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LA River Photo Tour (Journey)
I went with my son and a few other Dgrinners on the LA River Tour in March. We had a great time, and it was really awesome to connect with my son through a common interest.
First off, here's my really lame and boring video of the event.
I didn't shoot a whole lot of video, but I scraped enough together to make this:
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(see it big, here)
(Music by The Acousticats: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000006N8F?ie=UTF8&tag=davidrosentha-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000006N8F">The Cat's Meow</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=davidrosentha-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000006N8F" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />)
We started at the Sepulveda Dam.
It's a mighty dam, not easily pushed around.
I wasn't as prepared as I should have been for the confluence (the LA River and the Arroyo Seco), and the water was a little higher than normal. I walked around in my boots, got a little wet, and wished the breeze would go away so the water would be more reflective.
My son was NOT going in the water.
But he did find some unique ways to shoot the water!
The graffiti is amazing. So much of it, so much detail.
After lunch we walked around Olverra St. for a bit. Mostly, though, we sat watching performers and catching a breather.
We spent some time on the bridges. There were a bunch that were a part of making LA beautiful, and stole elements from architecture throughout the world, ending up with something uniquely LA. I didn't manage to get a good image that really gets that last statement across, but here's one that I like, anyway.
Another fascinating area was the auto glass section. I was a little overwhelmed by it all, and walked away with fewer keepers than I had hoped, but I did get these few:
The auto glass area was more interesting than what I captured, really. Next time!
If you watched the video, you saw my POV shot walking through a construction site. This was the destination. It's not the best pano I've taken, but it was a cool spot under the bridges. I'd like to have been there in the sweet light, but I had fun scrambling over walls and setting up this shot.
My son doing what it takes to get the shot:
We spent a very short 2 hours (felt like 20 minutes!) down at the boat yard in San Pedro on day 2. This location is $15k/day for filming, so we were lucky to have access. You cannot shoot here without special approval. Here are a few shots from there.
The location comes complete with an abandoned building:
There were so many details.
This railroad bridge was a lot of fun, too:
My son looking cool:
One of the major highlights of the tour was meeting Charlie. He's been living by the side of a building for about 15 years. It's an area where the river used to run in flood times, before the Army Corps of Engineers cemented it in. It's a bamboo filled area, that he has completely transformed. The path is lined with onions, the hillside is planted with produce that he sells to the catering trucks in the area. He was a most gracious host.
His kitchen was very dark, and others in the tour were standing in the doorway blocking what light there was. I bumped up the ISO and prayed. Not too bad, considering I could barely see.
He's also decorated the hillside and path.
His library and reading room:
The tracks are active. Apparently the trains are often run remotely.
This area was recently a homeless encampment. They used shopping carts to form rooms. It was destroyed, and this is what remains:
The encampment is right by the tracks.
I started to play, turning this:
into this:
..and enlisting my son to help:
We really had a great time, and I highly recommend the trip if you're interested. Some have said that it's too much money, and I imagine those same folks are thinking they can just go and shoot the river for free. While that is true, the guys who put this trip together spent 6 months scouting the locations and negotiating access to areas you cannot go on your own.
They also provided a docent for part of the trip. You can see him in the video, the big guy with his head shaved. He was interesting, too. He's an artist and works for non-profits, including Friends of the LA River. He even wrote and illustrated their official guidebook, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0899973914?ie=UTF8&tag=davidrosentha-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0899973914">Down by the Los Angeles River: Friends of the Los Angeles Rivers Official Guide</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=davidrosentha-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0899973914" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />. I got a signed copy.
The full gallery is here.
C&C welcome as always.
First off, here's my really lame and boring video of the event.
I didn't shoot a whole lot of video, but I scraped enough together to make this:<object width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://cdn.smugmug.com/ria/ShizVidz-2008120101.swf" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="flashVars" value="s=ZT0xJmk9NTA1NTczOTQ2Jms9YlA1akEmYT03ODExNTg2X3pxejZlJnU9ZGF2aWRyb3NlbnRoYWw=" /><embed src="http://cdn.smugmug.com/ria/ShizVidz-2008120101.swf" flashVars="s=ZT0xJmk9NTA1NTczOTQ2Jms9YlA1akEmYT03ODExNTg2X3pxejZlJnU9ZGF2aWRyb3NlbnRoYWw=" width="640" height="360" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true"></embed></object>
(see it big, here)
(Music by The Acousticats: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000006N8F?ie=UTF8&tag=davidrosentha-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000006N8F">The Cat's Meow</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=davidrosentha-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000006N8F" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />)
We started at the Sepulveda Dam.
It's a mighty dam, not easily pushed around.
I wasn't as prepared as I should have been for the confluence (the LA River and the Arroyo Seco), and the water was a little higher than normal. I walked around in my boots, got a little wet, and wished the breeze would go away so the water would be more reflective.
My son was NOT going in the water.
But he did find some unique ways to shoot the water!
The graffiti is amazing. So much of it, so much detail.
After lunch we walked around Olverra St. for a bit. Mostly, though, we sat watching performers and catching a breather.
We spent some time on the bridges. There were a bunch that were a part of making LA beautiful, and stole elements from architecture throughout the world, ending up with something uniquely LA. I didn't manage to get a good image that really gets that last statement across, but here's one that I like, anyway.
Another fascinating area was the auto glass section. I was a little overwhelmed by it all, and walked away with fewer keepers than I had hoped, but I did get these few:
The auto glass area was more interesting than what I captured, really. Next time!
If you watched the video, you saw my POV shot walking through a construction site. This was the destination. It's not the best pano I've taken, but it was a cool spot under the bridges. I'd like to have been there in the sweet light, but I had fun scrambling over walls and setting up this shot.
My son doing what it takes to get the shot:
We spent a very short 2 hours (felt like 20 minutes!) down at the boat yard in San Pedro on day 2. This location is $15k/day for filming, so we were lucky to have access. You cannot shoot here without special approval. Here are a few shots from there.
The location comes complete with an abandoned building:
There were so many details.
This railroad bridge was a lot of fun, too:
My son looking cool:
One of the major highlights of the tour was meeting Charlie. He's been living by the side of a building for about 15 years. It's an area where the river used to run in flood times, before the Army Corps of Engineers cemented it in. It's a bamboo filled area, that he has completely transformed. The path is lined with onions, the hillside is planted with produce that he sells to the catering trucks in the area. He was a most gracious host.
His kitchen was very dark, and others in the tour were standing in the doorway blocking what light there was. I bumped up the ISO and prayed. Not too bad, considering I could barely see.
He's also decorated the hillside and path.
His library and reading room:
The tracks are active. Apparently the trains are often run remotely.
This area was recently a homeless encampment. They used shopping carts to form rooms. It was destroyed, and this is what remains:
The encampment is right by the tracks.
I started to play, turning this:
into this:
..and enlisting my son to help:
We really had a great time, and I highly recommend the trip if you're interested. Some have said that it's too much money, and I imagine those same folks are thinking they can just go and shoot the river for free. While that is true, the guys who put this trip together spent 6 months scouting the locations and negotiating access to areas you cannot go on your own.
They also provided a docent for part of the trip. You can see him in the video, the big guy with his head shaved. He was interesting, too. He's an artist and works for non-profits, including Friends of the LA River. He even wrote and illustrated their official guidebook, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0899973914?ie=UTF8&tag=davidrosentha-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0899973914">Down by the Los Angeles River: Friends of the Los Angeles Rivers Official Guide</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=davidrosentha-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0899973914" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />. I got a signed copy.
The full gallery is here.
C&C welcome as always.
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Comments
My Gallery
Thanks for posting this. I wish I could have joined the group for the tour, but somehow jumping from the northeast to the southwest wasn't possible for me (this time...). Seeing it through your camera and your comments was great.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
The insight into Charlie and his lifestyle alone is enough to make such a trip worth it.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
Denise and Schmoo: I wish you could have been there, too!
Awais, I'm still waiting for you to join us here in the US for a photo shoot!
The two biggest things I got from this trip: how different the world looks from just 30 miles from my home, and how much room I have for improvement in my photography. So much to learn, so much experience to be had. And at the rate I get out to shoot, that improvement will be slow in coming. Hey, but now that I have a photo buddy in my son, maybe I'll get out shooting more!
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
The next time I'm back in LA, I will definitely have to attend the LA River Tour. And do you recommend the two day tour? What lenses do you recommend?
Are the two of you wearing keens?
[quote=DavidTO[/url]
[/quote]
Yes, April, next time! And yes, Keens.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Dave,
These are great! Glad to see some images from the days. I haven't even looked at mine - only uploaded one card.
I want to do it again sometime - it was that much fun. Next time you'll have to share the technique you did with the spin on it!
Flash Frozen Photography, Inc.
http://flashfrozenphotography.com
Thanks, Kathy! It was about 1/4 second exposure, just twist and snap! It's a lot of fun to play with.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Crop the pano about 20% off the right side.
Graphically speaking these were my favs
The day looks well worth the effort and should be done again
Muench Workshops
MW on Facebook
Thanks, Marc! I'll definitely try those things out. You haven't steered me wrong, yet!
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Thanks, Scott!
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
i wished to have made it.
Thanks, Aaron. I wish you were able to make it, too. Next time!
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
So much graffiti, some are artistic but it's sad how accepting of graffiti we in LA are.
Oh. And are you sure the kid's not taking a nap in that shot? I mean it's what teenagers do
Yah, it was fascinating. Especially meeting Charlie. Coming from TO, I'm just not that used to the graffiti anymore.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Ya know, he has been sleeping something like 14 hours on the weekends!
We'll do it, Ian. I do want to go again at some point.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Great artists, wrong medium. But then I don't know if it would be as powerful if you painted it on a canvas or put up cement walls (as they've done in other places). I can definitely classify it two ways--tagging and art. Tagging is marking your territory and has no artistic value. It serves only to warn your enemy that this turf is "yours". Art is nice to look at but is painted on the wrong surface. Either way, it's wrong to deface another's property.
+1
Winston
Thanks, Winston! You should join us next time.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Thanks for the offer David... I would certainly love to, unfortunately my daughter starts college in the fall, Art college no less, 42,000.00 per year and we don't know how much scholorship money or financial aid she will receive yet...
Winston
OK, I'll check back with you in 5 years.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Gary
Unsharp at any Speed
Thanks, Gary.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops