SAN DIEGO — You know one of the reasons people love San Diego is because it's as pretty as a picture.
In this Zevely Zone, I take a look back in time with a photographic family. "This is one of my favorite places to shoot," said photographer Randy Dible.
For the past 40 years, Randy has traveled up and down California's coast capturing the beauty of San Diego's beaches. "Wherever the waves are good I am going to go there and shoot photos," said Randy who told me this past winter was one for the record books.
"So that's Big Rock. That's La Jolla," said Randy while showing me his beach pictures.
"That's the Ocean Beach Pier that got destroyed this winter," said Randy. "The waves were phenomenal. Great conditions we had big swells. It's one of those winters you wait twenty years for."
His exhibit titled 'Through the Lens' captured the biggest surf of the season and moments to remember. "This is a backwash day, a really crazy backwash day where the waves were coming up the beach and washing back into themselves," said Randy.
Photography is a passion that runs in Randy's blood. "My grandfather had a photography store in downtown San Diego from 1925 to 1945," said Randy.
Robert Thompson, Randy's grandfather, loved shooting pictures of San Diego's beaches as well. "He would put the camera on a ten second timer and jump back into the photo, so I've got a lot of selfies of him," said Randy.
Randy cherishes his family and wants to share his three generations of family history. "This is my grandmother, that is her sister. This is my mom in the middle with her two friends," said Randy. "That's my grandmother and her friends and they are partying." Randy has thousands of old images and film too; each with its own history lesson. "That is my great-grandmother at the Mission de Alcala in 1908."
"This is all of the girls up in Del Mar, that's the old Del Mar Pier that was torn down in 1950," said Randy.
On weekends, Randy showcases the art at an Ocean Beach gallery at BK Printing on Newport Avenue. "They see my art and then they get to go to the other side and see my grandfather's art," said Randy.
It's a one-of-a-kind look at San Diego's beaches 'then and now'. I asked Randy which pictures sell best, his or his grandfather's. "Both are the same and you can come into my gallery and buy a picture of my grandmother or my mother or my aunt and I don't have a problem with you putting it up on the wall, you know," laughed Randy. "It's fun stuff, it's fun to go back in time, everybody loves to go back in time.
Randy says showcasing his family's photography has been a lifelong dream. For more information about his gallery click here.