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Photographer’s Notebook: The Final Frame

Hey folks, your humble daily news photographer here.From time to time our editors ask us to do a “Photographer’s Notebook” — something to give readers a peek behind the lens.Well, the time is ripe for me.This is my final assignment.After 45 years of chasing deadlines (the last 35 here at the mighty Bay Area News Group), I am hanging up my press pass and putting down the viewfinder.With your kind indulgence, allow me to share a few images.I will limit this to 35 photos, maybe too many, but I want to recall the old film days when cameras let you shoot only 36 exposures.And I will save the last frame in case I see one more shot…

Residents flee Broadway Terrace past a burning home at 5974 Buena Vista Avenue during a huge firestorm in Oakland, Calif. Sunday Oct. 20, 1991. (Karl Mondon/Staff)
Residents flee Oakland Hills Fire, Oct. 20, 1991. 
PG & E workers brave strong winds 200 feet above the ground on a utility tower where a Bell Jet helicopter crashed carrying Bill Graham on two others Friday night. The wreckage remained wedged Saturday October 26, 1991 at the site along highway 37 at the Sonoma/Solano county line. (Contra Costa Times/Karl Mondon/Oct. 26, 2001)
Bill Graham helicopter crash, 1990 
AT THE TOP OF THEIR CLASS--Aspiring lineworkers train atop a forest of wood poles at PG & E's Livermore Training Facility Thursday morning. The Lineworker Apprentice Program is housed on the utility's 35-acre location east of downtown Livermore on National Drive. It relocatated in 1993 from Kettleman Hills in Central California. (Contra Costa Times/Karl Mondon)
PG&E lineman class, Livermore 
Sailors from the USS Carl Vinson call home after six months at sea. Alameda, 1993
USS Carl Vinson sailors call home after six months at sea. Alameda, 1993 
Saturday may have been a day not fit for man nor beast, but for well-clad Pugsley, the soggy elements were not to interfere with the walking of his human, Joan Callos. The pair took a constitutional along Clayton Road in the El Monte neighborhood of Concord. Feb. 3, 1996. (contra costa times/karl mondon)
Pugsley braves the rain. Concord, 1996 
Kachina, a 15-year-old Apaloosa, is nearly swept down Little Pine Creek in Walnut Creek, California, as the Contra Costa Swift Water Rescue Team struggles to hold on Sunday morning February 8, 1998. Wrangler Dave Summers, center, from a nearby equestrian center assits Captain Dave Vanni, left, and Chris Gonsalves, far right. The horse had slipped approximately 100 feet down a landslide where she was wedged for nearly theree hours alongside the rain swollen creek.(CONTRA COSTA TIMES/KARL MONDON)
Apaloosa saved from drowning. Walnut Creek, 1998 
The Drive-Thru Easter Pageant at Parkhaven Baptist Church in Concord has been revived for its third year. Visitors to the display are giving tape recorders with a voice-over accompaniment to five Easter season scenes including the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Congregation members, including Tom Robinson as Jesus Christ, will be producing the annual display until Saturday night,7:30 to 9:00 P.M. at 1187 Meadow Lane.
The Drive-Thru Easter Pageant, 1995, Concord 
Willie Mays throws out ceremonial last pitch as the Giants leave Candlestick Park, Sept. 30, 1999
Final pitch. Willie Mays and the Giants say good bye to Candlestick Park, Sept. 30, 1999 
St. Francis stands guard as two women take a last peek at Candlestick Park's shrinking profile Monday morning, June 29, 2015. Within minutes, upper deck Sec. 17 was demolished. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Candlestick Park demolition. June, 2015. 
Padre catcher Ben Davis and home plate umpire Mike Everitt witness Barry Bonds 69th home run of the year off relief pitcher Chuck McElroy in the 6th inning of Saturday's (Sept. 29, 2001) game at Pacific Bell Park. The homer leaves Bonds one blast shy of the major league single season record. (Contra Costa Times/Karl Mondon/Sept. 28th, 2001)
Less than two weeks after the 9/11 terror attack, Barry Bonds hits his 69th home run of the season in 2001. 
Construction workers shag fly balls hit by the San Francisco Giants during construction of Pac Bell Park in 1991. (Photo by Karl Mondon)
Construction workers shag fly balls hit by San Francisco Giants during construction of Pacific Bell Park in 1991. 
Retired for the night, a dozen cranes rest in formation over the Bay Bridge construction site Tuesday evening May 17, 2004. The 240-foot tall cranes are capable hoisting loads of over 40 tons. (Contra Costa Times/Karl Mondon)
Cranes line up alongside the Bay Bridge as construction starts on the new eastern span. Oakland, 2004. 
Lightning strikes the Salesforce Tower in downtown San Francisco, on Monday night, Sept. 11, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Lightning strikes the new Salesforce Tower. San Francisco, 2017. 
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEBRUARY 21: Movers drive the wrong way down Franklin Street with a 139-year-old Victorian home being relocated, Sunday morning, Feb. 21, 2021, to a new address one half mile away on Fulton Street in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Victorian home saved. San Francisco, 2021. 
The Transamerica Pyramid pokes through thick fog, blanketing the San Francisco Bay to catch the first rays of sunlight on Thursday morning, Jan. 20, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Transamerica Pyramid pokes through fog. San Francisco, 2022. 
STANFORD, CA - MARCH 17: One of the last sunrises of winter shines through the Stanford Dish on Sunday, March 17, 2019, in a view from Portola Valley, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Sun rise through Stanford Dish. Stanford, 2019. 
PESCADERO, CA - NOV. 29: Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest on the West Coast, looks eye to eye with a full moon dissolving into the atmosphere off the San Mateo Coast last week. The 115-foot tall structure continues to weather the elements two years shy of its sesquicentennial anniversary, including this year???s CZU Fire which burned to within a quarter mile of the structure. Photograph taken on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Moonset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse. Pescadero, 2020. 
Natalie Coughlin keeps warm before her May 22, 2004 backstroke race at the Santa Clara International Swim Meet. (Contra Costa Times/Karl Mondon)
Olympian, swimmer Natalie Coughlin. Santa Clara, 2004 
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 24: Hometown favorite Marshawn Lynch peeks out from a rain poncho as the Oakland Raiders play likely their final home game ever at the Oakland Coliseum on a soggy Monday, Dec. 24, 2018. The team's next home field is not known as they prepare to move to Las Vegas in 2020. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
The Beast, Oakland Raider Marshawn Lynch, 2018 
United States light heavyweight boxer Andre Ward, pride of Oakland, Calif., uses his new gold medal to cover up his badly swollen left eye from "love taps" he received in his title fight with Belarus' Magomed Aripgadjiev Sunday August 29, 2004 in Athens, Greece. (Karl Mondon/Contra Costa Times)
Oakland boxer Andre Ward wins Olympic gold, Athens, 2004 
An AC45 wing-sailed catamaran test boat similar to the boats featured in the America's Cup sailing race in 2013 capsizes on San Francisco Bay Monday afternoon Jun 13, 2011. The 45-foot boats, which are owned by Oracle Racing, can reach speeds of up to 30 knots, or about 35 mph. (Karl Mondon/Staff)
Capsize, Tiburon, 2011 
High on their foils, Oracle Team USA streaks past the finish line at the America's Cup races Tuesday, September 24, 2013, in San Francisco, Calif., leaving them one victory shy of claiming sport's oldest trophy. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
America’s Cup victory. San Francisco, 2013 
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Sept. 10: The St. Francis High School student section celebrates in a cloud of flying baby powder on a night their football team did the near impossible, defeating De La Salle, 31-28 in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. It was the first time the visiting Spartans had lost to a Northern California team in thirty years. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Baby powder flies as St. Francis celebrates the first Northern California school to defeat De La Salle’s powerhouse football time in thirty years, Mountain View, 2021 
Robb Nen celebrates with Bobby Estalella as the Giants clinch the West . (Contra Costa times/karl Mondon/Septl 21, 2000)
Robb Nen and Bobby Estalella, Giants clinch, San Francisco, 2000 
San Francisco Giants Buster Posey and Brian Wilson celebrate the last out of their 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies October 23, 2010. (Karl Mondon/Staff)
Buster Posey and Brian Wilson celebrate Giants pennant win, Philadelphia, 2010 
Megan Rapinoe (15) celebrates Alex Morgan's (13) second goal of the game during the 66th minute of the game against France Wednesday July 25, 2012 at legendary Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland. Though the Olympic Games do not start until Friday, soccer starts early and Cal-grad Morgan shined in her Olympic debut. (Karl Mondon/Staff)
Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, Olympic victory, Scotland, 2012. 
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 20: Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11) and Stephen Curry (30) celebrate during the final moments of the fourth quarter after a come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their NBA Western Conference Finals playoff game at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, May 20, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson celebrate, San Francisco, 2022 
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 29: The San Francisco Giants' masco Lou Seal, seated in a sea of cardboard cutouts, looks worried as the team trails the San Diego Padres, 6-2, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Giants mascot Lou Seal sits among cardboard cutouts of fans during covid season, San Francisco, 2020 
TWIN BRIDGES, Calif. - Aug. 30: A tree burns in a blackened forest at dawn Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, after the Caldor Fire tore through the Twin Bridges area on Highway 50 overnight, destroying many structures in the area. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Caldor Fire, Lake Tahoe, 2020 
A wheelchair sits at the end of a driveway in an apocalyptic scene on Koeke Court in the incinerated Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa, California, late Thursday, October 12, 2017. (Karl Mondon/ Bay Area News Group)
Tubbs Fire, Santa Rosa, 2017 
Camp Fire, Paradise, 2018
Camp Fire, Paradise, 2018 
A helicopter drops a rainbow of water onto the Pawnee fire burning east of Spring Valley, Calif., Monday, June 25, 2018. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Water drop rainbow, Clear Lake, 2018 
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 16: Lightning fills the sky above the Bay Bridge as dawn breaks in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Aug., 16, 2020. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Bay Bridge lightning, San Francisco, Aug., 16, 2020 
Workers begin installing a new San Jose Mercury News sign high atop the 13-story Legacy Towers building in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. Aaron Henry hands part of a letter "T" to Nick Taisler and Ramon Mendoza. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
The Mercury News returns to downtown San Jose, 2014 

 

 

 

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