San Francisco

I’m leaving tonight for a week in San Francisco. Unlike my vacation in Europe this past summer, I’m treating this as a work trip. Although I’ll be spending time with family and friends (I’m staying with my sister, her husband and my niece, who live on Telegraph Hill), my main goal for this trip is to do a lot of shooting. I’ve had this trip in mind ever since applying for my sabbatical. Not teaching gives me the opportunity to travel, and breaking up the hours I’ve been spending in my home studio sounds pretty good right about now.

I’m planning on shooting at the Musee Mecanique, which is a great collection of vintage arcade machines. I’m also planning a trip to Fairyland in Oakland, CA, a 1950’s era children’s theme park which was recently restored. I may also be visiting the Oakland Museum of California, a natural history museum that looks like it could have some interesting dioramas.

I’ll also be wandering around a lot, shooting whatever I find. Chinatown is a likely place, my sister lives just a couple of blocks from there, and it’s a photogenic neighborhood. Fisherman’s Wharf is also a possibility. Although it is pretty much just like Navy Pier here in Chicago (an obnoxious, overpriced tourist trap), it’s likely I would get some good photos there.

I’m bringing three cameras-my digital, a Holga, and my 4-lens Nishika camera, to allow me to make a variety of photos.

I’ll probably update the blog a couple of times while I’m in San Francisco. I may even post some photos.

Until then, here's a couple of cyanotype prints I made yesterday. The first one is a photo I took at the Communist Sculpture Park in Budapest. The second one is an old photo I took a couple of years ago, that I thought would make a good cyanotype.

See you in a week!