View Obscura

 Way back in 2011 I lived within walking distance of the UC Irvine campus and I spent many a weekend afternoon exploring the grounds. On one such day I wandered upon the Jao Family Sculpture Garden in a remote area of the campus. I was fascinated by this random garden filled with Chinese statues, so I couldn't resist taking a handful of snapshots. 

 Growing up in Southern California I loved seeing the two enormous WWII balloon hangers when I traveled through Tustin. I was saddened when I learned that one of them burned down earlier this week. From The Orange County Register: A powerful fire ripped through one of two 17-story-high hangars still standing at the long-shuttered Tustin Marine Corps Air Station early Tuesday morning, Nov. 7 , leading to a catastrophic collapse of most of the iconic structure’s outer shell. Dozens of Orange County firefighters responded when the blaze was first reported at the north hangar just before 12:55 a.m. By midmorning, however, they stood by watching the structure burn, helpless to stop its demise. Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Thanh Nguyen said sending firefighters into the building was too dangerous. “The biggest fear is collapse and getting our firefighters injured,” Nguyen said. The cause of the fire and where it began were not clear Tuesday. No injuries were reported and firefighte...

It has been a while since I posted anything railroad related so I took another dive into my archives and found these images that I took about a decade ago at the BNSF yard in La Mirada, California which was one of my favorite train watching spots.  At that time the BNSF facilities in La Mirada was a haven for ex Santa Fe Railroad locomotives that had once been premiere power in main line service before the merger with the Burlington Northern in the 1990s. The BNSF would deploy much larger and powerful locomotives on long-haul freight trains so these smaller units would be reassigned to switching and local freight duties.  It was a joy to be surrounded by such a collection of locomotives still in their original Santa Fe colors. I could imagine for just one afternoon that the good old ATSF was still alive a kicking. Sadly it's becoming harder and harder to find locomotives like this as the years pass. As you would expect older locomotives are retired and replaced by new ones and...

The San Francisco Bay area is famous for the dense fog that rolls in about sunset, but on this morning the area around Newport Beach looked very much like it's northern cousin.   Normally the locals stay away from the beach when the weather is anything but perfect, and most of the time the weather is just as perfect as it can get, but on this morning the fog seamed to draw out a larger than normal crowd onto the beach. There were a lot of people out walking on the sand, taking a morning swim and even boating despite the poor visibility on the water off shore. It was surreal to be down on the beach and not be able to see the multi-million dollar homes and condos up on the hills that overlook the ocean. It was a site that you didn't get to see all that often and I was blessed this day to be able to experience and photograph a magical morning by the sea. Map: Photos:  Check Out: California Through My Lens - The Rock Jetty at Corona Del Mar State Beach California Through My Lens ...

Photos By - Ken Hulsey Corona del Mar State Beach is a great family beach and a popular place for swimmers. Also known as Big Corona Beach, Corona del Mar State Beach is a half-mile long sandy beach framed by cliffs and a rock jetty that forms the east entrance to Newport Harbor. The beach is also popular with surfers, divers, volleyball players and sunbathers. Corona del Mar offers beautiful sandy beaches and coves that look like they came right off of a movie set. You actually may have seen these beaches in movie and television productions such as Gilligan’s Island and current made for TV productions from Disney. On the hills above the beaches stand houses and windy roads and a lookout point to enjoy spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and bay. The sunsets here are incredible, so bring a picnic and enjoy! Corona del Mar State Beach held the first major surf competition in Mainland America: the Pacific Coast Surf Riding Championships in 1928. Organized by Tom Blake through the Sur...

It's funny how the beaches in Southern California are so drastically different in Summer and Winter. During the Summer months Corona Del Mar State Beach is crowded and you have to pay to park. In Winter the beach can be completely deserted at times and there is no one to collect a parking fee. The funny thing is that the weather really isn't drastically different between the two seasons. It is Southern California after all. At times the temperatures can drop into the nippy low 60s but generally it's in the 70s and 80s.  That's good beach weather as far as I'm concerned. There is always, however, exceptions to every rule and on this January afternoon the temperatures were low and an incoming Winter storm had eclipsed California's famous sunshine. In most of the country a Winter storm means snow, but in these parts in means a steady rain. Along the coastline this also means a higher than normal tide.  I was lucky enough to be alone on the beach as this storm roll...