Saturday, November 19, 2011

Week 46 of 52

I love the colors of fall.  In Southern California we don't get to see the changes of the seasons as clearly as other parts of the country.  Southern California is in a Mediterranean Biome, named so for it's similarity to the climate around the Mediterranean.  Our weather is fairly constant.  If it were not for temperature changes, rain and the calendar, you may not know a season has changed.

This shot was taken on one street, in the span of one block as you drive through a quite West Los Angeles neighborhood.  You turn the corner to see the full colors of fall.  If it weren't for the Pumpkin Patches with pumpkins, bales of hay, pony rides and petting zoos to mark the change, we might not know.  This is Hollywood after all, and we see the faux fall in every window dressing, mall and convence store, to remind California Transplants of home.  Us natives some times forget that these colors are naturally occurring.  Seeing the fall colors appear a few miles from the beach is wonderful and over the top.

Over the Top, is the theme for Week 46 of the MCP 52 Project.  Because this is such a rare sighting I just take it all in.  I surveyed the range of colors and shades provided by the leaves, grass, and trees.  I felt the cold crisp air on my skin and smelled of moisture that hung in the air.  In my mind, I heard the lyrics from the Van Morrison song, Moon Dance, "the leaves on the trees are falling to the sound of the breezes that blow".  It makes this shot and the others I took of this Autumn Apparition a fantasy of colors and a reminder of places far from this little block.  The Structure, which is the theme I chose for this years 52 Project, is the structure of the seasons.  The cycle of "Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall", another lyric, from the song writing by Carole King and made popular by James Taylor, You Got a Friend, is what the seasons are about, even if the changes are subtile.  I hope you like my photos. And I hope you enjoy the Fall season as much as I do.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Week 45 of 52

In the weeks that I've participated in this 52 Project, I have rarely had a complete lose of ideas of what to shoot.  So, this weeks theme, Book Title, from MCP Project 52 would seem to easy as pie.  That reason being, along with this project, I've also set a goal of reading 25 books for the year 2011.  Yes I did that.  I consider myself the functioning illiterate because compared to my friends and colleagues, I read very litte.  So, for some one who is a self proclaimed non reader, 25 this is a large number.  I credit setting this goad and accepting the challenge to the three weeks of rest I get during Winter break.  Like I say, when I'm rested I can move mountains.  So, of course I think I can read 25 book in 365 days.  But I digress.

Book Titles, for the rational mentioned above, should have been easy to come to mind and easy to shoot.  But because I had shot books in earlier photos I didn't want to repeat the same kind of photo.  I thought of other vignettes that would comprise the title of a book, like an eating competition for the Hunger Games, or a wizard, a wand and a stone, for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or Philosopher's Stone, depending on which side of the pond you read the book.

Trivia Alert! ** Trivia Alert!
When the book was first published in England, the Brits thought that Americans might not be familiar enough with the term, Philosopher's Stone to keep the same title.  They change the title of the book from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  The movie was released in the United Kingdom under it's original title. 

What came to mind is Dan Brown's Angels and Demons.  Wow!  That shot is ready made for me.  There is a bar on Venice Blvd., of which I have passed many times, names Saints and Sinners that has the best sign on the outside.  I wouldn't have to set up a shot or collect items or individuals to make the shot work.  Just get the best lighting I can find, early morning light and shoot away.  Early Thursday morning, I head down Venice Blvd to try and find this saloon.  After two passes and several inquires, I realize, it no longer exists.

With the end of Daylight Savings time, I have only early morning light, because by the time I leave work, there is very little if any daylight worth using.  This past Friday evening I was facing cumulative fatigue, a condition I have termed and self diagnosed, that comes at the end of long week of work.  The symptoms are cloudy thoughts, inability to hold items in you working memory and an overwhelming need to get home, among other things.  Being under the influence of this condition, I forgot about my assignment, until I got home and realized I have been listening to an audiobook.  I was able to see the light bulb through the cloudy thoughts of the CF (cumulative fatigue) and grab a snap shot of the my iPod and the book title I was listening to.

This week you have to photos.  Mine is the large one of my iPod and the book title on it, and the sign that I missed.  The one that got away so to speak.  I hope you enjoy the story, the photos and the time inside my muses.  Please check out my other photos on my flickr site and enjoy your week.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Week 44 of 52

Muted Tones is the theme that MCP Project selected for week 44 of this Project 52.  Well I was perplexed.  Muted Tones... what is that?  I looked a some of the submissions and they didn't inspire me.  The images were either altered or enhanced.  I've nothing wrong with that, it is just that I don't know how to do that and don't have time to learn - at least not for this week.  What to use for a subject?  Where to take it?  What kind of lighting is needed for muted tones?  Again, more questions than I have answers for.

This photo, along with the others I took, were taken while in traffic.  I was on my way to the valley, San Fernando and got stuck in traffic.  I was stuck on the Sepulveda Pass in rush hour... for 2 hours I might add.  For those of you who don't know, Sepulveda runs parallel to the 405 freeway.  If you remember, the 405 is under major construction, remember Carmageddon?  So I whipped out my camera and started shooting.  There was building in varying degrees of completion.  The sun was beginning to set, most of the items were in shadow. and daylight was starting to fade.  I noticed this for the first time that most of the items in the construction site are very monochromatic.  In that light, the tones were mostly muted.  This is the one I submitted to the MCP Project.  If you want to see others from this shoot, check out my flickr site.

Structure is my theme for this year, and even though I have not mentioned it in a while.  Structure is obvious on this construction sites.  These are the pictures of the foundation of a freeway, which is a hugh structure in the life of Los Angeles.