Del Mar RaceTrack from the Chopper

Posted on Aug 26, 2012 in photography

The Del Mar Fair is a huge event in San Diego but the Del Mar Race Track is what people actually come to San Diego to see.  The Del Mar horse races have become more popular than most other horse tracks in California which includes the famous Hollywood Bowl and Santa Anita Race Tracks.

Bill and I headed up in the Chopper to get the action from above today and were joined by a couple of photographers from the Del Mar Race track that were looking for photos to use for promotional material and advertisements.  It wasn’t the most beautiful day since it was overcast but the event was interesting since we were up in the air.  We even managed to snap a couple of shots up and down the coast as we were navigating to the event.

The Del Mar Race track was called, “Where the Turf meets the Surf” by Bing Crosby.  He wrote and sang a song about it even.

The horses are on the track and it’s a tight race.

The horses and jockeys look almost like miniature from this angle.

We came upon the beautiful Scripps Pier as we motored down the coast.  This is one of my favorite places in San Diego.

The beautiful town of La Jolla.  This is Children’s Cove which was built and dedicated by Ellen Scripps to the children of La Jolla many years ago.

Look at how cute La Jolla looks miniaturized.

Cowboy Kid

Posted on Aug 25, 2012 in Family

The kid is serious.  He is a cowboy.  The cigarette is just candy.  The whiskey bottle filled with Apple Juice. So, it’s all just for fun shots.

Falling Down – Marian High School

Posted on Aug 24, 2012 in Popular

It opened in August 1960 and closed 50 years later.  Marian High School was the natural place that catholic kids in the South Bay would enroll after finishing grammar school in places like St Pious, St Rose or St Charles.  While it did close in 2007 the buildings still sit vacant, decaying and waiting; waiting to be demolished by whatever developer with whatever plan with whatever money it can be bought for.  I guess it doesn’t help that the economy tanked and the real estate market took a dive, but for whatever reason no one is buying and so the old school waits while the weeds grow up through the cracking cement.

I went to Marian during the 1980’s and made a lot of friends.  It was a small school but we still had all of the things a big school had. We had a cafeteria. We had football. We had basketball, track, wrestling and all the sports you could want.  We even had a marching band.  There were 10 of us in the rag tag band barely pumping out enough sound with our saxaphones, flutes and single snare drum to reach the stands when we played the anthem before games.  We spelled out the letter “M” to honor our school just like any other big school would; we just did it with 10 people instead of 100.  I know other high schools would laugh at Marian – we were small and they were big.  They had money – we didn’t. But we had something that none of them had. We had Matt Modine, the most famous of famous actors in the world. What other school had someone so famous such as that?

I went back to Marian this last week when I heard it might be sold soon and torn down for good. I wanted to capture some pictures of the old school before that happened and to see what had become of the place that I left over 25 years ago and never went back to.

Sir Arthurs cafe sits boarded up after serving tasty treats like frozen burritos and pre-packaged sandwiches.  At lunch, this was the spot.

Classrooms are empty now.  The old hallways are quiet now. The boarded windows make the place feel ghostly.

The lockers are gone. The benches removed. Stoners, rockers, sport guys, international students used to pick their spots in this quad and hang out during breaks. Where and who you hung out with defined your high school years here.

The counselors room, now home to ferrel cats sports a sign in the corner with the caption “Natural High”

This source of inspiration did not work on all Marian high schoolers.

The Gym now littered mostly with cat feces, old books and a lawn mower. The smell has not left my nose for days now.

The gym was the meeting places for just about everything – dances, games, school meetings. It as always filled with sound. Not anymore.

The football and the weight room.  You could hear the Led Zeppelin blaring from outside the walls while football players did their bench presses.

Crab grass grows over dry grass on the old football field.

The library has a few books left.  Why they are still there is a mystery since everything was moved to the new school. I guess they didn’t make the cut. There is a mattress on the ground, some old computers and things that probably meant something to someone once.

Letters and a diploma holder spill out of a box.  This was rescued.

Plans for the new school Mater-Dei left behind.  The plans for the new school show a beautiful place in sharp contrast to the dull decay left behind here.

The Senior Lawn.  This was the power center of the school where freshman dared not tread.  My brother met his wife the first day of school at a locker which has since been torn down.  How many other people met their significant others in this very place?

The old Cross still stands at the school entrance.  A cardboard plaque of the schools Alma Mater still left behind somewhere behind the shuttered doors.

Welcome Home to Frankie and James

Posted on Aug 23, 2012 in Family

My sister adopted two babies.  We put together a video and song to welcome them home.  Welcome home to Frankie and James.

Sunday in Point Loma

Posted on Aug 20, 2012 in photography

This afternoon we headed over to Point Loma.  Point Loma is a military town and it is also home to the Cabrillo Monument with the old lighthouse and lots of great coast.  While on a walk around the Bay we came across the cutest labrador retriever and he kept making me toss the ball into the water so that he could go and chase for it and bring it back to me.  I took some pictures of him shaking himself off.

Swami’s at Sunset

Posted on Aug 19, 2012 in photography

We headed up to Encinitas to check out yet another world class surfing beach of San Diego, Swamis.  Swamis is basically named after the Self Realization Fellowship grounds which are located next door to the beach but overlook the famous surfing spot.  To get down to the beach you have to walk down a long staircase which winds all the way down the cliffs.  There are two staircases but one of them appeared to be closed off and was wound in barbed wire to deter people from trying to climb down it.

This time of year the waves at Swamis are pretty small and flat and the water is super warm.  It felt like the water temp there today was probably about 71 degrees and there were plenty of long boarders out in the water surfing the long rolling waves. Another beautiful San Diego day in North County.

San Diego

Posted on Aug 18, 2012 in photography

I have been working lately on combining words and pictures together to see how people react to it.  I happen to think that the future of advertising on Social Networks like Facebook and Google will be much more related to imagery and words – like what you see in magazines.  If you can combine the right words and pictures you can have a very powerful message that people will share and read.

Marine Street Beach at Sunset

Posted on Aug 16, 2012 in photography

Marine Street Beach is a great La Jolla Beach – particularly at Sunset when people take their dogs out for works and the skim boarders are out catching the last waves breaking against the shore for the day.  It was a beautiful night again in La Jolla.


The fading sun makes the clouds seem golden and the homes too.  Seagulls and Gulls usually soar by trying to find the way to a nesting place for the night.

Water spouts are created as waves crash into the rocks and shoot up through the cracks and crevices.

The last shots of the night, its another beautiful sunset in La Jolla