The Monthly Edit - June 2026 — David Mullin | Street & Observational Photography

The highlight of June was a family vacation to Mission Beach in San Diego. We have been several times and keep going back because we love it so much. The month was also dominated completely by film photography. Most of which is in black and white but the frame of the month has to belong to this picture of the empty beach and lifeguard station. I like the whole vibe created by the light and color rendering of the film. This was taken from the balcony of our condo, as were a few more on the list.

As I talked about in my film developing post, this was easily one of my favorites of the year. I may have messed up the development of my first roll, but the genuine laughter of my daughter transcends any issue of technical perfection.

As part of the same roll from above, the imperfections of this brick wall and steel door actually enhance this photograph, in my opinion. This is the side of a building in the old part of downtown Roseville that houses our favorite coffee shop. I’ve taken this same picture many times throughout the years but this is my favorite.

I spend a lot of time in Old Sacramento and frequently take pictures of the trains there. On this day, the engineers were moving cars around so I was able to capture one of them walking down the platform as he inspected the train. I captured enough dynamic range to get the Boarding sign hidden in the shadows.

As we sat drinking coffee at Fourscore, our favorite local coffee shop, the last person got up and left from a table in the back of the room. I liked how the light captured the bookshelf and the peek of wall from the room behind. These types of quiet moments are my favorites to capture.

Father’s Day arrived during our first full day on vacation. After eating at one of my favorite breakfast spots in the Ocean Beach area of San Diego, we strolled down the street toward the ocean. I had my Leica M6 hanging around my neck filled with black and white film, but when I saw these red umbrellas against the blue sky, I pulled out my Yashica T4 point and shoot camera and snapped a picture.

As we continued walking toward the beach, I came across this group on the sidewalk. At the time, I didn’t stop and take in the entirety of the scene. I don’t work that way. I posted up, put the camera to my eye, and snapped the picture. After seeing this scan from the lab, I immediately tried to see if I could track down these people. It turned out they’re a local punk band. I was able to get ahold of their email address and send them this picture. It rivals the lifeguard picture above for my favorite of the month.

When we finally got to the beach, we sat on the stone wall and watched the surfers try and catch waves alongside the pier. As I turned to my right, I noticed a woman standing up and taking a picture of said surfers.

Sitting on the balcony of our condo overlooking the Mission Beach promenade gives one a great vantage point to people watch. This particular afternoon, I noticed this guy who had stopped and started doing various exercises. Once he started to get upside down, I ran in and grabbed my camera. I waited for another person to enter the frame just to give it a little depth.

It was dinner time which meant strolling down the promenade to a local restaurant. There was so much activity on the beach and the runners and cyclists zooming passed on the promenade itself that this woman quietly reading by herself up on her balcony caught my eye.

Every time we travel to San Diego, we always have to venture over to Coronado for brunch at The Henry (I always get their Turkey French Dip). With the magnificent Hotel Del Coronado just across the way, it’s a must stroll after a meal. I noticed these parked bicycles with the empty beach behind them.

Every morning when there wasn’t a marine layer, the low hanging sun created long shadows in front of our condo. I took several frames on a couple different days as people passed on by. This father with his baseball glove looking down at his daughter is my favorite of the bunch.

We’ve been lucky to have two months in a row of family trips. Sometimes they come in bunches like that. This was the first time I’ve shot film for an entire month in a long while. It also marks the first time black and white photographs outnumbered color ones. It’s been a nice break shooting lots of color but I have been missing monochrome photography. It does seem more natural in a way to me. Anyways, I’m happy with the photos from this month. I actually had to spend some time paring them down to twelve, and to be honest, I’m still not convinced I picked the correct ones. But then again, this is art, not science.

David

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The Monthly Edit - June 2026

The Monthly Edit - May 2026