March 8, 2006
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PhotoPost: Pacific Coast Highway Series
It’s been nearly a month since I posted any photos from my Pacific Coast Highway Series. The first entry can be found HERE. Most of these photos were taken in Long Beach and Lomita, with a side trip to Wilmington. In fact, some of these photos were taken on the same day I shot my first “Video Blog”.
A shot of the Long Beach traffic circle, or “roundabout”, from westbound PCH. If you only need to go southbound on PCH you don’t need to enter the “circle” itself, which gives the right of way to the cars in the center. Incoming traffic has to yield to the circle, which makes for some hairy near misses when traffic is busy.
This is a shot of the traffic circle from the top of the parking structure for the Long Beach Community Hospital.
Wilmington is home to the Texaco Oil Refinery, here seen while crossing the L.A. River. The nice clouds are courtesy of a rainstorm the previous evening. I hate the rain, but love the day after, when the clouds are fluffy and the sky is blue.
Now I will show two shots of the same area, right in front of the Lomita Motel, which is pretty “historic” dating from the forties. This first has the exposure set low, in order to get the clouds. This makes the buildings very dark. For those who click to get the larger picture or are eagle eyed enough to notice it, the “T” in the Lomita Motel sign is in the shape of a palm tree.
Here the exposure is high, allowing the building to have more detail, but the sky is more washed out. I didn’t shoot these with a tripod, or I could have combined them in the computer. I shot “lazy” even though I knew what I wanted for an effect, and I couldn’t match them that well. I could have tweaked them, but decided to just present each photo untampered. In fact, you can plainly see that these aren’t the “identical” shots, but the first was taken with the standard lens and the second with the wide angle. I didn’t upload the exact same shot with different exposures, but this is actually better, and shows not only the difference in exposure, but in lenses as well.
The Hot N Tot restaurant, still one of the oldest “traditional” restaurants in Lomita, along PCH, and the neighboring Lomita Motel now have the same paint job, but they have only recently been “remodeled” to gain some of the old “nostalgia” in their looks. I actually liked the first motif of the Hot N Tot back in the 70s when I moved to the South Bay, which included model trains.
In the video you can see me roll up the window on my car right before I snapped this shot. I swear, with an imagination, you can get good photos anywhere. Now all I need is a better resolution camera, but the SLRs I need for the interchangable lenses (I can’t take photos without my trusty wide angle) start at around 800 dollars.
This is the back of the Banning mansion, also shown in the first Video Blog. White and pink Azaleas are framing the shot.
A puddle shot ends our trip down Pacific Coast Highway this time out. Next, we will be seeing the ocean for the first time, when we veer off PCH and into the Redondo Beach horseshoe pier, sample the crowds at the Hermosa pier, and check out the open highway between the South Bay and Santa Monica. I might even do a Southbound leg too. Since I’m in L.A. we’ve got PCH going down south to Mexico and north to Frisco, Big Sur, and beyond. I could even go so far as to drive up into Washington and Oregon. PCH, or Highway 1, runs the complete course of the western United States.
UPDATES: EDIT 3/09 7:23am pst:
1.
Please send prayers for my girlfriend. Liz (The Queen of Swords) wanted to have some fun on her break from work yesterday, and she had an old pair of skates in the trunk of her car. She put them on to go “skating” for a while, and fell and broke her ankle in two places. She spent yesterday in Emergency and spent the night in the hospital. I just talked to her, and she is in great pain, and is being given morphine and vicodin to alleviate this. Hopefully she will go into surgery today, and she will have to have a pin inserted in her ankle. It’s a good thing Doug (dosmangoes) isn’t coming out to California to visit her this weekend as was originally planned, as she will be laid up for some time.
2.
It’s been two weeks, so a new Internet Island topic will be posted shortly, probably tonight or tomorrow.
3.
Stay tuned for the next edition of “Mike’s Video Blog” which should be finished by this weekend.
Comments (16)
Recently, we had rain in Fort Worth. The night time caught the street lights in the puddles, much the same as you caught some time back in Long Beach (I think you were on your way to work). I remembered your shots and had fun with the colors as I drove by. Hugs and thanks for the photos. Lana:wave:
Hey Mike — the links in your header help so much!!!!!!!!!!!!
:wave: Hey Mr. Mike, love the pictures…today I the sky was perfect for a cloud picture, and I thought of you. I don’t have the right kind of camera to take shots like that, or at least have it turn out alright. I’m hoping to get a nice camera this summer. Hope all is well. peace out and take care.
Autumn
The first Lomita Hotel pic is epicly eerie. The rainclouds through the window made me say to the wife, “you gotta come see this!” I do believe her assesment sums it for the both of us – brilliant! :coolman:
Steve0
I love the sky, before and after the rain. The first picture is very nostalgic for me, and it’s not just the old-fashioned car – it’s the weather, too. The sign for the traffic circle in the second photo is amusing. There’s a traffic circle in Cleveland’s University Circle district that looks like the symbol for Mercury, or the “evil woman,” as I like to call her – the female symbol with the horns coming out of her head. I miss the piney trees of the west, but the Dayton area has some lovely foliage of its own (firs included). The refinery reminds me of beautiful industrial breast-like orbs. Mostly I just wanted to say that
My favorites, easily, are the artsy pictures – a moonlit night through the pattered car window and the great shot of a pretty puddle. Happy Thursday!
Thanks for your comments. I find your site by searching through the blogrings when I was bored at work one day. I decided to check your site out and it’s awesome.
I love the pictures here. The one thing about all or most of them that I noticed is the pattern of sky. I LOVED the last one.
If you ever drive up into washington, shout me a holler! I live on the Tulalip reservation.
Just wonderful pictures Mike, Judi
Mike,
Though sadly I don’t have much time at all to stay on the computer, I did want to stop by and tell you how much I always, and really, appreciate your comments whenever I get them. you are the most thourough blogger I “know”. :spinning:
“I swear, with an imagination, you can get good photos anywhere.” I agree! And the photo that accompanies this statement is absolutely gorgeous.
Dear Mike:
Ahhh yes I left a well-wishing comment on Liz’s site earlier!
As to my disappearance from xanga – all I can say is work! My job is sucking the life right out of me, and then of course there is Kaiden and housekeeping. So by the time I have some time to myself I simply have a bath and read a good book (I am reading an excellent one right now called Pandemic – about the potential for terrorists to use a mutated flu against the world YIKES!). Never have the energy to type much, or rather, have nothing interest to type about, since most of my day is taken up by things I can’t talk about because of confidentiality issues. *sigh* It makes me boring! LOL I don’t often get to read all my subscriptions these days either – although I try.
Tonight, however, Kaiden is with his gradnaparents (my parents) and Brad and I are going to have a nice night – out with friends, have a few drinks – SLEEP!!! LOL
So how are you & Liz doing?
-Dezz
Aaah, send my best wishes to Liz! I am looking forward to the next Internet Island topic but Liz needs your support more at this stage.
RYC: I lost the last two months of info on my hard drive. I made my last back-up in the beginning of January.
RYC: I agree with you that we might link into a universal mind during our dreams
Ah, PCH! I remember it well. That photo series brought back a lot for me.
RYC: thanks for your insightful comments on my site. I’ve never had the patience to rent a whole season’s worth of DVDs. i kind of catch up on things with the re-runs. I think I came into the Sopranos in their third season and I watched all the two season’s worth of re-runs to catch up. It was worth it. It’s a bizarre psychological journey. I like their web site with the fake FBI reports. One calls Tony “a Greek tragedy of a man.” nothing could be truer. and the Adriana whacking is as fresh in my brain as it was two years ago. We can’t wait for Sunday.
Lynn
I hope they found the dog. There was something so touching about the sign starting to peel off.
And the picture through the rained-on car window was interesting, too.
Oh Mike, it was most kind of you to write a list – delightful as it was – and allow my modest list of my ideal lover to persuade you to “play along” – thank you. Your pics are delightful – I enjoy them, as I do much of your writing – no-fool-Mike ! Tonight I came home and I saw the most amazing sun – it was HUGE – bigger than you can imagine and low on the horizon - and the most brilliant red you have ever seen. I wanted to beat my wings at the sheer beauty of it – mindful that it is the red dust of Africa which enables the beauty to be as magnificant as it was. It is captured in my soul picture album in my mind. Had I not been on a major highway I would have been able to stop and take a pic for the world to see. But so is life too, is it not, it is the red dust which causes the beauty to emerge. Greetings out of Africa.
The last picture is really beautiful, the clouds against the puddles..
Thanks for your comment mike
and thanks for the update on liz!
Mike
I am so sorry about Liz. Please give her my best. I will keep my fingers crossed that she heals quickly.
I loved your blog. You are an excellent photographer. You have a great eye for the shots. Thank you for sharing them with us.
My heart goes out to you. I know how you care for people and with Liz hurt you must be hurting for her. I am sending you happy thoughts.
Kat
Excellent photos, although I hail from further south on the old PCH–Huntington, Newport, Laguna. Many sad memories from the CHP at Long Beach Community, tho. Of course, I am actually hear to provide the official critique of your profile pic: you’re running a good streak here and once again you’re smiling (or have gas). The only mistake was the big slice of clay on your head. I assume this was taken on a hot day which, combined with the warm jacket, was causing the clay to slide down the left side of your head. Keep up the good work, though.