Chasing fame and fortune
A couple of shots of that most famous of signs out West…
Whenever I see a picture of the Hollywood sign, I think of all the stories of all the people who ran out there chasing fame and fortune. Most of them are forgotten, and have moved on, but I am sure it still draws quite a few every year. Not me though, I would never want to live in LA. But when I was there, I definitely wanted to go see the sign!
Some random shots from LA...
Here is a handful of images from a trip I took to LA last year…just some random snaps from random spots…
I made a short visit to Los Angeles last year, just for fun. My daughter really wanted to go see LA (ok, Hollywood mostly), and though I had been nearby the city many times, I had never really been IN the city. So we went. It was mostly for her entertainment (that is, NOT for my photography) so I only brought a single prime lens for some random snaps here and there.
Sometimes a trip like that is exactly what I need. I can release myself from any expectations of "getting the shot" because the trip isn't about that, and instead I can just enjoy being somewhere without any artistic pressure that I often put on myself. I can relax into the adventure of it all and take a few documentary-style photos along the way. I actually think I ought to do that more often...it's refreshing.
So here are a few images from various spots around Hollywood, taken while wandering aimlessly and looking for movie stars. Never saw any. :-)
Somewhere along Melrose Avenue
Some cool graffiti I found along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles...
Just some cool graffiti I came across while wandering along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles...
The Record Shop
The coolest record shop I have ever seen, found along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles...
Pretty much the coolest record shop anywhere!
When I was in LA a while back with my daughter, we spent an afternoon wandering up and down Melrose Avenue. It's a fun area with a lot of unique stores. I was there for the graffiti, too because there is a decent amount of that around.
Anyway, my daughter has a record player and loves it, so when we came up this used record store we had to stop in to check it out. It was amazing! They have SO MANY RECORDS. Oh my, it was unbelievable. There are actually more rooms in the store - this photo is just the front room. You could get lost there.
The funny thing is that when you ask them if they have a particular record, the guy walks directly to where they are - and NOTHING IS MARKED. It's like he has this entire thing memorized. It was actually fascinating to watch. I kept asking for some many random things, and he would walk to the right spot and pull out something by the artist. Impressive!
Sunset at the Griffith Observatory
Sunset at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles...
I've always wanted to see this spot and finally got a chance!
The Griffith Observatory is one of those well-known Los Angeles spots, and I have wanted to visit it for a very long time. On my recent trip to LA, my daughter and I headed up there for sunset one evening. It was VERY busy but that was ok. Luckily we had some nice light and I was able to get some shots like this one, as well as enjoy the incredible view over downtown LA from the back side of the building.
Since it was a fun trip for my daughter and I, I opted to leave most of the gear at home and travel light. This meant one camera and one prime lens attached to it (and no tripod). Luckily, I had just gotten the Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 prime lens for my Sony camera, and decided to bring that one to test it out. I loved it! As I get more shots with it, I will share more details about the lens. But suffice it to say that it worked really well for me!
iPhone fun in LA with my daughter
I spent most of the last week in LA on a fun trip with my daughter. We laughed, toured, ate and photographed quite a bit of the City of Angels. It was fabulous. Here are some iPhone shots to prove it. ;-)
I'm just back from a fun week in LA with my daughter.
My 14 year old daughter and I just spent the last week in Los Angeles, CA and had a blast. We walked a TON, shot a bunch, and just enjoyed the city. It was great.
We have been talking about doing a Dad-Daughter trip for a long time, but for various reasons we just now got it done. It was awesome. We walked and Uber-ed all over LA and had a great time. We went to museums, shot graffiti, went up to the Griffith Observatory and over to Malibu and the Santa Monica Pier.
Since this was a trip for my daughter (and thus, not for me to shoot a lot), I opted to just bring a single prime lens and no tripod. I wanted to be able to travel light and shoot fast, even at night. So everything was quick handheld shots with the lovely combo of my Sony A7ii and my new lens, the Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 prime lens. It worked great. As soon as I have more time with this lens, I will likely write up a review of my experience with it.
I certainly feel like I took some great shots, but readily admit that I haven't even looked at them yet (other than chimping after a shot), since I am writing this from the airport prior to departing LA and heading home. So today's post is all iPhone images, edited in Luminar by Macphun. It's a killer combo. Now that I use Luminar on everything, I have also started editing my iPhone shots in it, too. It works so well.
So this is a quick tour of some of the fun we had and these are in no particular order whatsoever. We got rained on a bit the first day, but otherwise the weather was just cool enough (high 60's) and I had some nice clouds, too. As soon as I am able, I will get some LA shots up here from my Sony camera, too. Enjoy!