Manhattan Dawn

I was up pretty late catching up on a few days worth of Olympics coverage on my DVR so I wasn’t able to get up quite as early as I had hoped.  So, I just drove to Manhattan Beach to grab a photo for today’s 365.

I was surprised to see a bunch of people down at the pier this morning.  Apparently, they were all there to work out as a group where some big dude was yelling at everybody to run harder.  Funny thing was that the guy doing all the yelling didn’t seem to be very fit himself.  But I guess if all you need is for somebody to scare you into working out harder, he would definitely do the trick!  As for me, I’ll stick with my virtual coach who lives inside my Wii.  (Did I mention that she has a crush on me?)

Manhattan Dawn

Santa Monica After the Rain

I’m finding that in order to shoot and upload at least one image per day takes a lot more planning and preparation that I anticipated.  On my commutes to and from work, I’ve been taking notes of where I might need to be at a certain time to get a decent picture of this or that.  Ideally, I’d like to get the photos in the morning which relieves me of the pressure of having to shoot, edit, and upload an image at the end of the day.  For the days when I might have to get a shot on my way home from work, I’ve been taking notes of places along my commute and what time might be ideal for those spots.

Well, today my schedule didn’t permit an early morning shoot so I had to wait until after work to start scrambling for my 365 photos.  I had an idea of what I was going to shoot, but with the weather we had today, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get in terms of light.  When I pulled out of the parking lot from work, I saw the light and scrapped my earlier plans and headed for the Santa Monica Pier.  It’s close to work and I thought I’d have a chance at a decent sunset.

Although the sun got blocked by some clouds on the horizon, I was able to grab a couple shots with some interesting lighting.  In the shot of the parking lot, the wet pavement served as a nice reflector for the orange sky.

Entrance to the Santa Monica Pier

Parking lot at the Santa Monica Pier

The Redondo Beach Pier

I’ve always called this the Redondo Beach Pier or the Redondo Pier.  I guess I never noticed the sign that simply refers to it as “THE PIER”.  I’ve got nothing against Redondo Beach or its pier.  It’s a nice town and the pier is a pretty fun destination every once in a while.  But I think it’s a little lame for the town to call its pier, “THE PIER” especially when there are so many other lovely piers within a short drive.  In fact, if you do a Google search for “THE PIER”, the Redondo Pier isn’t on any of the first few pages of image results.  I think the folks that decided to make the sign should have done some focus group testing or checked Google before referring to their pier as “THE PIER”.

The Redondo Pier, Perspective 1

The Redondo Pier, Perspective 2

The Redondo Pier, Perspective 3

The Sign for The Pier

Santa Monica Sunset

I wasn’t able to do a shoot this morning because I had to be at work early.  Not to worry, I figured.  Since I work at the Water Gardens, if I could get out of work at a decent hour, then I’d be able to head west a few blocks to shoot a nice sunset at the Santa Monica Pier.

Well, I was treated to one of those very vibrantly colored sunsets that just makes you feel so alive and happy to be outside.  The weather was warm and there was hardly a breeze in the air.  It really doesn’t get much better than this – at least not in Los Angeles.

I know the image is a bit cliché but given that I’m only 2 weeks into my 365 and I hadn’t shot anything else all day, I wasn’t about to let unoriginality stall what will be a yearlong project.  I figure I can be more original some other day.  So I plopped my tripod down not too far from a few other photographers who probably walked away with same images I got.

Santa Monica Pier, Perspective 1

Santa Monica Pier, Perspective 2

Roller Coaster and Ferris Wheel

The Venice Pier

Today, I drove north of the marina and stopped at the Venice Pier.  I found some easy parking right at the end of Washington Blvd and just had to walk a few steps to get to the sand.  As with the other beaches, much of the sand had been washed out by the recent swells.  This pier sits a bit shorter than the other piers that I’ve shot recently.  It seems like some bigger surf on a high tide could easily reach the pier platform.

When I walked to the end of the pier, I saw a pelican who seemed to be suffering from some hypothermia.  The amount of oil in the water from the rains probably got on the bird during feeding which decreases the water repelling characteristics of its feathers.  I hope this little guy gets back into the swing of things soon.

Venice Pier, Perspective 1

Venice Pier, Perspective 2

Venice Pier, Perspective 3

A California Brown Pelican

The Hermosa Beach Pier

The recent big surf washed away so much sand from the local beaches that all sorts of cement structures that are usually buried under sand are now exposed.  You can see one such structure in the first shot of the Hermosa Pier below.

Hermosa Pier, Perspective 1

Hermosa Pier, Perspective 2

Hermosa Pier, Perspective 3