San Diego Then & Now — #1: Today is the birthday of Ansel Adams
#1
Today is the birthday of Ansel Adams
I’m hoping that all the photographers reading this know who Ansel Adams is. If not, see Wikipedia.
When I was about 12 and living with my wise old grandmother in Kingsville, Texas, she had a big book on her coffee table (do people still have coffee tables?). It was titled “These We Inherit: The Parklands of America,” and it was by Ansel Adams. I thought it contained the most beautiful pictures in the world.
Adams probably is most famous for his beautiful landscape pictures and I thought that I would post my most beautiful landscape picture today in his honor. Guess what? I have about five landscape pictures, none of them particularly good! Scratch that idea.
I thought about what type of photography I would like to be known for. I couldn’t answer that question. What do I like to take pictures of the most? Ah-ha! Maybe we’re getting somewhere. My favorite photography subject is trains but the trains and the tracks are not as accessible here in San Diego as they were back in my native Texas.
Then it came to me….
A couple of years ago, Liz Flint, a real estate agent in Tomball, Texas (northwest of Houston), sent me a train calendar. As I was looking through the calendar, I saw this:
I recognized that spot because I’ve driven over that bridge many times, and walked that beach many more times. It’s my favorite beach in San Diego — Torrey Pines State Beach. Here it is on a Google map:
The railroad tracks are still used, so shortly after receiving the calendar, I went out one Saturday determined to recreate the scene, albeit without a smoking steam locomotive. I got several pictures during the course of several hours; trains don’t run frequently on Saturday. The best picture I got was with Amtrak’s Surfliner:
There are about 50 years between the two pictures. If you look at the trees on the top of the hill in the background, you can see that the silhouette is still very much the same:
The trees on the top of the hills are Torrey pines. San Diego is one of only two places in the world where the Torrey pine grows. The other is an island off the Southern California coast.
Pictures taken by Russel Ray using a Canon 550D.
Posted on February 20, 2012, in Flora, Mother & Father Nature, Photos, Railroads & trains, Series, Then & Now and tagged amtrak, ansel adams, Houston, Kingsville, Liz Flint, railroads, San Diego, Santa Fe, steam engine, Texas, Tomball, Torrey pine, trains. Bookmark the permalink. 19 Comments.
What a great idea – taking a photo re-creating an old image.
Very well executed too.
I actually think your image is a slightly better angle than the old image.
The spot was difficult to find because of erosion over the years, making it pretty dangerous. A poorly placed step on that fragile sandstone can result in a tumble down the hillside and onto the railroad tracks.
Interesting how little has changed over 50 years. Notice now you have two instead of one little shack.
Cool! Yep, Ansel Adams is one of my favorites.
Great Idea … and well done!
That was a creative approach and well executed too !
Thanks! It was fun, too!
I agree with the Cool Cat!
this was a nice stop,
I like the two pictures of the same…
and I will have to look up Torrey Pines….
How come the trees haven’t changed …?
you’ld think there would be somekind of growth
in 50 years….
I will like these..
Thanks for sharing…
Take care…
)0(
maryrose
Hey, Lady Blue Rose. The trees being pretty much the same caught me off guard, too. But mature trees are pretty much mature for the rest of their lives so I guess they were pretty much mature in 1960. Now they are just living out their lives.
I hadn’t thought of that LOLs..
makes perfect sense…
so Time does stand still when one reaches their maturity
I like that
Thank you Russel….I am glad i stopped in tonight
Take care!
)0(
maryrose
Hi Russel, Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. H
You’re welcome. My morning tasks each day include visiting ten new blogs. Yours was in today’s tasks!
Oh my hit the wrong botton and off it went. Anyway I was saying, hope you visit again.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
I will.
Hi Russel. What an amazing idea and beautifully executed! And anything honoring Ansel Adams gets us on board! (bad pun, I know…) You might enjoy one of our “for the love of Ansel” posts. http://raxacollective.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/october-air/.
Cheers!
Thanks!
Amazing!!!!!!!! great IDEA AND GREAT IMAGE! Love San Diego, is very beautiful…
I love Ansel Adams, he’s such an amazing artist…peace Jaz
This is so cool! It’s great to see then and now photos. I spent 30 years of my life in San Diego, mostly North County, miss it terribly at times. Thanks for your photos.