Fine Art Photographs, Printed Big And Signed.

San Antonio, Texas

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Stone walls, bald cypress and a curved footbridge frame a quiet stretch of the San Antonio River Walk in downtown San Antonio, Texas, with the red sandstone tower and green tile roof of the Bexar County Courthouse rising above the buildings beyond. Key Features: The River Walk: Landscaped walkways line the San Antonio River one level below the downtown streets, with cypress trees, stone footbridges and cafes. The Courthouse: Built of red sandstone, with one tower capped by a pyramid of green tile, it fills an entire city block and is the largest and oldest continuously operating courthouse in Texas. The Architecture: James Riely Gordon designed it in the Romanesque Revival style; its cornerstone was laid in 1892 and it was finished in 1897. The Setting: The courthouse stands on Main Plaza near the river's downtown bend, its tower showing above the trees to walkers and boat tours.

Carlsbad, California

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Oceanside, California

A low sun catches a jumble of red and gold riprap boulders on the Pacific shore at Carlsbad, California, near its border with Oceanside, seen from right at the water's edge across foamy surf toward breaking waves under a heavy blue sky. Key Features: The Rock Revetment: Boulders line this shore to slow erosion. The beaches belong to the Oceanside littoral cell, a sand system from Dana Point to La Jolla that the jetty at Oceanside Harbor cuts in two. Vanishing Sand: Storm swells have stripped the sand from stretches of Carlsbad's beach, exposing the riprap and leaving only a narrow strip for visitors. The Town's Origin: Carlsbad began in the late 1860s as Frazier's Station, a cattle stop on the old Camino Real. A Spa Name: It was renamed in 1883 when its mineral water was found to match that of the European spa town of the same name.

Looking Across Into Mexica From El Paso TX

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

From high above El Paso, Texas, the view runs south across the Rio Grande and the border fence into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where a towering red X rises over a dense grid of colorful rooftops, rail yards and the highway that traces the border. Key Features: The Monument: The Monumento a la Mexicanidad, known as La X or La Equis, is a 64-meter sculpture in the shape of a red letter X. The Designer: Mexican sculptor Enrique Carbajal Gonzalez, known as Sebastian, designed its two crossing towers to stand for the meeting of two cultures. The Location: It stands on the south bank of the Rio Grande, right on the border between Juarez and El Paso. The Twin Cities: Rail lines, warehouses and packed neighborhoods fill the valley on both sides of the border, stretching to the desert mountains on the horizon.

US ARMY Yuma AZ

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

A retired M110 self-propelled howitzer stands on static display at the entrance to the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Arizona, its long 8-inch barrel raised against a deep blue sky above a paved highway, the flat Sonoran Desert and distant mountain ranges. Key Features: The Weapon: The M110 is an 8-inch (203mm) tracked howitzer the Army fielded from the 1960s through the Cold War for long-range fire support. The Proving Ground: One of the Army's largest testing installations, Yuma has tested weapons, vehicles and equipment in extreme desert heat since the 1940s. The Display: Retired artillery like this stands at the gates of many military posts, honoring the units that served with it. The Landscape: Flat, arid desert and rugged mountains mark the lower Colorado River desert of southwestern Arizona.

Carlsbad California

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Oceanside, California

Sunset light rakes across a rugged rock jetty at the mouth of Buena Vista Lagoon, where Carlsbad meets Oceanside on the San Diego County coast, turning the boulders rust and gold while cool blue surf breaks on the pebble shore beyond. Key Features: The Lagoon: The 350-acre freshwater lagoon sits on the border between Carlsbad and Oceanside. The Jetties: Fishing is allowed only from the rock jetties at the lagoon's mouth, the stones catching the evening light here. A Rare Habitat: Buena Vista is the only freshwater lagoon in California, home to dozens of kinds of migrant and resident waterfowl. The Colors: Iron in the boulders gives them warm rust tones against the cold Pacific blue.

El Paso Texas - Cojuarez Mexico

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

From high on the Franklin Mountains above El Paso, Texas, the city's rooftops run together with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, across the Rio Grande, while downtown El Paso's office towers rise on the left and whitewashed letters spell out a message on the far ridge in Mexico. Key Features: The Message: The letters on Cerro Bola in Juarez read "CD Juarez. La Biblia es la Verdad. Leela," meaning "City of Juarez. The Bible is the Truth. Read It." Twin Border Cities: Interstate 10 roughly follows the Rio Grande between the two cities, which together form one of the largest metro areas on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Pass: El Paso sits where the Rio Grande comes out of the mountains, at the foot of the Franklins. The Overlook: The drive up Rim Road to Scenic Drive looks down on the two cities in a horseshoe, downtown El Paso on one side and Juarez climbing the hills opposite.

Pacificia California Coast

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

From a bluff thick with pink ice plant above Rockaway Beach, near Mori Point in Pacifica, California, surf rolls onto the sand toward the long, low silhouette of the Pacifica Municipal Pier, with hillside neighborhoods, headlands and rocky sea stacks beyond. Key Features: The Pier: A 1,140-foot open-ocean fishing pier, where anglers try for salmon, striped bass and halibut, open to walkers all year. The Bluffs: Mori Point and its headlands are National Park Service land, laced with trails above the surf. The Town: Pacifica sits about twelve miles south of San Francisco, its neighborhoods climbing the coastal hills above beaches loved by surfers and hikers. The Setting: Ice plant and coastal scrub cover the bluffs along this stretch of Northern California.

Kite Flight Pacifica CA

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

A paraglider drifts down toward the shorebreak on Pacifica's beach, south of San Francisco, with Pacifica Pier reaching into the gray Pacific and thick coastal fog erasing the horizon, leaving only the rocky headland beyond the pier and the surf below the pilot's boots. Key Features: The Pier: A landmark fishing pier reaching more than a thousand feet into the Pacific, loved by anglers and photographers. The Fog: Pacifica is called the fog capital of California, and the marine layer regularly blankets its beaches and bluffs. The Launch Sites: Mussel Rock Park in neighboring Daly City has hillside launch points that send pilots down along the beach. The Coastline: Rocky ocean bluffs line Pacifica, fifteen minutes south of San Francisco.

Pacificia California Coast

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Looking north from the sandstone bluffs near Mori Point above Rockaway Beach in Pacifica, California, waves roll onto a wide beach dotted with beachcombers as paragliders drift over a nearby headland and the hazy Marin Headlands rise in the distance. Key Features: The Bluffs: Mori Point's eroded sandstone cliffs, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, drop steeply to the shore and draw hikers and bikers. The Paragliders: Headlands north of Pacifica, including Mussel Rock in Daly City, are well-known launch sites for gliders riding the ocean updrafts. The Wider View: On clear days the view runs up the coast past San Francisco to the Marin Headlands and Mount Tamalpais across the Golden Gate. The Setting: Pacifica is prized for its sea cliffs, tide-washed rocks and long sandy beaches.

Pacificia California Coast

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Below the eroding sandstone cliffs at Mussel Rock Park, on the Pacifica and Daly City border, a wide sandy beach curves south with people and dogs walking the shoreline and paragliders drifting over the headland, homes along Westline Drive at the top of the bluff and the rugged silhouette of Point San Pedro across the water. Key Features: The Rock: Mussel Rock is a sea stack, left offshore as the headland eroded unevenly. Paragliding: Pilots launch from the cliffs here and soar on the ocean breeze, the gliders seen over the bluff. The Park: Mussel Rock Park in south Daly City is a web of trails with hillside launch points. The Shoreline: The shore right below the park is mostly boulders, with the sandy stretch seen here a little farther along the beach.

1208 Pacific Ocean Sunset

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

The sun sinks into a bank of clouds over the open Pacific, setting the sky ablaze in orange, gold and deep brown at the moment it nearly touches the sea. Key Features: The Pacific: The largest ocean on Earth stretches along the western edge of the Americas, famous for its sunsets. West-Facing Shores: The Pacific coast faces west, so sunsets over the water are a daily show, often in vivid color. The Color: Low sunlight scattering through layered cloud gives the warm palette of golden hour over open water. The Composition: With no land or structures in view, the frame is all sea and sky.

Pacific Ocean Sunset

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

The sun sets low over the Pacific, turning the sky deep amber and burnt orange as thin veils of cloud stretch across the horizon above the hazy silhouette of a distant coastal range. The calm, darkening sea holds the last of the light as day turns to dusk. Key Features: The Coastal Silhouette: Layered hills rise from the sea on the horizon, where mountains meet the coast. The Atmosphere: Warm, diffused light and haze over the water come from the marine layer common at Pacific sunsets. The Moment: The last minutes before the sun goes down, when the sky's color is at its richest.

Pacific Ocean Sunset

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

A lone seabird crosses the sky near the glowing disc of the sun as it sets over the open Pacific, with gentle waves rolling in below, all bathed in deep amber and orange. Key Features: The Color: Near the horizon, sunlight passes through far more atmosphere, scattering away the blues and violets and leaving red, orange and gold. The Ocean: The Pacific is the largest and deepest of the world's oceans, and its west-facing coasts are famous for unbroken sunset views. The Moment: A single bird in flight gives scale and a fleeting sense of time to the still, open seascape.

Pacific Ocean California

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

From the sandy, ice plant-covered bluffs of Fort Funston, on the southern edge of San Francisco in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Ocean Beach runs north toward the misty outline of Seal Rocks, with Pacific surf rolling ashore and a few walkers and a dog far below. Key Features: The Cliffs: Fort Funston's eroding sandstone bluffs drop to a secluded beach with a wide ocean view. Military History: The site once held Battery Davis, built in the late 1930s for huge coastal defense guns guarding San Francisco's harbor. Wildlife: The sandstone cliffs are one of the few coastal nesting sites left for bank swallows in California. The View North: The rocks fading into the fog are Seal Rocks, just off Ocean Beach near the historic Cliff House.

San Francisco CA

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

A western gull perched on a pier wall holds the foreground at Aquatic Park Cove in San Francisco, with the calm cove stretching behind it to the sandy beach and the historic waterfront, including the red brick of Ghirardelli Square. Key Features: The Cove: Aquatic Park has a narrow sandy beach and a grassy park at the end of the Hyde Street cable car line, in the Fisherman's Wharf district. The Waterfront: The Maritime Museum stands at the center of the cove near the beach, alongside Victorian-era buildings along the shore. Ghirardelli Square: Its restoration kept the charm of the original buildings, including the red brick facades and industrial details seen across the water.

Alcatraz San Francisco California

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Alcatraz Island rises from the choppy waters of San Francisco Bay, seen from a passing boat with the Marin Headlands fading into haze behind it, its low profile of eroded rock topped by weathered buildings, from the old water tower and cellhouse to the lighthouse at the island's highest point. Key Features: The Lighthouse: The West Coast's first lighthouse began shining here in 1854; the current 84-foot tower replaced it in 1909 to rise above the new cellhouse. The Prison Era: The island held a federal penitentiary for some of America's most notorious inmates; the cellhouse and support buildings still stand. The Setting: About a mile and a quarter offshore, the island is surrounded by the bay's strong currents and cold water, the source of its reputation as an inescapable prison.

San Francisco California

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

A Western Gull stands on a weathered concrete piling on the San Francisco waterfront, the calm blue bay stretching behind it, its clean white head, dark slate back, stout yellow bill with a red spot and pink legs all in sharp detail. Key Features: The Species: A large, white-headed gull with a dark gray mantle, pink legs and a heavy yellow bill marked with red near the tip. The Range: It breeds from Washington State to central Baja California and winters along the coast from Vancouver Island to the tip of Baja. The Setting: The piers and seawalls of San Francisco's working waterfront make ideal perches for seabirds. The Behavior: Western Gulls are bold around people, often perched still on posts and railings while scanning the water for food.

The Palace Of Fine Arts San Francisco

by Rick Billings, M. Photog., Cr.

Tall cypress and willows along the lagoon partly veil the monumental Corinthian colonnade and open rotunda of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco's Marina District. Key Features: The Origin: Architect Bernard R. Maybeck designed the Palace as a Beaux Arts evocation of a Roman ruin for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The Lagoon: Maybeck kept the original marshland as a lagoon and wove it into his design, so the colonnade mirrors in the water. The Recognition: The Palace is a San Francisco Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, set on about 17 acres beside the Marina.