The photographs that appear in the Header of this site are all mine taken at various times and in various places around the world. As time goes by there will be a truly eclectic variety of these head shots, and I’ll post thumbnails of them here as they are added. I’ll also add explanations.
Also, there is a link in the Header for my Flickr site where you will find more photos from what is becoming a vast collection.
The Header shot itself will change every once in a awhile to help give the site a different look.
In no particular order…
Wickaninnish Beach, Tofino - Christmas 2005
Actually, Christmas Day if memory serves. A windy, cold and foggy day. This is the location where the old Wickaninnish Restaurant used to be. The new Wickaninnish Inn (along with the Pointe Restaurant) is now further up the beach nearer to Tofino proper.
Tofino Tin Can - Christmas 2005
Tofino is known for its fishing among other things, and there’s a canning facility at the end of town. This picture opportunity appealed to me since it combined many elements: rock, vegetation and metal… and rust, too!
Beach Boots - Christmas 2005
My ‘gully jumpers’ on MacKenzie Beach near Tofino with the tide out.
Flower Basket - Liverpool Waterfront 1984
This was a close-up shot of a basket of flowers in front of the Port Authority Building in Liverpool. I took it with a Polaroid SX-70, and then manipulated the picture by ‘drawing’ on it with a ballpoint pen containing no ink, literally pushing the coloured emulsion layers around. The resulting effect resembles a water colour painting left in the rain. I have about twenty like this, taken all over Southern England and Thailand.
Deep Cove Marina - Spring 2005
This is actually three photographs stitched together to make a panorama of the dock area at the foot of my street.
9 Beaches Resort, Bermuda - August 2005
During the summer of 2005 I wrote, produced and directed a travel television series called “Island Escapes”. This is a shot taken from a 60 foot power yacht belonging to the resort looking back at the northern end of the property. The cabanas — or ‘tentalos’ as they’re sometimes called — were built on stilts over the ocean.
Newport, Oregon - August 2006
This was one of those accidental shots that I ended up liking a lot. I was standing at the end of a pier under the Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport, Oregon when I slipped on some fish guts that someone — possibly a seagull! — had strategically left behind. I was shooting a slow shutter speed anyway, hoping to capture the ’speed’ of a passing Cigarette boat, and this was the result.
MacKenzie Beach, Tofino - Christmas 2004
More proof that it is practically impossible for everyone NOT to take a perfect sunset picture. However, Tofino does help.
Shiprock, New Mexico - June 2006
Talk about Middle Earth! Approaching the town of Shiprock heading west on Highway 64 (about 30 minutes from the Arizona border) you begin to see what looks like the bow of a ship sticking out of the desert sand. You don’t really get a good look-see until you’ve passed through town, and then you’re presented with an unbroken, flat vista save for this lone mountain. Quite the site!
Wickaninnish Beach, Tofino - Christmas 2005
As above, taken from almost the same vantage point.
Tuscany, Italy - May 1992
Is that a woman?! Is she naked?! What’s her name? Yes. Yes. None of your business!
Colorado River, Arizona - June 2006
Me, my wristwatch, a foot bridge and the raging Colorado River underneath.
Back Alley, Bellingham, Washington - June 2006
The red door against the decrepit stone and brick caught my eye. Just after this picture was taken two squaters came out from the basement and wandered away.
Gene Simmons, Vancouver - July 1977
There’s a story here - one that I’m sure I will tell another day. It includes my ‘tour of duty’ with KISS during their first Canadian tour in 1974… maybe it was 1975. Whatever. In the meantime, this is from a series of shots I took of the band performing at Vancouver’s PNE Arena almost 30 years ago.
Part of the Dockyards, Bermuda - August 2005
This was taken from a motor launch in the waters off eastern Bermuda during filming of my TV series, “Island Escapes”.
Church, Ile aux Marins - September 2005
Ile aux Marins is an all but deserted island in the harbour near Saint-Pierre - a piece of France just off the coast of Newfoundland. Rich in history — it was once THE meeting place of gangsters and bootleggers during Prohibition in the 1920s — it is now realiant on tourism and a small amount of shell fishing for its survival. Taken during filming of my TV series, “Island Escapes”.
Seagull, Tofino - Christmas 2004
I liked the fact this seagull was doing his impression of Linda Blair!
Red Roses - November 2005
Just a grab shot. Taken in front of Linda Meinhardt’s Specialty Food Store on South Granville Street, Vancouver.
Rubina May Curry, West Hartlepool, England - Late 1800s
My grandmother, taken when she was barely a year old.
Full Moon (duh!), Tofino - Christmas 2004
All of a sudden, there it was, looming out of the night as the storm clouds parted. I grabbed the tripod, the L-O-N-G lens and snapped this shot.
Mackenzie Beach, Tofino - Christmas 2004
Love this area - what can I say?!
Lockdown, B.C. Penitentiary - February 1980
In the summer of 1979 I requested permission from the government to enter and photograph the abandoned B.C. Pen. Eight months later I was handed the keys to the prison and told to lock up when I left. I rented a bunch of photographic gear, including several strobes, and spent seven hours roaming un-escorted through what was left of the facility after the riot that ultimately caused its demise. This is a close-up picture of a ‘cell plate’. There were twelve cells to a row on each side of a hallway, several hallways to each cellblock. As a great wheel was turned, a set of gears literally ’screwed’ the doors to the cells shut simultaneously. If just one cell was to be opened (or closed), a second wheel was turned so that a guide pin lined up with the number of that cell on the cell plate, then the great wheel was turned and only that cell would be affected. This is just one of many shots of that experience.
Upstairs at Kells, Seattle - Spring 2005
Kells is a great traditional Irish pub just at the north end of Pike Place Market. They were renovating the upstairs this day and it afforded the opportunity to wander in unannounced with camera in hand.
Incarcerated, B.C. Penitentiary - February 1980
There was no power to the entire penitentiary as it had been closed at this point for some time. No power = no light. I wandered into a hallway where I could barely see - this happened often. As I didn’t bring a flashlight (dumb shit!), I set off the strobe flashes on occasion when it became too dark to see where I was going. This was a true ‘grab shot’. I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me. I lifted the camera, aimed as best I could, and fired. This was the shot.
Nowhere Bar, Nutt, New Mexico - May 2006
Being literally in the ‘middle of nowhere’ takes on new meaning when you reach this spot in New Mexico. I was turning left off the main highway to visit a ghost town and this was perched right on the dusty corner. Being in ‘the middle of nowhere’ I knew I was on the right track.
Lockheed Electra, Pima Air Museum, Tuscon, Arizona - May 2006
The Pima Air Museum in Tuscon, Arizona is a fascinating place. It seems after only a few short hours on-site that they surely must have one of every plane every made. They don’t, not even close, but what they do have is on display on their own blacktop. Everything from two former presidential Air Force One’s to several B-52 bombers to this Lockheed Electra - the same type of plane that Amelia Earhart flew into oblivion and history.
Burma Shave Style, near Kingman, Arizona - May 2006
Apparently there were a lot of left turns during this trip. Taking a dirt road off the main highway just an hour or so out of Las Vegas, and just outside Kingman, Arizona, I happened across a series of signs entreating passers-by into the dusty little town of Chloride to forage for antiques and knick-knacks. The old ‘Burma Shave’ style of advertising still works.
Edison, Washington - August 2006
The first stop on my drive south to Oregon was a tiny (two tables in, two tables out) bakery in the town of Edison, Washington. Edison lies just the other side of the Chuckanut Drive in the middle of an “S” curve in the road. You have to slow down, so why not stay awhile? An excellent way to catch tourists.
Imperial Beach, California - March 2007
I caught these two surfers waiting for a wave that never came. You might not know where Imperial Beach is - you’re to be forgiven. It lies between San Diego and Tijuana and is best reached by taking the San Diego-Coronado Bridge onto Coronado Island. From there you follow Orange Avenue that bisects the small island community, past the dowager Hotel del Coronado and onto the slip of Highway 75 known as the Silver Strand. Emerging at the other end you encounter a less expensive recreational area of shops, restaurants and small motels that is perhaps one of the best-kept secrets of California.
Motel, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State - September 2006
There’s something about the combination of neon at night, a slow shutter speed and the lack of something better to do that brings out the ‘experimenter’ in me!
KISS, Vancouver - July 1977
Almost front row centre. Definitely SRO!
Foreign Cashola, Vancouver - July 2007
A quick scan of the many denominations of cash I’ve used around the world over the past few years.
Abandoned Train Station, Arizona - May 2006
One of those nice ‘grab shots’. Traveling along a lonely stretch of Arizona interstate… there it was.
Wiggly Vegas, Las Vegas - May 2006
My first night in the Southwest beginning my great SW Road Trip. Granted, drinking was involved.
Old Tablets, Izmir, Turkey - May 2007
Eschewing the onboard activities of this particular Norwegian Cruise Line ship, I opted for a day trip to the ruins of Izmir, south of Istanbul.
Pensive Mood, Egypt - May 2007
Once again, day trips grab a firm hold. This time, Alexandria to Cairo by train.
Rusty Man, Daytona Beach - March 1979
Another grab shot. While awaiting yet another parade of Harleys to pass, this elderly man in his elderly rusted panel truck pulled up and looked directly at me. “Snap!”
Satellite Dishes, Cairo - May 2007
Gotta have their television!
Acropolis Bathroom, Athens - May 2007
What exactly IS a ‘cloackroom’ anyway…?
Camel Crossing, Cairo - May 2007
Right of way is everything.
Blue Sky Restaurant, Santorini - May 2007
Yes, it really is that blue!
Blue Mosque, Istanbul - May 2007
Incredibly intricate. Simply beautiful.