Back in September I spent some time in Newport Beach, and never posted the images – so why not do it now? These were shot just after sunrise, downtown.
Newport Beach, California 
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Places
Newport Beach, California
Gilman Springs Road
Just a little plug for one of my other sites!
HemetWeb.com is where I blog about my new hometown, and I love this image so much, I wanted to share it here too. It was shot on Gilman Springs Road, just outside of San Jacinto, on the way to Riverside. To see more, go to http://hemetweb.com/2011/01/the-road-to-riverside/
Images in the Desert Valley Star
The Desert Valley Star, in the Coachella Valley, published several of my images in their current issue, on newsstands now!
The Idyllwild Monument is set to debut in it’s permanent location, in the center of town, on November 8th. My images of both the monument and David Roy, the artist, are used in companion to a story that begins on page 3, and continues on page 21.
It’s a really good looking weekly publication – and it’s fairly new – it debuted in 2008. So pick up a copy in print, if you can! They also have the full issue available online at http://www.mygazines.com/title/5568.
related posts
>> Idyllwild Town Monument by David Roy
Malibu, California
Almost everyone is at least a little bit fascinated by the idea of Malibu – movie stars and rock stars living in beautiful mansions right on the beach – how fabulous is that? But if you focus on just the celebrity homes, you’ll miss some of my favorite parts of Malibu. It really is all about the beach!
Old San Juan Capistrano
I spent some time in one of my favorite places yesterday – on Rios Street, in San Juan Capistrano – near the Mission and the train station.
My favorite house was built in 1870 by Jose Dolores Garcia, as a gift to his wife. He wanted to build a unique home, so he did extensive research on horseback, in Anaheim, looking at other homes built in that era. It was the first wooden house built in San Juan Capistrano and is now the O’Neill Museum.
A wrap-around porch with pink Bougainvillea..
I’m a big fan of the Victorian penchant for mixing flowers and fruit – if you look at the art from the era, still life paintings, with ripe succulent fruit and overblown flowers were extremely popular. They also combined the two in their front yards – as witnessed here – an orange tree, with a few oranges still clinging to the bottom branches, and one overblown, past it’s prime, rose. Perfectly Victorian!
The train still runs through the center of town, just as it’s done for over a hundred years. The Metrolink is a commuter train that can take you to Los Angeles, Riverside, or San Diego.
There’s a petting zoo right on Rios Street – and I did a portrait session with a very pretty Alpaca who posed for me. We did a few headshots, and then a full length shot. She has that hair in the eyes thing going on that I just love!
Eventually one of her Alpaca friends wandered over, and wanted in on the action…
The houses in the Los Rios District range in age from 50 to over 200 years old. You can read more about the individual houses, and the Los Rios District at sanjuancapistrano.net
White picket fences seem to be quite popular on Rios Street.
I arrived on Rios Street just before sunset, and by the time I left the sun had set, and the the restaurants were hopping, and the movie theater across a side street was open for business…
My new project…
I’ve started a new site, for my new city – and I’m filling it with beautiful images, and photo essays, and stories!
So far I’ve blogged about Winchester Farms, Little Lake, Valle Vista, the Hemet Carnival, Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church, and one of my favorite old houses.
If you’re at all interested in life in Hemet, California, check it out! www.HemetWeb.com.
More from Idyllwild
Just a few more images from Idyllwild last weekend….
I love this old redwood tree – it may not be as large as some of the giants up in Northern California, but it’s still massive – and beautiful. I also love the moss growing up the side. If viewed from the right angle, the redwood resembles a person with arms reaching up. It reminds me of the trees in fairy tales – not the scary trees that reach out and grab you – but the friendly good trees who are wise and kind, and shelter you from the elements.
And of course I have to include a few images of wildflowers! In idyllwild the wildflowers get a late start, since the elevation is so high, so they’re still going strong in the beginning of July.
And finally, the obligatory shot of Lily Rock. When most people think of Idyllwild, they think of Lily Rock – or Taquitz as it’s sometimes called – depends on who you’re talking to! I’ve personally never made an image of it that really excites me. Maybe it’s because everyone who comes to Idyllwild feels compelled to photograph it? Maybe it’s because I’ve seen some really excellent images of it? Maybe because landscape photography is not really my forte, and a shot like this is best left to the professionals? I’m not sure why I’ve never quite hit it – but I can pretty much guarantee that I’m not done trying. Someday I’ll get it!
Estudillo Mansion in San Jacinto | 2010
In February of 2006, in one of my very first blog posts, I blogged about the Estudillo Mansion. An old family friend was deeply involved with helping to save it, and gave me and a few of my family members a private tour – it was incredibly cool! I got to see it in the middle of the restoration – and shoot it…
Since then a lot has changed at the mansion! I was there this weekend on Sunday, so I wasn’t able to go inside this time, but I was able to roam the grounds freely, and they’re beautiful. Hopefully soon I’ll get there on a Saturday – the only day it’s open – so that I can see the inside again. I’m excited to see what they’ve done to the interior.
If you know me, you know how I feel about fruit trees used in landscaping – I love it! It’s very Victorian – fruit and flowers – all mixed together. Just lush… And oranges? Just so Southern Californian!
The mansion was built in 1885 by Fransisco Estudillo, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, and dedicated in 2004. The plaque above is located on a stand in front of the house and reads… “May all who visit this distinguished edifice enjoy it’s beauty and remarkable history.”
The pepper tree on the right is huge, and old, and I’m definitely not an expert but I do know that pepper trees this large can be 100-years-old, so I like to imagine that this tree was planted right around the turn of the last century, and has been there almost as long as the house. Known as the California Pepper Tree, they were actually brought here from Peru by the Franciscan Friars – they were planted at the California missions – so they’re definitely historically correct! The whole inside of this particular tree is hollow, so I’m not sure how much longer it will survive, but it’s lovely to see still standing – so many people are so quick to chop down trees that are not “perfect looking” but this tree is still beautiful in it’s own way – and all the huge old trees make the back yard at least ten degrees cooler than the front yard – it was 95° F in San Jacinto on Sunday, but in the shade of all those trees in the back yard? It was wonderful!
If you look closely you can see all the different shades of mortar that have been used to repair this wall over the years.
These guys are located out in the side garden – if I remember correctly this garden was originally the “kitchen garden” – meaning it was where they grew spices and vegetables – and when it was time to start a meal, the cook would wander out in the garden and pick whatever was ripe and ready, and then go cook it in the kitchen – which was not attached to the house – too much of a fire danger. The attached kitchen was added to the house much later.
Yeah, only open on Saturday afternoons… Oh well!
I was surprised by the number of donors with the last name of Estudillo. This wall is located in the garden, it’s not part of the house – as you can see it’s made of modern bricks – not the more narrow vintage bricks of the main house.
Above is a garden, where every plant has a little plaque. It could be worth exploring all on it’s own – on another day…
And isn’t the sign on the right cute? I don’t know who it refers to? But it’s definitely fun!
For more on the Estudillo Mansion, there was an article in the Press Enterprise in 2008, that describes the 15-year-old mission to save it, and mentions my grandparents’ old friends, Dick and Del Kroker.
Idyllwild Town Monument by David Roy
I’ve been watching the progress on the Idyllwild Town Monument for a couple of years now as I drove by in my car, and yesterday I decided to get a closer look. The artist, David Roy, was busy working, but he took a minute to pose for me.
The entrance to the artist’s workspace is pictured above – notice the stone lamp posts and the Gargoyles atop each one – they’re wonderful! And funnily enough, they don’t seem out of place in Idyllwild…
David Roy at work, and one of the many other pieces of his work, on the property.
I wasn’t the only one stopping to look – the monument is a big tourist attraction. Note the guy with a camera up to his eye – I wasn’t the only one shooting photographs either! And in fact, the artist encourages it! For more on David Roy, see mantlecarvers.com
Fallbrook Avocado Festival this weekend
Wasn’t today amazing! It really is starting to feel like summer is on the way, and I love summer, so that makes me very very happy!
In other news, the Fallbrook Avocado Festival is this weekend! If you’ve never been it’s the one Sunday of the year when all of Fallbrook’s neighbors come to town to buy avocados, hear live music, eat really greasy fair food – or escape the fair food by ducking into one of Fallbrook’s wonderful restaurants – and walk past 300 vendor booths selling everything from solar water systems to fine art to junky tchotchkes to more avocados – it’s all available!
SandDiego.org, the official travel blog for the San Diego Region, run by the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, ran one of my images on their blog today – from the 2008 Festival. It’s the image on the right.
And just because I like it, I’ll leave you today with one of my favorite images from that 2008 Avocado Festival – it’s just soooo Fallbrook! Pretty girls having a grand time – what better image of Fallbrook is there? You can see the rest of my images from that year by clicking here!
