One wall in my office is dedicated to  photographs taken while working with the     Coast Guard, which has given me a unique    perspective of the North Coast of California.

Gary Todoroff -- Photographer,

Coast Guard Art Program

Since 1999, I have been a photographer with the Coast Guard Art Program (CoGap). According to the CoGap web site (www.uscg.mil/cogap/ ), “The United States Coast Guard relies on the generosity and patriotism of amateur and professional artists to donate their time, talent and artwork to the Coast Guard's premier art collection. The Coast Guard currently houses more than a thousand pieces of original artwork in its collection.”

As the first photographer with the program, I have photographed our local Coast Guard Group Humboldt Bay extensively and documented Coast Guard Air and Boat stations form New England to Hawaii.

Local Group Humboldt projects include photos of personnel and training exercises, photo flights in Dolphin HH65 helicopters and HC-130's to document the Area of Responsibility for the Group, and photographs of CG cutters and boats, light houses, and air-to-air photos of other Coast Guard aircraft. Farther from home, I have documented CG operations Air Stations Barbers Point Oahu, Astoria, Sacramento, San Francisco, Atlantic City, Elizabeth City and Cape Code; Boat Stations Golden Gate, Tillamook (Oregon), Boston, and historic Hull, Mass; and a CG fly-in for the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.