Today's Presidents Day, so why not listen to some speeches by former chief executives? So this morning I dropped in at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. Speaking was George Washington (portrayed by C. Roger Cooper), Abraham Lincoln (J.P. Wammack) and Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Patrick Mulligan). Great fun and I got to play White House photographer for a few minutes.

Link to my 2013 Presidents Day flickr set.

Link to my 2013 Presidents Day flickr set slideshow.

Gun crew of 40 mm gun follows aircraft flying over Fort MacArthur.

Fort MacArthur Museum annual fund-raising evert "The Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942" celebrates Feb. 25, 1942 - the night local military believed Japanese aircraft were attacking. Searchlights lit up the sky and over 1400 anti-aircraft shells were fired.

But I already covered the 1942 event in this The Battle of L.A., 1942 [updated] blog post for the Los Angeles Times Framework web site.

Last Saturday, I attended this year's Fort MacArthur event - enjoying the World War II reenactment, great music and battle. Being a warm night, hundreds joined in with the majority dressed sort-of 40s style. Just a great time.

I posted 60 photos in this flickr set: 2013 The Great Los Angeles Air Raid (slideshow)

Here is the link to just the photos: 2013 The Great Los Angeles Air Rain flickr set.

Last night at sunset I visited the Pepperdine University annual Waves of Flags Display remembering each victim of the attacks of 9/11. Nearly 3,000 flags are on display at corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road. While the majority of flags are American, many foreign flags are also flying — many killed on 9/11 were from outside the US.
While there last night, twice a foreigner walked up and asked what was the display for? Once I explained about honoring the victims of 9/11, I also explained why their country's flag was in the display.
This year the display is up till Sep. 19, 2012.
My flickr set: 911 Pepperdine Flags 2012

This year, I'm really getting into old fashion black and white. I just finishing posting a 55 image flickr gallery on the Oakland Aviation Museum - all in black and white. In Lightroom, I played with black and white presets, going for older snappy look with burned down edges.

The Oakland Aviation Museum has several great aircraft — the center piece is the four engine Short Solent Mark III flying boat featured in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I also had to take shots of the Soviet MIG 15.

I took many images framing a US Navy A-4 Skyhawk jet framed through the old hanger windows, photo above. Of course, I had to shoot some with my iPhone.

My Oakland Aviation Museum flickr set slideshow.

During my June vacation around nine Western states, I was bummed by the loss of the shoe tree near Juntura, Oregon. But not all was lost, Roadside America reported another sneaker decorated tree near Amboy, California, on the old Route 66.

But of course, the tree fell down back in March. But the shoes were still there! Now it's a shoe bush.

Well, last week I attended Photoshop World in Las Vegas. On the way over, I cruised a part of California's Route 66. Took an entire day to go from Barstow to Vegas.

Here is my Route 66 California flickr set.

Got to Barstow at sunset on Monday night and had to shoot the Sunset Inn.

Jack in Kingman, Arizona on June 21, 2010.

My two week tour of the West is over. I drove 3400 miles to visit family in Nebraska and Oregon. Along the way, I skipped the "A" list stops — Grand Canyon level — and spent my time shooting my kind of stops. A few of the images were posted during the last couple of weeks. More to come.

The 60-foot tall Ames Monument sits near Interstate 80 west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Who needs go to Egypt to see a Pyramid? Topaz Detail used.

Sign on building in Chadron, Nebraska, of former motorcycle dealer.

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Airport beacon shines after a storm outside of Chadron, Nebraska. Photo taken on Saturday, June 26, 2010.

Jack visiting the Painted Desert Indian Center along Interstate 40 in Arizona.

Elaine sits in front of Grand Canyon Caverns along Route 66 east of Kingman, Arizona. Monday, June 21, 2010. Topaz Detail used. More images to come.

Mr. D'z diner in Kingman, Arizona, Sunday evening. Guess where I ate dinner? Good food.

Here are my recent photos of Diet Coke, my favorite drink. Yes I have diet coke in the morning - no coffee.

Left is image of Diet Coke run through the iPhone PhotoTropedelic app. The original photo was converted to grayscale and contrast increased in Photoshop Mobile. Then the pics was opened in PhotoTropedelic and various settings tried.

Below is my Diet Coke can in front of lights at the Cal Trans building in downtown Los Angeles. Topaz adjust was used on this image.

At 11 a.m. this morning I sent out my morning diet coke twitter message:

"Shaq beats Lakers, more rain, stocks down another 50 - but I have my diet coke. Let there be rainbows!"

At 2:30 p.m. on the way to work, I shot this pic.


While headed eastbound on the Ventura freeway, this great rainbow popped out in the Woodland Hills area.

Life is good.

To honor 9/11 victims, Pepperdine University has placed nearly 3,000 flags on display - one for each victim - on its campus on Pacific Coast Highway. This Field of Flags will be on display till September 24th. While most are U.S. Flags, some of the 9/11 victims were from other countries, and their flags are mixed in. If you have time this weekend, drive by the Pepperdine Campus.

On Saturday I had to work, so I missed all the fireworks shows. But Agoura Hills had a July 5th celebration, so I grabbed my tripod and shot a few frames. Using a zoom lens, I racked up and back during a time exposure to get corkscrew fireworks, above. Before the fireworks, I shot the solitary oak tree, below. At the bottom is the effect I got when I removed the camera from lens during a time exposure of the oak tree. Just too much playing around.

Wednesday night I was in Modesto. This week is also the big week for 2009 Graffiti Summer festival in Modesto. So I went cruising for images in my 2001 Ford Focus.


The 1912 Modesto Arch in downtown Modesto.


Since I was once a paper boy, I had to shoot the bronze statue Paper Boy delivering the Modesto Bee.



1970 Camaro owned by Jack Seidner of Manteca at Wednesday's car show at Modesto's 5-Minute Cal Wash.


1955 Chevy with a big block 454 owned by Steve Correia of Modesto.


The Lucas Plaza Statue features two teenagers from the early 60’s leaning against the fender of a ’57 Chevy. This bronze statue is a tribute to Modesto’s most favorite son, director/producer George Lucas. and the movie American Graffiti.


2009 teens climbing on statue dedicated to 1960s teens.


One more frame of the Lucas Plaza Statue with traffic.

Directions to heaven for former Mayor Tom Bradley.

Monday I was in San Diego, so I visited the Bob Hope Tribute next to the USS Midway. This 16-piece life size memorial features Bob Hope entertaining the troops overseas. The troops are represented by 15 bronze figures in military uniforms from World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War and the first Gulf War.

I wanted to take some images to share with co-worker Bob Lachman who has been posting original Bob Hope images on his blog www.photographyandthemac.com. Lachman's father had traveled with Bob Hope on some of these trips to entertain the troops.

While dragging my tripod around, I could hear Bob Hope singing "Thanks for the Memories." Of course, Jack, also had to say hello.

Monday evening was spent at poking around Camarillo Airport. Here are my favorites images.

Its winter, it has rained, the air is clear, now go shoot that California postcard photo - snow on mountain. Here is my shot today from the Spanish Hills section of Camarillo looking north. Now 50 more people will move to California.

While stuck in traffic Friday night i pulled out a camera and fired away blindly. Here are the best ones.

What's with all the blooming trees in January???? Looks like winter lasted three weeks and two of those weeks was an 80 degrees heat wave.

The fall foliage lasted until New Years. Then a couple cold days, followed by heat wave, then trees covered by blooming flowers with bees going crazy. Here are a couple photos from Monday on Kimber Drive in Newbury Park. Enyoy.

Sunday's drive led me to the small city of Fillmore just before sunset. During a nice walk around downtown I pulled out a camera and shot these frames. The Fillmore and Western Railroad Company is running on Saturdays only during the winter months. But in April the Sunday runs begins.

Downtown Fillmore was heavily damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, but is now better than ever. The rebuilding was done around a small town feel, and works.

I will return.

The annual Christmas Tree outside of Los Angeles City Hall was lighted while I was on vacation earlier this month. Tonight I had the time, and the camera and walked over to City Hall. Needless to say, the 50 foot Christmas tree is spectacular.

In addition to photographing the tree, I tried some ten second exposures, left, turning the rotating aircraft warning light into a star on top of City Hall.

I wish you have a wonderful Merry Christmas and spectacular New Years!

Happy Holidays!

Scott Harrison

I walked outside this morning and was greeted by Woody and his version of a White Christmas. Our ten-month old golden has been pretty good about chewing stuff, but a brand new holiday pillow was a goner. Woody's Christmas present is enrolllment in a dog traiining class.

Sunday afternoon I spotted Surfer Dude - blog from July 20th, 2008 - VIctor back on Wendy Drive promoting the Revolution Surf Company. So I stopped said hello and snapped a photo. Once the shopping center was finished around September, I have not seen Vic on Wendy Drive. Well, with Holiday sales so important, he is back. Now I call him the Surfer Santa Dude!.


Late Sunday afternoon I was cruising around Camarillo giving up on any sunset pics when wham, the already set sun got underneath the clouds. I only had time to snap frames while waiting for a traffic light. In five minutes the red clouds were gone.

I am in the middle of a two week vacation and doing photography for Newbury High School Soccer program. During Monday's match at Camarillo High School, I looked up and photographed this jet landing at sunset at Camarillo Airport. Tuesday night while at NPHS stadium, I looked up and the slow moving brush fire flared up just in time for a couple photos.

I still remember my Cal Pole SLO photojournalism professor saying, when covering sports, be sure to look around, I don't think he was talking about activities outside of the stadiium.

A Mitsubishi A6M-Zero, left, is chased by two Grumman fighters during flyby Saturday at Camarillo Airport.

Saturday the Commemorative Air Force Southern California sponsored a Pearl Harbor event at its Camarillo Airport facility. The highlight of the event was flybys by World War 2 era aircraft including one of only flying Zeros.

First up though, was a very educational talk to the crowd of almost 150 by CAF member, retired Army Col. Jim Hinckley. Then we all got to tour the Museum and its collection of aircraft and watch the flybys.

Retired Army Col. Jim Hinckley

Links: Photo Gallery

June Blog entry Scroll down to Air Museum

June photo gallery

Commemorative Air Force Southern California Wing

Ventura County Star story on Pearl Harbor event

Last weekend there were a lot of garage sales. I shot this corner from my car. With the hard times, there seems to be more garage sales and the signs are getting bigger and bolder.

Since I was working today, I took a late afternoon walk around downtown with a camera. My favorite photo is this one of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Happy Thanksgiving and have a fun filled shopping Black Friday!

Sidewalk chalk mural of Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey by artist Ruth Villa.

Beginning in 1956, Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey, began using trash to construct buildings, sidewalks and artwork on her one-third acre lot in Simi Valley. The folk art work included wishing wells, shrines and some 15 full size structures all made out of material found at the local dump. The heavy use of discarded bottles led to Prisbrey's home being titled Bottle Village. Most of the work was finished by 1961.

For years, Prisbrey maintained the site and gave tours. She last last lived at the site in 1981 and passed away in 1988. After 1981, Bottle Village was only open on special occasions and was maintained by friends who formed the Preserve Bottle Village Committee. After surviving threats of removal and some vandalism, the site was badly damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. After the quake, supporters have only been able to clean up the site and maintain the remaining undamaged and partially damaged structures

For much more information, check out the www.bottlevillage.com web site.


Sunday's open house attracted over 500 visitors.



Moorpark College photography instructor John Gray, left, met Grandma Prisbrey years ago after being stopped near Bottle Village for a traffic ticket. Musicians, right, set up inside remains of one Bottle Village structure for Sunday's open house.

Sunday, after 26 years, I finally got into Bottle Village in Simi Valley. The Preserve Bottle Village Committee organized an open house. I and over 500 other visitors found out about the open house in a L.A. Then and Now column by Steve Harvey in the Los Angeles Times. (Link to story.)

The response to Harvey's article overwhelmed the longtime Bottle Village supporters. Committee member Helen Dennert says she has "never seen turnout for event here since the 1980s."

The vast majority of visitors knew little or nothing about Bottle Village. Van Nuys resident Gerald Rose knew nothing about Bottle Village before his visit.

"Great place. Not too many folk art places like this are left anymore," said Rose. "I'm glad I came."

The Preserve Bottle Village Committee did a great job. The Village is cleaned up. The damaged structures are closed off. The loose material from the 1994 earthquake has been collected and stored out of visitors way. The remaining structures, walkways and artwork still gave me a good sense of what Bottle Village was all about - a place of unrestricted imagination not conforming to any expectations.

Link to my Bottle Village photo gallery. Enjoy, Scott

Workers Gary Cooper, left, and Kevin Kneedler seven stories up repairing the clock hands.

Thursday the clock on the First Street side of the historic Los Angeles Times building was reinstalled. The clock had been removed about a month ago for cleaning and overhaul. The clock's entire electrical mechanism was rebuilt. The work was done by Sign Industries, sub contractors for Federal Signs Inc. The clock was originally installed in 1935. A twin clock on the South side of the building was rebuilt a year ago.

Workers Gary Cooper and Kevin Kneedler spent the day on top a 135 foot aerial lift reattaching the clock hands and repairing the neon light bulbs. The clock sits above the 6th floor the Times building at the corner of First and Spring.


Kevin Kneedler working on neon bulbs attached to clock hand.


The rebuilt clock photographed at dusk on Thursday.

With Mervyn's, Circuit City and other stores closing, today's news was an actual store opening! Fresh & Easy opened their 101st store in Newbury Park and the crowds showed up. Thanks to a local mass mailing with great coupons, between 200 and 300 shoppers arrived in the first 45 minutes of the 10 am opening.

The Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is located in the Conejo Gateway Shopping Center at the corner of Wendy Drive and Old Conejo Road. What is most unusual, I believe the location was once a locally owned grocery store from the 60s until closing in the early 80s. The 60s era shopping center had received a major renovation in the last year.

PHOTO GALLERY

Sunday was spent revisiting the Civil War. The Moorpark Rotary Club every year sponsors one of the largest Civil War re-enactments in Southern California. This last weekend some 800 costumed Civil War enthusiasts recreated five Civil War battles at a recently harvest corn field at the Underwood Family Farms south of Moorpark.

For Sunday afternoon, the battle of Malvern Hill was fought again. First the Union took control of the corn field, only to have the Confederates counter-attack and sweep the Yankees back across the field. The South's attack was stopped by Union artillery at the south edge of the field.

The real The Battle of Malvern Hill took place on July 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia,. The Union won when Gen. Lee's attacks were repulsed with over 5,000 casualties.

My real enjoyment is covering this re-enactment was in post-processing. I wanted to recreate the mood of Civil War photos. So Sunday evening, I started by studying Civil War photos by Mathrew Brady and other photographers at this National Archives web site.

Civil War photographers produced wet-plate collodion negatives that had exposure times of 5-20 seconds. This was the process used by high-end photographers in the 1860s as multiple copies could later be made. The tintype, also known as a ferrotype, was also available, but it's a one at a time process where the negative is converted to a final positive copy on the original metal plate.

Photographer Robb Kendrick (http://www.robbkendrick.com/) is doing a major tintype photography project on modern cowboys. The videos accompanying his National Geographic project really explain the process. Videos link.

Because of the slow exposures, there were no action photos - everything was posed. Ok, I cheated here - I just shot away at 1/500th a second with lenses Brady never had.


In lightroom, I played with several presets looking for a good but quick method to age the images. I settled down to use the pre-installed "Creative - Antique Grayscale or Antique Light" presets combined with free "Edge Darkening" presets from NAPP's Matt Kloskowski. For each image I finished by adjusting exposure/brightness sliders.


I posted 48 images in a Civil War flash gallery. Enjoy. Scott

Friday saw a doubling of lines and business for Los Angeles Times election edition newspapers/posters/press plates. Two lines of about 200 each snaked out of the Spring Street lobby all day. The sale is going to continue Saturday 8 am to 4 pm and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.

Over 350,000 extra copies of Wednesday's "It's Obama" headline paper has been sold. One street vendor set up shop outside the LA Times selling Obama T-shirts and caps to the crowd.

Sandy Banks has written an excellent piece on the entire super sale.

Let's see, since 1963 I've worked at newspapers. In these 45 years, I have long ago seen it all.

Wrong.

Wednesday was a publishers wildest dream! Crowds demanding multiple copies. Citizens angry at empty newspaper racks. Vendors screaming for extra bundles. Young men hawking papers on street corners. Extra press runs not able to keep up with demand. Its history in the news.

All because Senator Obama was elected President of the United States!

Every newspaper has increased their Wednesday edition press run. USA Today is up some 500,000 copies. Chicago Tribune over 200, 000. Washington Post 350,000, Los Angeles Times 300,000.

Newspapers became the election souvenir of choice. But not the only souvenirs. The Post is putting out a special 26-page extra edition. The Los Angeles Times is selling posters and replicas of the front page printing plate.

Wednesday one Los Angeles Times customer purchased 1000 copies. The AP is reporting that Thomas Baldwin purchased 10,000 copies of The Bellingham Herald (Wash.)

On Thursday thousands came to the Los Angeles Times to purchase the historic front page. Many purchased full bundles of 50 copies straight off the press. Friday looks like another day of big sales. And there is still the January, 2009, inauguration.

For a few days, the print edition is king! Of course many copies are already up for sale on Ebay.


Images from Thursday newspapers sales at the Los Angeles Times. Bryan Fillmore, of Inglewood, top photo, carries off over 100 copies of the November 5th edition of the Los Angeles Times. From early morning to after 3 pm, a constant line of over 100 stood outside of the Spring Street entrance waiting to purchase copies of the election edition.

At 2 am, I found the note on the kitchen counter. No soccer on Sunday. The AYSO championship match was cancelled because of a little rain. Damm, I was looking forward to shooting soccer on Sunday. Not a good note after working the midnight shift.

So Sunday, I did my old News Chronicle routine - just cruised for a couple hours around Thousand Oaks looking for wild art.


Homemade Yes on Prop 8 sign at the corner of Olsen and Moorpark Rd at the north end of TO.


Hannah Freund, of Newbury Park, left, and Jen Camomile, of Newbury Park, below, demonstrates against Prop 8 at the corner of Hillcrest and Lynn. A dozen protesters were at the corner Sunday afternoon. Another dozen were at Borchard Road and Michael. On Saturday a knife and threat was made against another Prop 8 demonstrator in Thousand Oaks. Ventura County Star story.

I heard reports of pro Prop 8 rallies around Thousand Oaks, but was not able to locate one to photograph. At the corner of Hillcrest and Lynn, No on Prop 8 supporters honked car horns. Others ignored the signs. Only one voice of foul language was heard.


Goodbye Mervyn's!

Mervyn's Thousand Oaks is closing. My family purchased many clothes and holiday presents at the store for something like 20 years. Bummer. But at least I had a couple of non-election signs to shoot. Oscar Juarez, left, holds closing sign on Moorpark Road.

Last Saturday I stopped and checked out the weekly No on Prop 8 gathering at Hillcrest and Lynn in Thousand Oaks. Since late September, the local No on Prop 8 proponents have been using the intersection at the West end of the Oaks Mall.

At 11 am there were about 50 protestors, which for a conservative community like Thousand Oaks, is big news. The only issue that turns out bigger crowds in Thousand Oaks is land development.

Hillcrest and Lynn has been the site for No on 8 protests since late September. On a previous Saturday, I saw over 50 present with their signs. Prop 8 was originally titled "California Marriage Protection Act," but was changed by Attorney General Jerry Brown to "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry."

Prop 8 is generating more campaign signs around Thousand Oaks than the local city council race. There are 2 "Yes on Prop 8" signs on my small block alone. I saw two small groups of about 3-5 people on other street corners around Thousand Oaks Saturday with "Yes" signs. But I have not seen a single large group like the No on Prop 8 crowd.

Bottom line is next Tuesday's election is very important. Vote!. Let's have a record turnout!

During the last two years I have been shooting exterior images of Los Angeles City Hall. This rainbow photo is my favorite.


Recently to get some interiors, I joined a walking tour led by the Los Angeles Conservancy. The two hour walk included plenty of time to visit the Council Chamber, Board Room, Rotunda and of course the observation deck.

Los Angeles City Hall was finished in 1928, with a major seismic retrofit, restoration and renovation completed in 2001. Over the years, several earthquakes, especially the 1994 Northridge quake, had badly damaged LA City Hall. Only the lower floors were considered safe. The renovation restored the building to its 1920s splendor, but added modern touches of lighting, computer networks, disability access etc.


The Rotunda Ceiling, restored to its golden luster in the 2001 renovation.

Los Angeles Conservancy walking tours are the way to go to visit historic sections of the city. The monthly City Hall tour cost $10 for non-conservancy members, $5 for members. To make the required reservations visit the Los Angeles Conservancy web site. Other tours include downtown Art Deco, Biltmore Hotel, Broadway Historic Theatre District and Little Tokyo.


My Los Angeles City Hall gallery link. Enjoy. City Hall Gallery

Friday nite I was working on a Photoshop World update and fell asleep at the hotel desk. Opps. But that's what conferences are for - lack of sleep. Of course I woke up early and got this shot Saturday of the sunrise.


New Casinos growing up on the Las Vegas Strip without the aid of photoshop.

The big hit of the Photoshop World Trade Show was the Microsoft trampoline. No Microsoft Digital Imaging does not sell trampolines, but Capture One 4 and Expression Media 2 software. The booth featured professional model Melissa bouncing in front of a tethered digital camera dropping images straight into Capture One on a Windows Vista laptop. Of course I went back on Friday and shot more images of Melissa.


Melissa and Capture One software at the Microsoft booth.

Education is the core of Photoshop World. I went mainly to attend sessions taught by Dan Margulis. Thanks Dan for 8 great hours of LAB, channels and postcard color correction. I also enjoyed photography sessions led by David Ziser and Adobe Flash sessions by Chris Orwig.

Now how many characters do you know go to Vegas to attend classes? At least I did not lose any money in the casinos.

This year about 3000 attended Photoshop World. This is down from as many as 4000 at previous PS World conferences. Maybe after three years in Vegas, it might be time to move the west coast conference to another city.

The next Photoshop World is March 25-27 in Boston.


Mike Tyler, Robert Lachman and Scott Harrison.

Scott Kelby's blog Photoshop Insider, has lots of additional information on Photoshop World. Robert Lachman posted some photos at his blog: Photography and the Mac.

The Newbury Park AYSO season started last week. After ten years of two sons playing year-round soccer, I just finished a six month break. Anyway Sunday morning the Newbury Park AYSO U19 Boys B team beat the C team 4-3.


Dotphoto album

Props given to attendees for opening keynote included cutouts of John Loiacono, Adobe Senior Vice President, and 3-D glasses. The upcoming new version of the Photoshop will include additional 3-D support.


The Hoodman booth at the Tech Expo.


Melissa is photographed by Neil Lathan at the Microsoft Booth demonstration of Capture One 4 and Expression Media 2.


Neil Lathan at the Microsoft Booth during a live shoot demonstration.


Scott Kelby photographing a model at the B&H booth.


Scott Kelby explaining his choice of lighting equiptment at the B&H booth.


Russell Brown taping an interview on new 3-D support in the upcoming new version of Photoshop. Yes I provided the prop.

Los Angeles Times staff photographer Robert Lachman and I were walking around downtown LA on Saturday night and found this mural. So of course we took photos of one another. In the third photo I pushed Lightroom 2 Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation to 100% just for the fun of it and liked the results.

Robert Lachman has his own website www.photographyandthemac.com. So of course we exchange ideas. Check out his site.



Robert Lachman



Me-Scott Harrison



100% Clarity/Vibrance/Saturation

Tom Emma, left, and Bryant Swanstrom shoot wood pilings during the Worldwide Photo Walk.

Scott Kelby, head dude for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), is coming out with a new book "The Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers." So earlier this summer he inflated a trial balloon - would anyone be interested is doing a photo walk on August 23?

Well, all I can say is that Public Relations flacks everywhere are dumbfounded, mouths dropped wide open. They would kill for this kind of response: On Saturday, August 23, 2008, photo walks occurred in 236 cities around the world with some eight thousand photographers signed up.

I joined the Thousand Oaks Photo walk - . 10 am at Conejo Creek Park North. Local photographer Steven Ridnor led the group of about 15 as we charged all over the park. Extra summer activities were provided in the park - a local company party provided a rock band and petting zoo. I met up with Bryant Swanstrom, a talented 2nd year Brooks Institute photographer and Tom Emma, a gentleman my age who also has lived in the Conejo Valley since 1982. I guess we made an interesting trio. Besides taking Nature photos, we also proceeded to turn the cameras on each other.

Well Kelby should be very happy with me. I downloaded Lightroom 2 and used it to edit, color correct, crop etc, the 18 images I turned into the Flickr.com group site. Lightroom 2 is a major advance. I am already heavily hooked on the adjustment brush. The new gradient tool was used to darken the bottom of this creek photo.

So Scott - is this a good plug for your new book? See you at Photoshop World.

I took off the last week. I had to troubleshoot problems with web hosting, rapidweaver software, and my cable internet connection. All have been buggy and are still not working correctly. Looks like I will have to switch to DSL as the cable internet connection at random drops down to old 56k phone modem speeds. Last monday I was knocked off completely. Stupid part about it is the regular cable for TV works fine.

Here is a photo from a walk yesterday. Newbury Park is a great place to live!


Boney Mountain south of Newbury Park from the old entrance to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Sunday afternoon I was at McDee's quietly reading the latest News Photographer magazine from the NPPA. Then I noticed the Surfer Dude was working across the street. Since I had the time, and the camera, I went over and introduced myself.

But first, a quick history. The Revolution shop had opened in Newbury Park a couple years ago in the old 1960s shopping center at the corner of Wendy Drive and Old Conejo Road. I was surprised by the opening - most of the shops were vacant as the center was being prepared for major renovation. The Revolution occupied a very visible spot once used by a popular convience store.

But of course the reconstruction began early this year. The entrance by the Revolution shop was closed and up went a fence - drivers could not see the shop anymore. Soon afterwards the guy I called "Surfer Dude" was standing in front of the temporary entrance letting the world know THE REVOLUTION SHOP IS OPEN!!!!!

So today I finally introduced mysef to Surfer Dude. Since he is an entertainer, when working us uses the name "Voltage." His friends call him Vic. Personally, I like the name Vic Voltage better than just Voltage.

Voltage uses several props to get drivers' attention, including pom-poms in Newbury Park High School colors. My favorite is the surfboard - sign-twirling advertising with a new twist.

Vic's motto is "Hi I'm Voltage - The Ronald McDonald of Surfing!" - Of course there is that McDees right across the street.

Well the shopping center construction is coming along fast. A relocated Taco Bell and a new Tesco Fresh and Easy will soon be joining Revolution in the upscale shopping center.

I will miss the old shopping center. As far as Voltage's next gig. I will keep in touch with him and let you know.

This weekend we put our ten year old van up for sale at the Thousand Oaks Auto Fair. I had to check out the competition. Of all the signs placed in vehicles for sale, this one took the prize.

There is a reason these extras are provided with vehicle. The new owner will need the Kleenex when the gas tank is refillled.

Every new building impacts its neighbors. Last Saturday I shot this image of the Los Angeles Times building covered with reflected sunlight from the New LAPD Headquarters building on Spring Street. Earlier this year the Higgins building was in the LAPD building glare and reported on this blog.

OK its fathers day. No longer do I have to take the kids somewhere for the day to give mom a break. (And yes I did the same thing on Mothers day.) The kids are just about grown up. This year, I did something I like to do - visit a air museum. With gas so expensive, I stayed local and visited the air museum at Camarillo Airport.



Visitors check out interior of North American SNJ-4 trainer in the restoration hanger.

The former Confederate Air Force wing at Camarillo Airport has grown up. Back in the 80s I would drop by their old small World War II era hanger and check out their latest restoration project. Today the old hanger is gone and replaced by two large ones. One hanger holds the World War II Aviation Museum at Camarillo, and the second houses the aircraft restoration work.

In 2002, the Confederate Air Force changed their name to Commemorative Air Force to better reflect the goals of the 11,000 member national organization. Of course, I will always think of old hanger, name and collection of retired World War II veterans keeping aviation history alive.



Interior of museum hanger with static displays and flyable aircraft in back ground.

The museum is open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm five days a week - closed Mondays and Wednesdays. Docents give a tour that takes about an hour. Work on aircraft is mainly done on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

For more information, check out their web site. Commemorative Air Force Southern California Wing

And my photos of the aircraft: World War II Aviation Museum at Camarillo

California Roaming Gallery

Here is a new collection of images from around California. After shooting a family wedding on May 3rd, I headed off to Yosemite. Of course my car's timing belt broke just as I entered the Park. After a good towing bill back to Mariposa I was car-less in California. I was rescued by super wife who joined me in Mariposa. We had a great dinner and fun evening in Mariposa - its a great town. I was able to visit Yosemite for a couple hours the following morning, but actual time in the Park was crushed by two major construction projects along Highway 140 leading into Yosemite Valley.

On Sunday, May 11th, I took Amtrak up to Mariposa, spent the night and drove home on Monday. Of course I made a few stops to shoot images.

Enjoy the photos!

Scott

i spent the last two weekends in Mariposa, just south of Yosemite. That is a future post once all the images are processed. Basically I shot a family wedding, had a car break down in Yosemite, and then had to return to get car last weekend.

Meanwhile this week I have two new LA City Hall photos.



Tuesday evening's photo with the sister city signpost. On Wednesday, during lunch, I got city hall reflected in newly installed glass on the half-finished Police Administration Building.

Last night's walk was over to the Los Angeles Mall and the Triforium sculpture. This six story, 60 ton, 60s inspired public light show was installed in 1975 at the corner of Temple and Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles. The best time to visit is at dusk when the lights can really be appreciated. But be warned, the lights turn off at exactly 8pm. Wikipedia article.

Sunday, April 27, 2008, was Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. So, of course, I tried making a pinhole lens for one of my cameras. Online are many ideas and projects to make pinhole cameras, but being mechanically challenged and with only a couple hours to play around - I took the easiest route and drilled a one-eight inch hole in a body cap (left photo).



Then I taped foil on the inside and punched a tiny hole with a sewing needle. Once placed on a Canon Digital Rebel camera, I got fuzzy images like this one:



Its a fun project. Pinhole cameras go back to photography basics. The smaller the needle punch hole, the greater the depth-of-field and the sharper the image. I tried various size holes and locations of the foil, but the above fuzzy image was the best I got.

Of course a real lens gave this image:



Many people had better results. Go check out the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day web site and also Google pinhole camera. There is a major downside of using the hole in body cap method with a digital SLR. The image shows all the dirt. Tonight I have to clean the camera sensor.

Last night's sunset photography was at the pier at Port Hueneme. Lots of great color.

The NPHS fantastic soccer run is over - now back to some sunset photography. Last Sunday I visited the Arlington West Memorial next to the Santa Monica Pier. Yes, its origins are ani-war, but Arlington West Memoria'sl main purpose is to remember the soldiers and their sacrifices for us. Being next to the Santa Monica Pier, Arlington West is a good reminder that while we work and play, other Americans are overseas fighting for us. Don't forget them.



Sunset behind sign at Arlington West.

Flash photo gallery

Arlington West Web Site

Los Angeles City Hall changed colors again. The last few nights its red. According to www.angelenic.com: "The red lighting is in support of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign, to help spread awareness of heart disease among women. "



Last July it was green. I assume city hall will be blue in November - California will be a blue states on election maps.

Photo of Christmas tree at Los Angeles City Hall taken Saturday night. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Years!. Scott

During Saturday's Malibu brush fire, I went to Malibu Lake near Agoura Hills to watch the air operations. A large smoke plume was rising on the mountain south of the lake. Several helicopters were using the lake to reload water.







The fire-retardant dropping DC-10 framed by the smoke south of Malibu Lake.



During a quiet period between helicopters, four swans took flight from the west end to the lake and headed to the east end.

After shooting the soccer match in Bakersfield Saturday morning, I had to be at the Livermore by 4 pm. It was only 250 Mapquest miles from the Kern County Soccer Complex. So of course, I arrived at 3:55 pm.

My sister-in-law Nancy threw a surprise 50th birthday party for my brother Rick. About 25 friends and family members showed up right at 4 pm for the party at his hanger at the Livermore airport.

Sunday was free. But the only California map I had was the Mapquest printout from Saturday's drive. I had all day to get back to LA. So of course I got lost several times on back roads in the Central California.

It was follow my nose macho time - no GPS, no damn map! (well almost.)

The day started with driving a back road out of Livermore to look at the local wind turbines hidden in the low hanging clouds. Of course the road I took ended up back in Livermore. Circle number 1.

Once back in Livermore I jumped on the 580 to the 5. After some 30 miles on the 5, it was time for food. For breakfast reading I picked up a copy of the Modesto Bee. The lead Sunday feature story was on Merced's Peter Komlenich, a local World War two pilot and volunteer who had helped restore a B-36 at Castle Air Museum in Atwater.

B-36! damm those suckers were big and I had never seen one in person. So I was off on back roads headed to Atwater located on the 99.

I kept following the signs to Livingston. Trouble was they kept saying 7 miles. Circle number 2 ended in Atwater about noon. During this mapless run, I did find a cool old bridge over the Merced River.



Merced River from historical bridge. More photos.

Upon entering the outdoor exhibits at the Castle Air Museum, the clouds parted and there sat a restored B-17 saying take my photo! I did find the B-36, and yes the sucker is big. Other aircraft I had not see before included a B-47, B-18 and B-23.



B-36 at Castle Air Museum. More photos.

I left the museum and headed south on the local highway through Merced. After about 20 miles the road just ended. I turned right that should have taken me back to the 99, but ran into a detour caused by a collapsed bridge. After circle number 3, I finally found the 99 - but no on-ramps. Just a stop sign and traffic doing 80. Of course I had to turn left.

After a five minute wait, the traffic parted. I made my turn. Left turns onto a rural expressway is an adventure when you're in a four- cylinder 170,000 mile car that does zero to 60 in 10 hours.

OK, no more goofing off. I studied the mapquest map and took the 99 to the 41 to the 33 to try to get to Taft in the south end of the Central Valley. Its been over 30 years since I went through Taft. Guess what, there is a construction project on the 33. A four mile stretch is dirt.

I arrived in Taft way after dark. After a quick drive through downtown, it was off to home.

I didn't get this sunset posted last week. This nice afterglow on clouds was on Sunday, November 4th. Photo was shot from my neighborhood in Newbury Park.

I have told myself, enough of the LAPD building! But I couldn't pass up sparks flying at dusk. Here are two photos from this evening of workers at the construction site on Spring Street in Los Angeles.

While emptying digital cards, I found these two images from the first day of the bursh fires, Sunday, October 21st. Thousand Oaks was hit with not only the high winds, but was exactly downwind from the fires in Santa Clarita area.



A street sign hangs over Olson Road after winds caused one connector to break.



Red sunset in the Dos Vientos section of Newbury Park.

Last week work began on a different wing of the LAPD headquarters under construction on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. Instead of shooting up at the iron workers, I now had the elevated angle. Being scared of heights, you will never get me out on those beams.



ISO 200, 75-300mm lens at 160mm f/5 at 1/400th a second. See 10/19/07 for additonal LAPD images.

During the last month I have been taking pics of the construction of the new Police Administration Building in downtown Los Angeles. Its going up fast.



The new Los Angeles Police Department Administration building is on the right. On the left is the Cal Trans building.

flash gallery

Back on Saturday, September 22, a weather front came through Los Angeles. Right before sunset, the clouds lifted and Los Angeles City Hall was framed by a rainbow. The second photo was taken about fiffteen minutes after the first, just before the sun went down.

While exploring an alley off 3rd Street in downtown Los Angeles I found these two interesting signs, one old, one new.

Sunday was one of those very rare days - no work, no plans, and clouds! A chance to shoot sunsets. Throw in a moonrise and it looked like a perfect evening. So I took off the beach in downtown Ventura

By chance, I met fellow National Association of Photoshop Professions (NAPP) member Calvin Cairns at the beach. He had a panorama camera on tripod waiting for a to shoot both a sunset and moonrise in the same image. But the sunset gods did not cooperate. The after-sunset glow on the bottom of the clouds was pretty much a dud. Clouds farther off-shore blocked the sun. See the bottom photo.

Oh well. I shot some images and took off.

Russian Foxtrot-Class attack submarine is on display next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
photo gallery

Free time is rare, but when you have some, do something interesting. I was in Los Angeles this last Saturday with several hours to kill. So after visits to a couple camera stores - I took off to Long Beach and a tour of the Russian Scorpion submarine on display. The Soviet Union built tons of subs, with the belief that numerous subs would overpower the better quality NATO units. The sub on display was a Foxtrot-Class attack submarine powered by diesel engines. The class of subs was code named "Scorpion." The sub was built in 1972 and decommissioned in 1994. More information is at the web site: http://www.russiansublongbeach.com/.

What struck me was that while the sub was built in the early 70s, much of the interior electronics, displays, levers and valves had a very 1940s look to them - especially the phones and typewriters in the staterooms. Even the exterior hull did not have the clean lines of American subs. I don't know if that was a lack of quality maintenance or poor construction. But the bottom line is that the subs did their job - on display is a photograph of an American carrier taken from the periscope - evidence of being in torpedo range.

Touring a submarine is the complete opposite of an aircraft carrier. The interior is cramped and some of the hatches are hard to climb through. The key to enjoying the sub is taking your time and letting others go ahead of you.

During last weekend in San Diego, I was able to spend time at the waterfront seeing the war memorials and the USS Midway museum. The biggest surprise was "Unconditional Surrender" a 25 foot statue on loan to the city of San Diego. The statue is based on the famous "V-J Day Kiss" photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, New York City, in 1945.



"Unconditional Surrender" statue in San Diego at night. Photo was a five second exposure with 200mm lens with tripod. Lights in background is tour boat cruising by.

"Unconditional Surrender" was previously displayed in New York City in 2005 and Sarasota, Fla. in 2006. The statue is owned by the Sculpture Foundation of Santa Monica, Calif., and is on loan to the Port of San Diego through 2007.

The statue was dedicated in March, 2007, with unflattering comments in a San Diego Union-Tribune review, followed by 125 letters to the editor - 2/3rds bashing the statue.

I have two problems with the statue. One is the title of the statue. It should just be "VJ Day". The second is that the artist J. Seward Johnson never had permission from Eisenstaed's estate or Time-Life to recreate the famous image.

But these two complaints are very minor. The statue succeeds as a reminder of the pure joy and relief of VJ day - the end of World War 2. It belongs next to the USS Midway Museum and other memorials in the area. The total package really drove home to me the sacrifice my parents and the entire World War Two generation made.

Enjoy the USS Midway photo gallery.

Scott

The Walt Disney Concert Hall peaks over the last remains of a demolished state office building on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Two second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 200 with lens set to 35mm.

Its been a slow weekend allowing me to go back to images from a March, 2007, trip to Bend, Oregon, to see family members. Of course I took some images in my spare time, my favorite being the landing at night at Los Angeles International Airport.



The prop-jet aircraft wheels extended from the engine pods. This allowed me to frame the right wheel with Los Angeles lights. I used a series of long exposures to catch the aircraft strobe lighting the wheel. This was my favorite image of the landing and of the trip. Tech stuff: 18-55mm lens at 18mm, f/3.5, 1/4th second, 200ISO, Canon Rebel.

Bend Gallery

Los Angeles City Hall has gone green. The flags and lights on left are at the Eli and Edyhe Broad Plaza of the CalTrans building.

Yes the lights are green. On July 2nd Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa officially change the lights on City Hall, the Griffith Park Observatory and the LAX pillars to green to kick off global support for *Live Earth.* I checked several blogs and found the press release here....

I had a free evening so I took off to Camarillo to cruise around with my camera.



Control tower at Camarillo Airport at sunset. shutter: 1/400th sec, f/11, 35mm lens, ISO 200.



Clock in downtown Camarillo with high flying aircraft. Shutter 1/30th sec, f/11, 35mm lens, ISO 200.

Between soccer games last weekend I was able to get a few photos of the San Luis Obispo area. Enjoy.



Chapel in Pismo Beach, June 2007. Flash Gallery