LoganMolen.com

This is the second batch of images from John Isom, who photographed three races at Hanford: the 1967 and the spring and fall 1968 Champ Car races. What’s special about Isom’s photos is they were shot with a Rolleiflex twin-lens 2.8E2 professional camera, utilizing medium format (2-1/4-inch x 2-1/4-inch 120 film.

John Isom photographed three races at Hanford: the 1967 and the spring and fall 1968 Champ Car races. What’s special about Isom’s photos is they were shot with a Rolleiflex twin-lens 2.8E2 professional camera, utilizing medium format (2-1/4-inch x 2-1/4-inch 120 film.

Snapshots from a quick music-centric visit to Nashville in May 2014. My main focus was The Bakersfield Sound exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame but I deeply immersed myself in other music sites and clubs along the way. Pardon some of the quality. Every photo was shot on my Android phone without flash so I was at the mercy of low light in most places.

Kern County Raceway Park held a tire test on Feb. 2 in advance of its scheduled March 2013 grand opening. I used the test as an excuse to get a peek at what looks to be an awesome track, right off Interstate 5 about 15 minutes west of Bakersfield.

Sandi, Hanna, Shirley, Linda and I went to Kings Canyon National Park for three days of camping and relaxation in July 2012. This is the second time we've been to this gorgeous and remote part of the park. And we'll be back for more.

Sandi, Allie and I took a quick trip to Santa Cruz for Allie's freshman orientation at UC Santa Cruz.

Sandi and I took a mini-vacation to Big Sur to celebrate a belated anniversary. It was great to get out of cell-phone range and enjoy life at a different pace. Big Sur is a loosely defined destination that stretches for more than 50 miles along the Central Coast. It's remote, but loaded with beauty, great food/drink and peacefulness.

I recently spent a day watching historic race cars speed around California Speedway in Fontana as part of the 11th annual Southern California Historic Sports Car Festival.

My interest was a special appearance by the Historic Champ/Indy Car Association, which fielded more than a dozen restored or replica versions of race cars from the 1920s through the early 2000s.

It's great to hear the cars on track at speed, but it's more rewarding to see these masterpieces up close, where one can marvel over the engineering and craftsmanship on machines that were mostly created with sheer ingenuity and without software, wind tunnels or other simulation.

The Amgen California Tour bike race stopped in Bakersfield for a time trial. Unlike the tour's last stop in Bakersfield, an actual race, a time trial involves cyclists racing against the clock. Each cyclist leaves the start 1 minute apart, so there was some passing along the 18-mile route. But for the most part the drama was isolated to those watching the qualifying times. These images were shot with my Galaxy Nexus.

I turned 50 this month, and spent the day in the company of my lovely wife, Sandi. We jammed quite a lot into just a few days. These photos were all shot with my Galaxy Nexus. I was surprised to see that some weren't as crsip as they should be -- I need to monitor that.

The 2012 March Meet was the first four-day meet in the event's history. These images are from a few hours spent on Friday and Saturday at the world's most famous nostalgia drag racing and hot rod event.

The family went up to Mammoth Lakes over New Year's weekend 2011-2012 to visit our friends Jeff and Susi and their grandkids. Lots of fun sitting around, hiking and skating on a frozen pond. These shots were with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Sandi's sister and nephew were visiting from Houston so we took them to see the holiday lights extravaganza at California Living Museum in Bakersfield. These were shot with my new Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

I got a glimpse of Maine's over-the-top fall colors during a recent whirlwind trip to Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine, for a newspaper conference. Sadly, I only had a half day to tour amazing scenery, most of it within Acadia National Park. But locals told me I was seeing the colors at their peak. All these shots were taken with my Droid.

We started our Southern Sights tour in Orlando and ended up a week later in Orlando -- with St.Augustine, St. Simons, Charleston and Savannah in between. This gallery focuses on ONE jam-packed day in which we visited FOUR theme parks in Walt Disney World: Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Don't ask why we did it in one day. I'm stupid, end of story. But this was a great day we'll remember forever.

After driving south from Charleston, we spent one night and halves of two days in Savannah, Ga. This is a town with a rich history that has been reborn as a shopping destination.

We spent two days in Charleston, S.C., and nearby Middleton Place, a famous Southern Plantation. Charleston and Middleton Place are stuffed with history, and I'd go back in a second.

The family spent eight days in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in late July, enjoying amusement parks, beaches and Southern culture. This gallery will focus the first two days: A visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, a stop at the historic town of St. Augustine, Fla., and day at the beach in beautiful St. Simons, Ga.

The family took a day trip to Sequoia National Park, stretching the annual pass we bought last August. Our focus this trip was the 3.5-mile roundtrip hike from Lodgepole to Tokopah Falls, then the short but steep hike to Moro Rock. The massive Sierra snowpack gave us marvels, with swollen rivers and waterfalls, and snow to enjoy on an 80-degree summer day. Paradise just 2 hours from home! These were shot with a Sony Cybershot so I had to crank down the resolution for these versions posted online. Some of the detail got lost in the translation. If anyone wants originals, I can share.

Hanna's eighth-grade graduation from Fruitvale Junior High was at the Icardo Center at CSU, Bakersfield. These were shot with my Droid, so there's some mushiness in some of the long shots. Sorry. Congrats, Hanna! Now she's on to Liberty High School to join sister Allie.

Sandi, the girls and I took my mom to Shinzen Japanese Garden inside Woodward Park in Fresno. The garden is not large but is a nice escape from busy life (although the east side borders busy Friant Road, so there's a rumble that's audible in spots). Entrance fees are cheap, and top out at $5 for a family. All these photos were shot with my Droid.

While Sandi was in Paris, I took the girls on a hourlong rafting trip through River's End Rafting, which is based at the mouth of the Kern River Canyon. It was a perfect introduction to rafting for the girls. Next up: Some more challenging rapids further up the Kern. These photos were taken with a disposable Kodak waterproof camera, so the quality is poor. Compounding things was me trying to snap photos while trying to row and try to stay in the raft when we hit rapids.

I spent a few days in early May 2011 attending the Independent Newspaper Group publishers meeting in Minneapolis. I had some time to see the immediate area, as well as take a few side trips to sister city St. Paul as well as the ginormous Mall of America. These photos were taken with my Droid.

I took a quick whirlwind trip in late April 2010 to attend a journalism conference at University of Missouri. I flew into Lambert-St. Louis International Airport shortly after it reopened after extensive tornado damage. I didn't see much myself but the damage was extensive. I later caught up with my longtime newsroom co-worker, Mike Jenner, now teaching at Mizzou. And in a short window before flying out of St. Louis back to Bakersfield, I made a quick stop at the Gateway Arch.

The family spent New Year's in the middle of nowhere at Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park. We drove into the park in a snowstorm and left two days later driving through a snowstorm. In between the weather was mostly cold but clear. Tons of snow to play in, and a nice escape from the city.

I was in Boston on Halloween and the first few days of November for Newspaper Consortium negotiating meeting. I had a day to sight see on foot, and here's what I saw. I love old America, where new and very old meet in interesting ways, particularly when you think Boston was the center of the American Revolution. These photos were taken with my Motorola Droid. Some interior shots were taken without flash, because of photography restrictions or thick glass.

Trip to The Fresno Chaffee Zoo in August 2010 with Debbi and Erik Molen

A cohort graciously gave us a week's stay at his luxury timeshare hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz., and we made the most of it on short notice. Scottsdale is blistering hot this time of year -- closer to 110 degrees every day than 100 -- but when you're in a nice room and have access to great pools, the heat doesn't seem so intense. Thanks, Brad, for the wonderful gift. We needed an escape of sorts.

These were shot with my Motorola Droid during a day trip to Kings Canyon National Park in July 2010. We will be making a return trip, next time for extended camping.

The Amgen Tour of California rolled through Bakersfield on May 20. Here's some of what I saw.

Sandi bought me a Christmas present: 8 laps driving a 600-horsepower open-wheel race car around the two-mile oval at California Speedway at Fontana, Calif., home to two NASCAR races each year. I drove the car on May 8, 2010. Here's what happened.

Trip to Connecticut in April-May 2010. I was speaking at and attending an Independent Newspaper Group meeting in Old Saybrook but in light of the daylong flight to and fro, Sandi and I took a few days of vacation touring the region. Photos were taken with a Sony Cybershot and my Motorola Droid

Trip to Seattle in January 2010 included stops at the Museum of Flight, the Experience Music Project and the main branch of the Seattle Public Library.

Here are photos I took with my Droid phone.

Sandi, Hanna and I went to visit our friends Susi and Jeff Bains in Mammoth Lakes on New Year's weekend. Not much beats bringing in a new year in a beautiful spot like Mammoth Lakes.

Here are photos I took with my Droid phone.

Trip to Yosemite Valley in October 2009 with my lovely wife and parents, who were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary

Here are photos I took with my Casio Exilim and Helio Ocean