
Maybe this isn’t the best example of creativity, but I’m sure Robert (whoever he is) really appreciated this yard sign!
I took a very brief trip to New York this week, and it gave me the opportunity to take some shots while flying over the U.S.
These snowy mountaintops were probably the Rockies. They were majestic.
You can see JFK Airport directly below the plane. The great thing about the new cell phone law is we don’t have to turn them off when we are getting ready to land. That meant I didn’t have to sneak this shot.
And I was also able to get this photo a couple of days later when we were landing at LAX. If you have ever lived in Los Angeles for any amount of time, you will be amazed by this photo. The 405 Freeway is never this wide open on a weekday afternoon!
I saw this geranium by a wood fence and thought the scene had potential… but I couldn’t get the hot spots off the leaves. The detail had been totally burned out. Hot spots really burn me (pun intended, sadly) but I wanted to salvage this photo somehow. Then I got a spark of inspiration.
Photoshop to the rescue. I have a technique I use that involves layers, the Black & White Adjustment and Gaussian Blur that creates an arty effect. An extra heavy application of the Gaussian Blur step blotted out the hot spots. I’ll have to share how I put together this particular image in one of my occasional “How I Did It” Friday posts.
Right on Colorado Blvd., a few doors down from trendy eateries, a real estate office and a new ayurvedic boutique/ spa sits this humble, ramshackle shack. I’ve wondered about it for years. Even though it is run down, it hasn’t deteriorated much in the years I’ve lived here and I think it may be part of the plumbing business that sits next door to it. But as for now, it remains a mystery.
My favorite Blue is the Metro Rail Blue Line. It starts at the 7th/Metro Center station, and goes all the way south to Long Beach. The Expo Line, which goes west to Culver City (and hopefully all the way to beach someday) is a lighter shade of blue and starts here too.
If your eyes are really good, you might be able to read the station stops. I live near the Gold Line, which covers Northeast Los Angeles, so to get to the Blue Line I need to take the Gold Line to Union Station, where I catch either the Red or Purple Line to the 7th/Metro Station and catch the Blue Line from there. It’s only one stop to the Los Angeles Convention Center, which is just a bit over a half mile — a short enough distance to walk… and the L.A. Conference Center is usually where I am headed, so I don’t actually use the Blue Line all that often.
A few years ago, this stone Eagle Rock sign was erected on Colorado Blvd. Instead of leaving it rising from the ground all on its own, whoever designed it thought it would be a good idea to surround it with planters of native greenery.
I guess this seemed like a good idea on paper, but in person, I think it looks kind of messy.
This little patch of land is basically the Eagle Rock sign, surrounded by random planters with random native plants growing in them.
Most people only see these planters as they drive by. Few people walk this part of Colorado Blvd. If they did, they would see that close up, there are some pretty flowers.