More around Los Angeles

J and I took Georgie to do the Hollywood sign hike for some exercise and I wanted to scope it out to come back and take a picture from behind the sign on a day after a storm when there is a good view of the city.

There are multiple paths, but if parking on Beachwood, the hike isn't too bad.





The sign at the top is blocked by a fence. You could either hop the fence, which is illegal, or shoot above the fence.



By the time we got to the top, we were facing the sun. It was foggy and smoggy anyway so the visibility wasn't good. When I go back for sunset, I'll bring a step stool so I could see above the fence and setup my tripod. For the shot above I just held my camera over the fence and snapped a few.

Last night, I went back to the DWP building to get a shot I took previously but at blue hour. I've been wanting to re-take a few of my photos at this hour rather than when the sky turns black as there's a greater separation between the dark buildings and the sky.



I'll probably re-take a few of the ones looking over the 3rd - 5th street overpasses as well in the coming weeks.

Heading up to SB in a few weeks. If there are clouds, I'll head back out to campus point for some seascape photography.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com

Golden Point, Palos Verdes

Winter brings around the clouds so I have to take advantage while I can. I'm definitively not heading into LA on a weekday so my options are limited to the beaches. Sky looked promising so I headed back to PV last night to Golden Point. Tide wasn't too low so I had to search for a while before I came upon a decent composition with some sea life.

Only problem was that the area would get soaked when the sets came rolling in. So I waited until the sun dipped behind the horizon and then hoped out there and took a few and hopped back in before getting wet. I did manage to mistime a few and got a little wet but nothing to worry about.



Was this shot worth taking?? Haha I don't know. Guess I'll only be back to the tide pools during lower tide when its around 2 feet or lower.

I guess we were suppose to get a little rain on Thursday but now the news says it will pass through. I was looking forward to getting some smog cleared so I could go shoot some skyline shots in LA. Guess that will have to wait.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com

Weekend shooting

With the Manhattan Beach Pier lights still up I was constantly going to try to get that perfect shot I wanted, but the sunset never cooperated with me. Here are a few that I got around to processing from past trips. Looks like I will have to wait until this coming Christmas to try again.





Friday after work I headed out to Santa Monica. Woke up to some weird fog and thought there may be a chance that it breaks up and provides some nice colors.....wrong! Pretty much stayed thick through sunset.



I hung around until blue hour and snapped a few regardless. I still have this shot on my list to come back when there is a nice sunset and low tide. Until then, there will have to do.



Saturday, Jaime and I took Georgie hiking in Palos Verdes. there's a nice trail that hugs the bluffs near the Trump golf course. We went later in the day so there were quite a few people walking.






Georgie will always walk towards the shade, and sometimes she will just plop down when there is a big enough shaded area, lay down and drink her water.



We stopped for lunch at Pavich's pizza, a Croatian brick oven spot. We used to come here all the time when we were living in San Pedro. Thin, crispy, and always fresh. Still one of the best pizza joints in the south bay. Tried the pizza at Tin Roof Bistro the other night and it wasn't that good. Might have to go back and try one of their specials tho, the place got some good reviews. We already ate 2 slices before snapping the picture....we were hungry!



The fog was still around so I headed back out to Golden point in Palos Verdes for sunset. You can park right at the point, but have to make a pretty steep trek down the cliffs. The fog cleared nicely and provided some nice colors. This is a 3 shot exposure blend, with a polarizer used to cut through the water to reveal the sealife underneath. I had to move a few times as the waves were crashing close.



We'll be back up to Santa Barbara in Feb, and in Anza Borrego in March. Here's to hoping for some good pictures. But I'll be out in LA in the coming weeks. been wanting to get some more skyline shots, but I'll have to wait for the rain to clear up the smog.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com