….

A view of the World Trade Center from Eagle Rock Reservation in July, 2001

Posted on by georgefattell

I took this picture of the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan exactly 10 years ago (07-29-2001) with my first digital camera, a Kodak DC 290. The picture was taken at Eagle Rock reservation in Montclair, NJ, which is about 15 miles from Manhattan and provides outstanding views of Manhattan on clear days. I was living and working in Manhattan at the time I took this picture, but I had decided to make a trip out to Montclair to take some pictures with my fancy new digital camera. I had previously lived in and around Montclair for many years and the 400 acre “Eagle Rock” has always been one of my favorite places to relax at in that area.

I visited Eagle Rock on my recent visit to NJ and discovered that a 9-11 Memorial has been built at the place where I took the picture above.

Product Review: Canon PowerShot S90

Posted on by georgefattell

I bought my Canon PowerShot S90 one year ago and it has been a great camera. At $399.00 it was on the upper end of the price spectrum for a point and shoot, but it was well worth it imo. The S90 takes outstanding pictures, but it is small and light.

Canon actually retired the S90 several months ago and replaced with the S95, which is basically an S90 with a few new bells and whistles, including the ability to shoot HD video.

I’ve taken hundreds of pictures with the camera and it has proven to be quite durable. The enclosure is all metal and I’m glad it is because I’ve dropped the camera a few times on hard surfaces from a height of three to four feet and it has not suffered any damage.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being best) I would give this camera an 8.

Here are several of my favorite pictures from the last year, including a few night shots. I think one of this camera’s strong points is that fact that it takes great pictures in low light conditions.

Christmas Snow Storm in Easton, PA. 2010.
Los Angeles Metro Station at Hollywood & Vine
F-22 at Nellis AFB. Las Vegas. Nov 2010.
View of Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean from Kate Sessions Park, San Diego.
US Grant Hotel. Downtown San Diego.

The Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge in San Diego

Posted on by georgefattell
The Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge (HDPB) at night. This impressive bridge opened to the public on March 18th, after nearly three years of construction. The span connects San Diego’s downtown Ball Park/East Village section to the waterfront.
The bridge cost 27 million dollars, which was well beyond original cost estimates. I usually find publicly funded projects that go over budget disturbing, but this beautiful bridge is an exception.
This bridge is an architectural gem in my opinion and provides a much needed overpass near the new bayside Hilton Hotel and the Convention Center. The bridge is one of the longest self-anchored pedestrian suspension bridges in the world and was designed to last at least 100 years. If it lasts that long, surviving earthquakes, storms and whatever else get thrown at it in the coming decades it will have been well worth it’s cost.
Bridge Spec’s:
550′ long
16′ wide
Pylon is 131′ tall
34 individual suspenders are attached to the main cable. All cables are stainless steel.

My gallery of the HDPB

Visit to the Griffith Observatory

Posted on by georgefattell


The view of downtown LA from the Griffith Observatory

I visited the historic Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles for the first time last Saturday. I was quite impressed with the 75 year old building. It is filled with interesting exhibits and offers spectacular views of Los Angeles.

More pictures at the Griffith Observatory

Included in my gallery of pictures is a picture of the James Dean monument on the Observatory grounds. Scenes of the iconic 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause were filmed there and that film helped launch the young Dean to stardom.