He was considered a highly adept microscopist at the Lab, with one colleague there noting, "Chris was the backbone of NCEM, the kind of person that makes LBL great.

He was an awesome microscopist who understood advanced electron microscopes like a test pilot understands a jet plane."

Many international researchers appreciated Nelson's eye for detail and often requested to work with him given his reputation and skill level.

[1] Together with his then partner, magazine publisher Richard Bulger, Nelson developed a characteristic "look", first in black-and-white portraits of men in San Francisco's biker and leather community, and then, as the bear community grew, in black-and-white erotic portraits of a great number of men who submitted themselves to the magazine as amateur models.

Before that, the emphasis was on the lean, leather jacket and t-shirt wearing 'Castro clones' that dominated the San Francisco scene.