San Diego Area in March

[bob carnie]

I am on a workshop in March , in the San Diego area and want to tag on a week or so of shooting.
Not interested in Rocks and Trees , forced to spend 4 days shooting wildflowers but my wife is worth it.
Looking for other interesting locations, areas.
As well need a good C41 lab to turnaround develop only at the end of the trip in San Diego.
Any help is appreciated
Bob

[Dave Wooten]

The wildest flowers used to be in San Francisco a bit north, but they have mostly withered. :)

[John Kasaian]

Make a run for the border. Baja! The beer is better. Don't drive. Cheap flights from Tijuana. Avoid eating frijoles before launching (like all good flyers should!)

[Gordon Moat]

Chrome (http://www.chromedigital.com) on Kettner do very good C-41, though not 4x5. I don't actually know any place in town that does large format C-41 processing, only E-6. Local advertising shooter Dana Neibert does his own 4x5 C-41 processing, largely due to the lack of labs willing to handle it. Wish I could give you better news on that, though you do have several choices for 120 roll film or 35mm processing.

Little Italy area is quite nice and photogenic, and the best area for a cappuccino. Downtown is interesting if you like a more urban environment. Coronado is a more relaxing area to explore, with nice beaches, interesting houses, and more of a small town feel to it. La Jolla has lots of beaches to explore, though if the weather is like the last few March experiences, you might end up with heavy overcast. When you want easy access to flowers and gardens, then head to Balboa Park; be sure to check out MOPA (http://www.mopa.org) and the Natural History Museum, and depending upon the current exhibit, include the Museum of Fine Art . . . if you are into museums.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[Nathan Potter]

Dave, I assume you are talking the women and not real wildflowers!

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[J D Clark]

Bob,
North Coast Photographic does C-41 in 4x5:

http://www.northcoastphoto.com

It's just a little bit of a drive up to Carlsbad in North County. Nelson's Photo has all the film you would want or need.

As for locations not involving wildflowers, rocks, or trees, the list I came up with is:

Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum
Downtown architecture
Balboa Park architecture
Beach sand patterns
Palomar Observatory, Bailey House
Harbor and Piers
Classic wooden roller coaster in PB
Hang gliding at Torrey Pines
Hotel Del Coranado

Is the workshop in any way related to photography?

John Clark
www.johndclark.com

[bob carnie]

Hi John

thank you and others for your posts.

The class I am taking is one of the last Dan Margulis will be giving, its called the photoshop super advance class and both sessions are booked full in San Diego.* I have taken all his courses and he is one tough teacher and I am glad to be there*
After the course we are going to the Anza Borrego State Park for rocks trees and flowers and I want to tag on an extra week for other things to photograph, All suggestions are welcome as the thought of Southern California during March is like a dream.. Going from 5ft of snow and -30 C to T shirts is giving me a buzz.
I will be bringing Noblex , Fuji 6x9 and Pentax 67 so we need good quality C41process for roll film only, hopefully ran on our last day in Paridise.
As I get closer to the date I will be in touch with the film lab and Nelsons to get the needed film and set up a c41run.

again thanks for the locations and one last thing, I have been working on a long term project that deals with metal objects, and I am most interested in that.

Bob


Bob,
North Coast Photographic does C-41 in 4x5:

http://www.northcoastphoto.com

It's just a little bit of a drive up to Carlsbad in North County. Nelson's Photo has all the film you would want or need.

As for locations not involving wildflowers, rocks, or trees, the list I came up with is:

Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum
Downtown architecture
Balboa Park architecture
Beach sand patterns
Palomar Observatory, Bailey House
Harbor and Piers
Classic wooden roller coaster in PB
Hang gliding at Torrey Pines
Hotel Del Coranado

Is the workshop in any way related to photography?

John Clark
www.johndclark.com

[J D Clark]

Bob,
Okay, for 120/220 C-41 processing, I'd particularly recommend Chrome:

http://www.chromedigital.com

That'll take you into the city, and it's not far from Nelson's, either.

Metal objects, eh. I'll think about that today, and post something later. Of course, the biggest volume of metal in the San Diego area is probably the Midway aircraft carrier (not counting the other non-public aircraft carriers in port).

Anza Borrego would be the place to go for rocks/flowers/desert. A little closer in is the Elfin Forest Reserve, and Quail Botanical Gardens.

John Clark
www.johndclark.com

[Gordon Moat]

Definitely the shipyards, port and Naval station contain lots of metal, though only parts of that are accessible. There are a few good vantage points for those areas. The Convention Center downtown has some interesting metal, in the forms of sculptures and architecture, mostly along the bay side; this leads northwest into Seaport Village. The America Plaza trolley station next to the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown also boasts some interesting metal, sculptures and architecture.

Dan Margulis is a fantastic writer and educator. I have quite a few articles and guides written by him. He is one of the great resources for teaching photographers CMYK, which is one of the other things (tutoring) that I do when my commercial work is a bit slow. Sounds like a great workshop that you will enjoy.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[Scott Davis]

IIRC, there's some pretty nifty metal (and a neat Spanish Colonial style building) at the train station in San Diego. I think they have at least one old train there that runs excursions, but don't quote me on that - it's been 20 years since I was there last.

[John Cooley]

I recommend using caution if you travel into Baja near the border. Kidnappings and murders are almost a daily event in Tijuana and nearby border towns. 18 bodies have been discovered in Tijuana this week alone: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20080930-1352-bn30tjdead2.html

The vast majority of victims are involved in the drug trade or are wealthy Mexican nationals. However, many kidnappings go unreported and there have been American citizens abducted. Baja is a beautiful place with wonderful people. However, in my opinion, setting up a view camera and sticking your head under a dark cloth in TJ, Rosarito Beach, Tecate or Ensenada would be unwise. Hopefully, circumstances will change in the future.

As for locations, I suggest (in addition to those locations already mentioned by others) the University of California at San Diego (in La Jolla) which has interesting architecture and public art.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

I recommend using caution if you travel into Baja near the border. Kidnappings and murders are almost a daily event in Tijuana and nearby border towns. 18 bodies have been discovered in Tijuana this week alone: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20080930-1352-bn30tjdead2.html

The vast majority of victims are involved in the drug trade or are wealthy Mexican nationals. However, many kidnappings go unreported and there have been American citizens abducted. Baja is a beautiful place with wonderful people. However, in my opinion, setting up a view camera and sticking your head under a dark cloth in TJ, Rosarito Beach, Tecate or Ensenada would be unwise. Hopefully, circumstances will change in the future.

As for locations, I suggest (in addition to those locations already mentioned by others) the University of California at San Diego (in La Jolla) which has interesting architecture and public art.

I haven't been to Tijuana in over 40 years. I prefer Tecate, it is a nice little farm town. Not too much violence there, most of the violence is confined to the Tijuana/Ensenada corridor.

[shmoo]

I haven't been to Tijuana in over 40 years. I prefer Tecate, it is a nice little farm town. Not too much violence there, most of the violence is confined to the Tijuana/Ensenada corridor.

Yeah...I think they just found another dozen or so people who were beheaded in the Rosarita...drug wars down south of the border...stay in El Norte!