The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center

Today, I had to get into the office at 7:30 AM so I didn’t have time to shoot anything until my drive home from work.  The Howard Hughes Promenade is on my way home from work, so it served as a good subject for a day when I just didn’t have a whole lot of time to shoot.  Today was all about not breaking the chain.

Howard Hughes Promenade

The Manhattan Sea Wall

There isn’t really a Manhattan Sea Wall.  Usually.  But with the recent surf eroding all the sand, there is a stretch of the bike path where there is basically no sand on a higher tide and the waves break right onto the rocks.  So when you get some bigger surf with a high tide, you can see some pretty big waves explode onto the rocks and send a plume of whitewater onto the bike path.  Right now, there is a sea wall just north of 45th St.

I thought, “Hey, isn’t that cool? Maybe I should shoot it.“  Well, I only had my wide angle lens so without getting really close, the big splashes of whitewater didn’t really look as good in the pictures so I had to get closer.  So, I got a little closer – maybe a little too close.  Luckily, I didn’t get the camera wet, but I did pay the price by shielding it with my body.  My jacket was waterproof.  My sweatpants were not.

I got a major adrenaline rush waiting for the big waves to break on the rocks.  The thunderous crash of the wave against the rock sounds so close that it just sounds like you’re about to get swallowed up by this thing.  I think I’m going to come back tomorrow with a slightly longer lens.

Here are the images.  First a sequence from a safer vantage point.  Then a few from a not-so-safe one.  And finally, a self portrait after getting splashed.

Splash Sequence

Big Splash, Up Close and Personal

Foamy Bike Path

Pieces of rock broken off by waves

What happens when you get too close

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