Photos were taken on the West Coast (with a few strays) during the 1970s. The originals were destroyed in storage, and these images are scanned from prints placed on the walls. Over time, the prints were damaged by sunlight, and scanned to create digital images. They are presented in no particular order, much as they were displayed on the walls.
Only surviving photo of honeymoon to Victoria, BC, August 1974. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters of the British Columbia Parliament Building, a hand-held shot taken at night, in a driving rainstorm, with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.Official US Navy photo of USS New Jersey circa 1968. Commissioned in 1943, New Jersey served during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Lebanese Civil War, before being decommissioned in 1991. Today the ship is on display as a museum on the Delaware River off Camden, New Jersey. We used to see the New Jersey almost daily when it was in Bremerton, Washington.Several times a year we would pass by this ruined tower in Eastern Washington, near Vantage. Originally, it soared more than 40 feet into the air on an otherwise barren plane, but crumbled over the years. Eventually, we stopped to take a photo, circa 1976. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.The Palouse is a region with huge, rolling hills, covered in modern times by wheat fields. Here, a hang glider launched from Steptoe Butte heads out over the fields. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.Steptoe Butte is a solitary mountain north of Colfax, Washington, and a National Natural Landmark. In 1975, it was used as a launching platform for hang glliders, mostly owned by Washington State University students. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.A flooded creek cascades over a ledge in Whitman County, Washington, circa 1974. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.USS Pegasus (PHM-1) tied up at North Island, 1978. The Pegasus was a very fast (50 mph) hydrofoil patrol ship designed in cooperation with Canada, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain. Though very successful, the US Navy canceled the program in favor of larger ships. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.No, this is not a good photo of a koala, but after much waiting in less-than-ideal light, it was the best possible shot. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken 1979 with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.Orca leaping from a tank to touch a ball, at SeaWorld San Diego, circa 1978. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters. Scanned from a sun-damaged print; taken with a Yashica TL-Electro.A dolphin at Sea World San Diego leaps well out of the pool to hit a tethered ball circa 1979. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.Two bottlenose dolphins demonstrate their power and agility at Sea World San Diego, circa 1979. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.Navy photo of the USS Forrestal, CVA-65, in 1965. My father, Leo Charters, died aboard the Forrestal in Feb. 1966 as a result of a concussion. Scanned from a sun-damaged print.“House” made of junk outside of Pullman, WA, circa 1976. I used to tell people it was student housing. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters. Scanned from a sun-damaged print; taken with a Yashica TL-Electro.Stone Mountain, Georgia, has the world’s largest bas-relief sculpture carved into it, honoring Confederate leaders Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis. After the Ku Klux Klan was revived at the mountain in 1915, work began on the carving. This imitation steamboat plies the lake in front of the mountain. No, it is not on the West Coast, but visiting a site commemorating racism and treason, yet dressed up like a carnival park, was memorable. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, taken in 1978 with a Yashica TL-Electro; scanned from a sun-damaged print.Proceeds from my first professional writing sale. The check was for something like $27-odd dollars, and I wanted to remember it with something more impressive, so turned it into nickels and pennies. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters. Scanned from a sun-damaged print; taken with a Yashica TL-Electro circa 1978.USS Boone in Elliot Bay, Seattle, WA. The Boone was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate, incorrectly (but popularly) called a “fast frigate” by some sailors. Perry-class frigates were the most common warship stationed in Yokosuka in the 1980s. I was given this photo after taking a short cruise aboard the Boone on Puget Sound. Scanned from an official US Navy print.USS Cogswell from above. The USS Cogswell was a Fletcher-class destroyer (DD-651) that served in World War II. Decommissioned after the war, it was recommissioned in 1951, and served in both the Mediterranean and Atlantic as well as the Pacific. My father was assigned to the Cogswell when it was stationed in San Diego. Official U.S. Navy photo.USS Cogswell in the Pacific, 1969. In 1969, the Cogswell was sold. to Turkey, where the ship served as TCG İzmit until it was decommissioned and scrapped in 1981. Official US Navy photo.USS Cogswell (DD-651) next to USS Dixie (AD-14) in San Diego, 1960. The photo incorrectly identifies the destroyer tender as USS Prairie. Official US Navy photo.USS Cogswell in the Pacific, 1962. Official US Navy photo.Giraffe at San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park, 1969. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters.
