Touring San Diego

When your good friend who’s a photographer comes to visit, the best part of hanging out is geeking together around town with the cameras. To onlookers, this first shot probably appears strange; to a photographer who likes to look at life in different ways, it’s our oxygen.

It’s always fun to walk around downtown and pay attention to the things I would normally ignore as I either drive by or briskly walk by because I’m on a mission. Below is one of my newer favorite buildings in San Diego, the former Police Headquarters which has been repurposed as an outdoor mall.

They have kept enough quirky touches from the original building to remind you of what it once was.

Nearby is the 25' tall “Unconditional Surrender” J. Seward Johnson sculpture in the Tuna Harbor area that commemorates Alfred Eisenstaedt’s legendary August 14, 1945 photograph taken in Times Square on V-J Day. Art critics are about as laudatory on this piece as the they are about the Rocky/Sylvester Stallone Statue in Philadelphia. The tourists love it.

Bob Hope is just a few steps away.

Also nearby is the Midway Museum, which is located aboard...The Midway. Commissioned a week after the end of World War II, The Midway was the largest ship in the world until 1955.

Heading towards downtown on Broadway we came upon the former 1920s YMCA building, which is now The Guild Hotel. My mom once told me that she played the piano here during WWII for servicemen.

An eclectic mix of buildings in downtown:

They should have a before and after mug for the logo. This does not look appetizing.

The sunset was a bit mild at Pacfic Beach, but still beautiful.

A multitude of captions came to mind when I saw this:

Who knew there were Hidden Mickeys on Crystal Pier?

See more San Diego photos at my main website.

Crystal Pier Bodybuilding Photo Shoot

Last Sunday I had a photo shoot at Crystal Pier. It was a bit overcast and cloudy, which wouldn't seem like an ideal situation to take photos, but in truth, it worked out just fine.



Since it was early, Pacific Beach was pretty quiet with most of the people I saw either surfing or getting coffee and breakfast at Kono's, the local hot spot.



My subject was bodybuilder David Anthony Tassin, who just the night before had earned the NPC National Physique Athlete Runner-up in the Los Angeles Championships Physique Tall Class. Here he is prepping for his photos. He looked pretty ripped even before the pushups.



The back of a champion.



I don't think I've ever had a waist that small.



I had to laugh a little when he said he was going to do some sit-ups to make his abs stand out. Wow.



Doing his show routine:



His idea of shooting under the pier worked out well; really love this shot.



Elsewhere in PB, you can see what Crystal Pier looked like back in the day with this hand painted mural:



Pulling back, here's the entire mural:



Just down the street, you can also find John Lennon advertising Five Guys restaurant. Wouldn't Four Guys have been more appropriate?



Tonight, David competes in Las Vegas to hopefully get his pro-card at the USA Championships. I can't imagine him not succeeding.

See more Daveland photos at my main website.

Surfing Safari

Getting new tires ranks pretty low on my meter of excitement, but last Sunday, when the manager said it would take 2 hours, it became even less exciting…until he mentioned that I could just hang out at the beach. As fortune would have it, my camera was in the trunk of my car. It all seemed like a no-brainer. I walked a few blocks west and hung out at Pacific Beach for 2 hours. I eventually ended up at the Crystal Pier, which gives a fantabulous view of both the ocean and the coast. No fishing for me, but I was definitely interested in shooting!



The lighting was perfect, and the surf didn't seem too bad, either.



Here are a few shots I got on that beautiful Sunday where the surfers seemed to be having a blast, and I found it hard to walk away as I kept waiting to capture the perfect wave.











It almost felt like summer.

See more vintage & current Daveland Pacific Beach photos on my main website.