Sublime

This past Friday was a very overcast day in the valley and the late afternoon brought some very even and subtle color. I was at the airport practicing the technique of panning with a moving subject to get that great motion blur of the surroundings while keeping the subject sharp. I noticed the color changing and the clouds opening up a bit towards the north and thought that would make a nice backdrop for an arriving plane.


While I didn't get any great shots of blurred backgrounds, I did learn a lot about the technique and it was great to be out watching the planes coming and going.

Day at the fair

This past Wednesday we decided to pack up the fam and make the trip out to Pomono and the L.A County Fair. The kids had never been to a fair and my wife and I hadn't been since we were young. We of course waited until the weather got hot again, because going when it's cool out isn't challenging enough! Heat or not we had a lot of fun and the kids have some great memories to keep with them.

A donut chicken sandwhich?

Before the storm

We finally got some rain here this past Friday and Saturday. It was such a welcome sight after a long and brutally hot summer. I was so excited to hear the forecast for rain and see the clouds building up that I grabbed my camera and drove out to the Sepulveda flood basin. This is the closest place for me to get a wide view of the valley and sky. It got a bit cold standing out there, but it was well worth it. These were all taken just a few minutes before the rain started. I'm sure anyone who's been reading this blog for while knows, but if you click on a picture you'll get a slightly larger version.




I call this one "In the mouth of the storm". That's a commercial airline just beating the storm to land at Burbank airport.

L.A. Subway

I took the opportunity while having my car serviced today to walk down to the North Hollywood Metro station. I've never photographed here or indeed in this type of environment at all. I found a lot of inspiration from all the symmetry and highly polished surfaces. The movement of the trains coming and going was energizing as well.

Evening shade

Mid-Wilshire Sunrise

This past Thursday I drove in to work with more than an occasional look towards the sky and the beautiful clouds that were being lit by the rising sun. Clouds of any kind have been pretty rare the past six months, especially around sunrise/sunset. When I got to work I thought that these clouds would provide great backdrops to some of the scenery around my building. I grabbed my point and shoot and took a walk outside.



I had been walking around for 10 or 15 minutes when I realized that the moon was still quite visible.



My work is located along Wilshire Blvd. on the east side of Beverly Hills. I just couldn't resist getting this shot.


This was the view back down Wilshire Blvd. towards the rising sun.