San Francisco has been my home since 1969. I purchased my first camera (second-hand) within two months of moving here, brought it to the camera store and asked about film and how to load it. I went to what is now called the Harvey Milk Center and learned the very, very basics of how to develop a roll of film and how to print in the community darkroom. Everyone was photographing in black and white (b&w) in those days, disdaining color, and part of the experience was printing one's own work. Not being a technician, I was never very happy in the darkroom, even when I had my own, and now understand this to be one reason I didn't do as much work as I might have.

I recognize a specific day on a beach I have been photographing for many years as the day I began my journey to color. Going from what was in front of me to looking at it through the lens, I didn't want to make the switch in my mind's eye to see its translation to the b&w film in the camera. I was never satisfied with that image and moved exclusively to working with color film shortly after that day.

These three sections are a weave of images placed together simply to read visually at their best. All images in the second section are from Kehoe Beach at Pt. Reyes National Seashore, with the exception of Ancient Cypress, which is just down the road. Seven images in this section were taken on the same day in 1998, a testament to the beauty of the day and the power of focusing one's attention fully on a subject. On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I began my exploration of that city and will have images for you soon.

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