Tom Spaulding

I've always loved to travel and learn about local history and experience all that makes a particular place unique In the last decade, Northern California and the Great Central Valley have been the subjects of my explorations, which include both the usual tourist sites—national monuments, museums and the like—but also, perhaps even more so, destinations that are not at the top of the travel agent's list, like the incredible wealth of historic buildings and vintage neon signs in the Central Valley cities of Stockton and Fresno. As long as it's old or it's unique, or preferably both, I'm intere...

I've always loved to travel and learn about local history and experience all that makes a particular place unique In the last decade, Northern California and the Great Central Valley have been the subjects of my explorations, which include both the usual tourist sites—national monuments, museums and the like—but also, perhaps even more so, destinations that are not at the top of the travel agent's list, like the incredible wealth of historic buildings and vintage neon signs in the Central Valley cities of Stockton and Fresno. As long as it's old or it's unique, or preferably both, I'm interested.

Since I was a kid I have been taking photos of historic buildings, but only the development of digital photography (which has freed the photographer from the expense of film and developing) has made it possible for me to afford to document the wide range of subjects that interest me (like the more than 1,000 vintage neon signs I have photographed) and practice with my technique to develop as a photographer.

You can see thousands more of my photos at

www.flickr.com/photos/tspauld/

You can read about the history of the subjects I photograph at

tspauld.blogspot.com/