Red Zebra

 

"The capacity to regress, more or less at will, to the games of the underground, without losing contact with the surface, seems to be the essence of the poetic, or any other form of creativity." - Arthur Koestler

 Nikon D1x w/Nikkor 18-70mm f3.5-5.6G ED

A Little Rain in L.A.

Rain in Los Angeles is always a treat. Photographers love it, of course. Lots of sparkling droplets, puddle reflections and splashes. Unfortunately, in order to make the most of it, you have to be out in it.

That means an umbrella or poncho and something to protect your equipment, like a plastic bag. But then you end up trying to balance the umbrella while aiming the camera, or hiding the camera under your coat and then there's a struggle to whip that puppy out for anything, and that's not very spontaneous. Also takes the fun out of it.

So when it rained like crazy last week, I headed for cover and peeked out the door every once in awhile to see what was what. This may not always be the best plan, but sometimes you can get a neat snap.

Not everything you shoot needs to be a masterpiece; sometimes it's just for the memories of the rain.

Nikon D70s w/Nikkor 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 ED

One love, one heart

Lovers watch the rain; 2 AM at La Cafe in Gallery Row.

Nikon D70s w/Nikon 20mm f2.8 AF-D

As always, clicking on the image takes you to a larger version.

Bicycles, bicycles

The process of the rejuvenation of the Broadway corridor in downtown LA is relentless. Here we see what was once a discount store of fashion factory seconds has been replaced by a bicycle shop featuring state-of-art machines. Another step forward for alternate transportation, as well as another venue for urban art.

Click on photo for larger image.

Hidden LA

There are so many nooks and crannies in the downtown area that I am in a constant state of amazement at opportunities to shoot the extraordinary on any given day. It's no wonder that the area is in near constant use as locations for Hollywood movies and television shows.

This image was taken in St Vincent Court, a cul-de-sac done up like a European village street, sandwiched between and behind two large office buildings in the area known as the Jewelry District.

Click on the pic for a larger version.

Window watching

In Los Angeles, you look in a shop window and sometimes the window looks back out at you.

As always, you can click on a photo to open a larger version.

Renovation and a bicycle

The central core of Los Angeles is undergoing gentrification at a mad pace, although the recession has slowed it down somewhat. Still, the owners of this loft building on Main just south of 6th have apparently found some cash and are hard at it. For our bicyclist, his day is apparently done.

Nikon D1x w/Nikkor 18-55mm F3.5-4.5 AF

Rain in LA & Lightroom presets

My apartment is eight floors up from the street in downtown LA. Even so, street sounds carry amazingly well here and it's usually fairly noisy. I had been working very late and the streets had gotten awfully quiet, so when the unique sound of tires on wet pavement broke through to my attention, I knew that a rare event was taking place: it was raining in LA.




I grabbed my D70s and rode the elevator downstairs and stepped out of the lobby into a fairly heavy rain. I set the exposure to manual and popped up the built-in flash. After snapping a few frames on trailing shutter flash at 1/10 sec, I went back upstairs, downloaded the images, opened them up in Lightroom 3. What I settled for were two presets: EFF Dragan 4, which brings out the detail of the slick pavement surface for the bus shots, and a nifty preset called Vintage T-shirt for the shot of the pedestrian, for a desaturated but slightly old-fashioned candid look.

While not everyone appreciates presents, but they sure can save a lot of time. Bear in mind that once applied they can be easily modified to suit and then saved as your own customized preset. Besides paid commercial packages, lots of people have gotten on the bandwagon and are offering free downloads. I got some of mine here: Lightroom Journal

On Skid Row

The famous Los Angeles writer Charles Bukowski used to hang out in the lobby of the Baltimore Hotel on Skid Row, watching life pass by.

Shopping downtown

The other day was my birthday. I went to the store to buy myself a card to cheer myself, but the store had gone out of business.

The tiny chef

This tiny chef is everywhere I go. I should like one of my own, I think.

Umbrellas of Art Walk

Downtown's Art Walk is more then just the strollers' appreciation of paintings and sculpture. There's always music and the crowd itself becomes the art.

The Flower Sellers

Flower sellers by St Vincent Court. It's hot on the sidewalk and the accusations fly.

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