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Photo Shoot – Santa Monica – Year-End Movies

13 Jan

Dawn and I took a short vacation trip over the New Year’s weekend to West Los Angeles. This may sound strange considering that we live in Orange County, only about an hour’s drive from our vacation destination. But this has become an enjoyable tradition for us during the last several years. Not having to drive a long distance has its advantages and it is difficult to beat the Southern California weather. Perhaps if we were avid skiers  we would feel differently.

What do we do? Mainly we catch up on end-of-the-year movies that are expected to contend for an Academy Award, many of which haven’t yet made it to the hinterlands of OC. We read, relax, check out the post-Christmas shopping sales, and eat. Then we go home.

One of the attractions of Santa Monica Pier is the Ferris wheel. This shot brought out the spectacular colors of the wheel against the brilliant blue sky, framed by the roller coaster.

This year I decided I wanted to go on a photo shoot one morning. After considering several possible destinations, I decided on Santa Monica Pier. It was a perfect day to go to the ocean — warm and sunny, the sort of day that cause out-of-towners to consider moving to Southern California.

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Posted in Photography, Vacations

 

Photo Shoot — South Coast Metro and Old Orange

29 Dec

My brother-in-law, Brad Parrett, visited us this week. As Brad and I both enjoy photography, we decided to go on a photo shoot somewhere in Orange County. The places we chose were the South Coast Metro area and Old Town Orange. Although the day wasn’t perfect for photography (it was sunny, but hazy), we had a good time and I got some decent photos. Here are some that I liked.

My career as a practicing lawyer was spent with Latham & Watkins, now a global firm with some 2,000 lawyers. When I began with the firm in 1970, however, there were less than 50 — all in the Los Angeles office of the firm. In 1977 I transferred to the Orange County office of L&W, its first branch office. Several years later we moved into the top floors of Center Tower — a prime location adjacent to the O.C. Performing Arts Center and one block from one of the world’s great shopping centers, South Coast Plaza. The above photo is looking up at Center Tower, the tallest building in Orange County.

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My Visit to Granada Hills

18 Sep

I recently drove from Orange County to Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley to visit my old high school. Our graduating class, which we named “Pristians,” is having its Fiftieth Anniversary Reunion next weekend on Catalina Island. I have been working on a reunion book and will MC the dinner event, so I thought it would be a good idea to do a little research and see firsthand what the school is like today. I was quite impressed by what I saw. Scattered throughout this post are photos I took during my visit.

I met with Granada Hills Charter High School Executive Director Brian Bauer and got an overview of the current state of the school.

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Posted in Personal History

 

Quade’s Birthday Party – Garage Photo Studio

30 Jul

Today was my oldest grandson, Quade’s, birthday and we had a party at our home. Tyson had flown out from Chicago to visit for a few days, so I took the opportunity to give my garage photo studio a workout. It was the first time in a long time that we all found ourselves in one picture.

Top Row (l-r): Matt, Morrie, Dawn, Tyson, David. Bottom Row (l-r) Amy, Quade, Brooke, Noah, Ashley.

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Posted in Current Family Stories, Photography

 

Edson Barney and St. George

31 May

Last weekend Dawn and I attended the annual Mormon History Association Conference, held this year in St. George, Utah. I gave a presentation at the conference titled “Edson Barney: ‘The Oldest Man in the Church.’”

Edson was one of my great-great-grandfathers. A carpenter and millwright by profession, he lived in St. George from the 1860s until the turn of the century and helped build the tabernacle and the temple there. Between sessions of the conference I had a chance to shoot some photos of those buildings while Dawn patiently waited. The photographs turned out quite nice, so I thought I would share a few of them, interspersed with a few words about Edson. I hope this format doesn’t seem too disjointed.

The theme of the MHA Conference was “From Cotton to Cosmopolitan,” meant as a nod to the vast changes in Utah’s Dixie from the time of the first settlers in 1860 (sent by Brigham Young to establish a cotton industry) to the current era, where St. George has become a vibrantly growing city, a destination for snowbirds and a retirement Mecca. I took this shot of the St. George Temple at dusk, with setting sun illuminating the stream of a 21st century jet behind the 19th century steeple. I thought it captured well the theme of the conference.

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Posted in Family History, Photography, Vacations

 

Jordan (Saturday 5/7): Petra

18 May

Our destination for Saturday (the final day for Dawn and me) was Petra, recently named one of the seven “new” (meaning currently existing) wonders of the world and, according to BBC, “one of the 40 places you have to see before you die.” An absolutely spectacular historical site, it did not disappoint.

The Treasury at Petra

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Posted in Photography, Vacations

 

Jordan (Friday 5/6): Wadi Rum (the Valley of the Moon)

17 May

On Friday we were up early for our trip into Jordan. We passed through the various border checkpoints without incident and drove through miles of desert until we reached the beautiful area of Wadi Rum, also known as the Valley of the Moon. It was here that Lawrence of Arabia based his operations during the Arab Revolt of 1917-18 and I can certainly understand why.

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, named in honor of the book written by T. E. Lawrence.

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Israel (Thursday 5/5): Temple Mount, St. Anne’s Church, Western Wall, Gethsemane, Orson Hyde Park, Garden Tomb

15 May

Today was our last day in Jerusalem and our first stop was the spectacular Dome of the Rock mosque on Temple Mount. It is the oldest existing example of early Islamic archictecture, and was completed in 691 CE. It stands on the site of the Second Jewish Temple, which was destroyed during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The outer walls are made of porcelain and the designs mirror the octagonal shape of the mosque.

Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount, Jerusalem

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Posted in Photography, Vacations

 

Israel (Wednesday 5/4): Room of the Last Supper, BYU Jerusalem Center, Old City, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, House of Caiaphas

15 May

The reason we decided to tour Israel this year was because our longtime friends, Joe and Marilyn Bentley, were serving a term as directors of outreach at The BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. This was the day we would get to visit with them.

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Israel (Tuesday 5/3): Bethlehem, Yad Vashem, the Israel Museum

12 May

This day we drove to Bethlehem to see the place where Jesus was born. Actually, nobody really knows the precise birthplace, but that hasn’t stopped Christian churches from building monuments on or near the supposed site. Well, if it wasn’t there (as Dan Peterson often said), it was somewhere nearby.

This is the Church of St. Catherine, operated by the Roman Catholics, which is actually adjacent to the supposed birthplace. But it was the most picturesque thing I saw in Bethlehem, so it gets first-page prominence.

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Israel (Monday 5/2): Masada, Qumran, the Dead Sea

12 May

The next day we packed up our things, left our hotel on the Sea of Galilee, and headed south toward the Dead Sea. We were already below sea level, but we headed even lower—in fact to the lowest place on earth that isn’t under the sea. The temperatures as we descended, but fortunately we never experienced unbearably hot weather. It got into the 90s on this day, but that was the peak.

Our first stop was at Masada. Most people have heard the story of the people of Masada; it has been the subject of TV documentaries and even a miniseries starring Peter O’Toole.

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Israel (Sunday 5/1): Bet She’an, Jordan River, Capernaum, Bethsaida

12 May

Our first stop on Sunday was at Bet She’an, a city of great historic importance, sitting at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley. It is one of the oldest cities in the ancient Near East and was first settled five to six thousand years ago. It became a crossroad of commerce during ancient times. Archeologists have been digging in the area for some time and in the process have revealed a fascinating insight into the life of the Greeks and Romans as they controlled the city in the centuries before and after Christ. At that time Bet She’an was the capital of the Decapolis cities.

This street must have been magnificent in its day.

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