Olvera Street and Union Station

I have lived in Southern California most of my life and have to admit that I've never taken the journey to explore Olvera Street or Union Station. It was near Halloween so Olvera street was filled with activities, music, tourists and locals celebrating the day of the dead or rather, "Dia de los Muertos".

I spent a few hours wandering around this small block of outdoor islands.  Many children were getting their faces painted or shopping for masks to be a character in "Lucha Libre" even if they didn't really want to as you can see in the photograph below of a frowning boy.  Needless to say, it was entertaining to watch.

After my short stroll through Olvera Street, I headed to Union Station to take a tour.  What a beautiful train station!  There was a wedding going on so I asked the bride and bridesmaids if they wouldn't mind posing for me...they said yes.  It's easy to be entertained there.  All you need to do is take a seat and observe.  You will see many different types of people come in and out of the station.   I also enjoyed watching people who watched other people.  I turned my camera around on one of the chairs to see what the couple was doing behind me.

It was a fun day of exploring the city I live in.  I look forward to visiting more neighborhoods I haven't had the opportunity to tour.  There is so much to see here.  I love all of the personalities Los Angeles has to offer and I look forward to seeing more.

The People Of Downtown Los Angeles

I awoke last Saturday morning before the sun and headed to the heart of Los Angeles.  The destination was the Flower Market to do some street photography with a group.  It was not my idea to get up at this hour and head to the city, but I went along with it and it turned out to be an interesting adventure.  I am always up to try new things and this was something new.

You can smell the freshly cut flowers for blocks.  All of the smiling faces, beautiful colors and happy people were nice to see but it wasn't really what I wanted to look at.
I decided to skip the market of tourists to get lost in the streets of downtown Los Angeles at 6:30 in the morning.  The idea and essence of "street shooting" to some photographers is to take a photograph unnoticed. Yes, I can do that but for the most part, I like to interact with my subjects. Because of where I like to go, most of the time I don't necessarily blend in with the surroundings I choose to place myself in.  Most people will notice me.  In some cases, the locals were more than happy to pose for me.  Even though I prefer "non posed" photographs, I enjoyed these two men being more than willing to be in front of the lens.

I walked up and down the streets until I got a little lost.  For a moment, I felt uneasy but I kept my head up so I wouldn't miss anything.  A tall blonde holding a large camera and wearing flip flops in the heart of the city in the early morning isn't something the locals come across I suppose.  There were mumblings with everyone I passed and one individual said, "hey lady, you want to take my picture?"  To that I turned and said, "why yes I do!" Once I pointed the camera towards his direction, his friends surrounding him cracked up and yelled, "ahhhhhh, she called your bluff!" He hid and ran around in circles and when he finally calmed down, he lit a joint and told me to take a picture.  I did.

I eventually headed back to the flower market to breathe in the delicious scents and to take a last look before I left.  The city is so beautiful in the morning, especially on a Saturday when it's void of weekday workers.

Los Angeles Brewery Art Walk

Even though I won't be traveling and living out of my car for a while, I always enjoy exploring things nearby that are fun and interesting...especially when it comes to art.  There is a community in the heart of Los Angeles that used to be a brewery and now it's a city in itself of artists.  These artists live and work in the spaces of the Brewery Art complex.

Lucky for us, they open their studios to the public a few times a year for us to be able tour their home/work space.  It's a wonderful tour of amazing artists of all mediums.  I did this last year and blogged about it and I plan to go back.  A photograph I took of the experience was licensed by Palladium Boots to use on their website under their explorations video.  You can see that video HERE.  Along with the art walk, the video mentiones other jems in the Los Angeles area to explore. To find out more about the brewery walk, click HERE.

Even if a vacation seems out of the question for you right now, I bet there are places nearby that you can visit to give you the feeling of being in another world.

The LA Photo Show Experience

Nothing quite moves me the way that photography does.  This past Saturday I went to the LA Photo show for the day and it was and experience I won't soon forget.  As soon as I walked in, I felt like a kid in a candy store. So many beautiful photographs from today and throughout history.  Life shown on every inch of space on the walls of the Santa Monica civic center.

As if it were the last piece of cake, I wanted to savor every moment I was there.  I carefully visited every booth up and down the isles, not to miss anything.  At times, I went outside to take a break and let what I just saw absorb into my brain.  What I am drawn to is not necessarily what others would love. This is what I love about art.  There is something for everyone.  I especially love documentary photography and photographs that are personal to the photographer.  I think all photographs displayed are beautiful but there is something about capturing a moment in time that wasn't staged that gets to me.  Some of those images are the most raw and I could look at them for hours.  I am drawn to the subject and want to know more about their life and about the photographer's life.   One of the images that stuck out for me was one in a series of images by Bruce Hall.  He is documenting the life of his autistic twin sons.  Bruce is legally blind.

Events such as this one can be overwhelming.  Especially if you take the time to look and think about what you are looking at.   I was so engrossed in the experience, at times I had to look around and remember that other people are there.  In fact, there were a lot of people there but I didn't notice.

It was a beautiful sunny day in California so I decided to sit on the grass in the front of the center to have lunch.  I took my time eating and thinking.  I really was in my own little world.  I've been to the civic center a few times a long time ago for other events.  After lunch, I wandered to the chain tree sculpture to take a few photographs with my camera phone and to sit under it for a while.  Moments later, a woman came up to me and politely asked me to move since they wanted to take a photograph of the front of the civic center building.  She said I could join them to watch, so I did.

I stood around with a few people looking at a giant wet plate camera.  People were video taping with their phones and taking all sorts of photographs so thought something special was about to happen.  Some of the people were smiling and giggling around me, while taking photographs of a man with a black apron on.  A woman in a sun dress next to me would alert the small group each time a cop car drove by. Now I was intrigued.  Who cares if a cop car drove by? I started flipping through the legality of shooting in a public place in my brain and from all I've researched, we were fine.

I asked the woman who asked me to move about the photographer and she turned to me, smiled and told me it is Luther Gerlach. He teaches classes at the Getty in Wet Plate photography and it just so happens that he has built and takes 22x30 photographs with the largest wet plate camera in the world.

He started telling people what to do so the moment was getting close.  I focused my attention on the photographer and what he was doing that I didn't look at what he was shooting at since I knew it was just the front of the building.  I was standing next to him watching his every move when I noticed everyone snapping away at what he was taking a photograph of.  I casually turned to look and there it was.  The woman I was standing next to was perched on the chain tree, nude. With all of the other on lookers, documented it with my camera phone.  The moment lasted about 10 seconds and then Luther ran off to his van to develop the print.  A few moments later, the finished piece was on display outside of the van.

I am glad that I went and look forward to more art events in the future.  I hope that you get out to appreciate arts in your neighborhood.

The Gentle Barn

I love to take field trips to new and interesting places.  I've always wanted to visit The Gentle Barn and today I decided it was time to go and see all of the lucky animals living on their farm for life.

As they describe on their website, "The Gentle Barn Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1999 as a safe haven and place of recovery for abused farm animals and children. We are home to over 120 rescued animals and we are host to at-risk, inner-city and special needs kids.

Our unique treatment philosophy rehabilitates animals and connects their stories of survival and healing to the personal experiences of at-risk and special needs children who have suffered physical, mental or emotional trauma.

Through the interaction with our animals, the children learn forgiveness, courage, strength, leadership skills, trust, empathy and kindness. The healing that takes place is truly miraculous!"

It was a sight to see.  It felt nice to witness all of the animals living in a safe environment for life.  They are only open to the public each Sunday from 10-2pm,  so I wanted to take the opportunity to hug a cow, pet a pig and watch them interact with each other.  I would recommend a visit if you are in the area.  It's a great place to take the kids.  For more photographs of my visit, click HERE.

Unique LA Experience

I hate shopping.  I am one of those people who knows what they want when they go to a store, get it and leave as quickly as possible.  Also, I tend to look online for the best deals and prefer to buy online then step foot in a store.  I would rather buy from someone who took the time to make an item themselves, rather than a mass produced item.  Yesterday I attended "Unique LA" in downtown Los Angeles.

It was a gathering of people who dedicate their lives to their passion of making goods by hand.  Everything at the event was made directly from the person standing in the booth.  It was a good time of browsing funky items and chatting with the people who make them.

There was also a photographer taking pictures of a car scene and of course I had to play along.  I decided that cruising in a car with a pet Rooster would be fun.  This is what it would look like if I decided to choose an impala convertable car and a bird to travel with instead of my old suv and Max.  I think Max would be a little bit easier to travel with.

A lot of the items sold at the event can be found on Etsy.  If you are not familiar with the website, I would take a look at the items.  Everything is handmade or vintage but all items are unique.  As a matter of fact, I have an etsy store with some of my photographs that you can purchase if you click HERE. The proceeds will go for a gas budget that will be much needed soon when I get on the road.

MOPLA Month Of Photography Los Angeles Group Show

I am very excited to be selected to participate in the MOPLA (Month of Photography, Los Angeles) group show on April 29th!

As you might have noticed, I love to take pictures and I seem to snap away and take a lot.  At the beginning, I didn't show a lot of the photos I found interesting but once I decided that it didn't matter what other people thought, I put up what I enjoyed looking at and it turns out...others like them too!  In this short period of time, I have been fortunate enough to have my own show of my Long Beach Images, I participated in an art walk and wrapped up another smaller show lastnight.  All of these things have been great experiences and I am thankful for each one.

I am so thrilled that MOPLA chose one of my favorite photographs, "Dixie" to show in the exhibit.  She is the baby of a fellow "Silver Sister," Martha.  I took this picture of her on our silver trailer weekend with the ladies.  She was such a sweetie coming up to me to say hello while I was on the ground to her level but just far enough away that her leash wouldn't allow her to get to me.  Of course I gave her love and attention once I took the picture.  I was able to capture two of my favorite things in a single photograph...my love of Airstreams and dogs.

If you are in the Los Angeles area, I would love to say hello to you at the show.  There are several events planned for the month through this fantastic organization.  Please check the MOPLA website for more information by clicking HERE.  The group event is scheduled for Thursday, April 29th from 7pm-10pm (photographs will stay up for 3 weeks). I am grateful to have this opportunity to be participating alongside some pretty amazing photographers. I look forward to it!  The list of group show artists are listed on the front page of the MOPLA home page, under "News."

To see more of my photographs, click HERE.

An Afternoon At The Getty

It's hard to believe that until last Saturday, I have yet to visit the new J. Paul Getty museum. I've been to the villas back in the 90's but never to the new location on the hill.

A beautiful sunny, crisp day on a Saturday would be a wonderful time to go, I thought. Who could be there on a weekend right after the new year? I am sure people are still home recovering from the New Year...right? Well, no...that wasn't the case. The good news was that the freeways were clear. It was unbelievable, really.

I have to say, I was not prepared for what was next.

I've been to local city museums on my travels. Most of the time, they are empty which makes for a pleasant art viewing experience. The Getty was a different story. It took about an hour to park, waiting in line. After that, you wait in another line to get on the tram. Once you are off of the tram at the top, you are FREE!

The property is beautiful, I must say. There are gorgeous views from all sides and you can get lost looking at all of the exhibits, which I did. I particularly liked the Irving Penn: Small Trades gallery.

A little bit about Irving Penn: "Working in Paris, London, and New York in the early 1950s, photographer Irving Penn (American, 1917–2009) created masterful representations of skilled tradespeople dressed in work clothes and carrying the tools of their occupations. A neutral backdrop and natural light provided the stage on which his subjects could present themselves with dignity and pride. Penn revisited his Small Trades series over many decades, producing evermore-exacting prints, including platinum/palladium enlargements. In 2008 the J. Paul Getty Museum acquired the most comprehensive group of these images, carefully selected by the photographer—155 gelatin silver prints and 97 platinum/palladium prints—that are being exhibited in their entirety for the first time."

Although they do allow you to photograph inside of the museum, I enjoyed taking pictures of the cactus and flowers outside of the property the most. I think that was the highlight for me on this day trip. It's the simple things I suppose. I heard a hummingbird so I froze, standing in the same spot motionless (as others walked by me), waiting for it to return. For me, that was an exciting moment.

I would recommend a visit to the Getty if you are in the area. If you can, It's a good idea to arrive early on a weekday so you can take your time strolling the property and soaking up the exhibits. Don't forget your camera!