Category: Photography

Los Angeles has the one of the largest urban parks in the country – Griffith park. In 1912 a zoo was built there, by 1965 it was felt that the zoo was too small and inhumane to the animals. So a new zoo was built, also in the park.

Today the old zoo  is a picnic area.Some of the old enclosures are now open and even have picnic tables in them. Btw, it looks like these people are doing some kind of photography shoot, very common in LA. I have no idea if this is an advertisement or part of a movie or simply a home video.Those people up there? They didn’t climb up, they entered from the back and actually came down some pretty steep steps.The back road goes behind the enclosures. You can see from the angle of the bars how steep the stairs are. These days graffiti covers everything. Some people call it art, others call it vandalism. I’m more towards the vandalism side, but I have to admit it is bright and colorful.Many others shared the path with us, in this case – skateboarders.As we continued our  hike, we could hear a lot of music. Both from the merry-go-round and from private birthday parties. Bringing in a bouncie is an integral part of any birthday in the park.It’s spring, a lot of plants are blooming.The rains we’ve had this winter have turned the hillsides a luscious green, it will soon fade to golden brown, so we relish it while we can.On the other hand, erosion turns the bare hillsides into fascinating shapes.As we climbed higher the vistas opened up. Looking north east towards the Glendale narrows on the LA River. The municipal golf course (named for presidents Wilson and Harding) is in the foreground with the red tower of the Autry Museum. The 134 freeway spanning the river and the hills of Glendale and Burbank beyond.Further up and we looked south at the sparkling buildings of downtown. The tallest building was recently sold, so the US Bank sign has come down but nothing has replaced it yet. The top floors will soon be a restaurant and a club.Looking east to Atwater village, El Sereno and Montecito heights. This is the greenest part of the LA river with a lot of birds and wildlife. In the summer people now ride canoes through here.A burnt out tree trunk with downtown Glendale in the background.Back to the zoo, these old cages may be small, but they were built to last.The gate was open, it was an easy in and out.I know, this looks like some strange blowfish. It must have fallen from one of the trees. Rather alien looking.

Another glorious Sunday walking around LA.

I have enjoyed the book Secret Stairways of Los Angeles, as well as joining in on some of the Sunday walks with the author Charles Fleming.  He is writing a new book about walks and hikes in and around the city. So he sent out an email asking for testers. I think he got at least 500 responses. I was one of the lucky ones. He sent me the instructions for Fryman Canyon. I was to follow his directions and report back it there were any major changes or if something wasn’t clear.

I am very familiar with this walk, so I decided that this time I’d take pictures of unusual things, rather than the broad vistas.Someone stenciled this on the street, I have no idea what it means – if it’s trying to tell people to walk on the sidewalk – there isn’t one. Maybe it is trying to get the walkers to move to the side of the road.This beautiful wall and gate don’t appear to lead to anything. Maybe there once was a house behind the gate. Maybe this is the back way into a very large estate. Of which there are a few along here.Love the hair, also, having fun with PicMonkey.An inverted toadstool.A good winter in LA, when there is snow on the San Gabriel mountains.Dew on green green grass. Another sign of a good winter.This could be in Ireland, not Studio City.Black and white brings out the real beauty in this tree stump.Just some artwork. Did the child of this family make this? Was it something the owner just didn’t want to throw away?

I will have some more of my creative posts soon. As yet most of my projects are still secret.

Yes, we have a river, no we are not a desert. We live in a Mediterranean climate, which means, seasonal rains (winter) and a certain amount of running water.   The river is the whole reason the Spanish started a settlement in 1781.  One problem with such rivers is that when we have rainy years, it would flood, kill people and destroy property. In the 1940s this became the largest project for the Army Corps of engineers, they  encased most of the 48 miles in concrete and basically turned it into a very big storm drain.

For this walk I went with Charles Fleming and his many  followers. Years ago he wrote a wonderful book, Secret Stairs and then he started leading walks along those routes.  This time only about 30 people showed up, nice size group.We met at the foot of this fountain. The William Mullholland memorial fountain.  He was the designer of the aqueduct that brings water from 300 miles away in the Owens Valley to LA and allowed the area to become the megalopolis it is today.We crossed a pedestrian bridge over the busy 5 freeway. Notice how it is completely enclosed, no jumpers here please.Early on a Sunday morning there is very little traffic. On weekdays  all 10 lanes are solid with cars.Down to a very bucolic river.  Three miles of the river, known as the Glendale narrows were never paved. This area was below the level of the water table, so it has been able to flourish has a natural river.The banks are slopping concrete,  a bridge connects Silverlake to Atwater Village.  A wonderful bike path runs along the top. the small bridge on the left is for bikes and pedestrians to cross Los Feliz Blvd easily.I love these older industrial elements of this bridge, and the power lines are fine as well. I wouldn’t be blogging without them.Nature is doing it’s best to reclaim the concrete walls.A White Heron.Taking flight. I’m amazed at how good this picture is. Dumb luck,  point the camera and shoot!  What I love about digital cameras – I can shoot and just keep the good pictures.Birds and fish flourish here. In the summer kayakers come out as well.The lock on bridges tradition that started in Paris has sprouted up on many bridges these days.I hope the dates don’t indicate the beginning and end of E&D’s relationship.

Have I mentioned how many wonderful hikes there are either in the city or right outside it. This time we headed out to Malibu Creek State Park. It has probably been 15 years since I’ve been here. In those days parking was free, now it costs $12 to park.  Still worth it.View into the Santa Monica mountains from the parking lot. A wonderful sky, we actually had clouds on this wonderful fall day.One thing we absolutely love here in So Cal, is running water.  Any open body of water will attract people.We walked by this rusting old water tower.Later I got a fuller view, yes even out in nature people think that defacing objects with graffiti is a good thing to do. Unfortunately they do it on trees as well.  Oh well, and you wonder why I am completely opposed to ‘celebrating’ graffiti as some kind of art form.Another thing we love is big trees that cast shade on our paths.  There were a lot of people walking or picnicking.  We shared the road with a cantering horse.Someone mentioned that this is a mule, because of the ears, all I know is he was moving fast.

We were hoping for a quiet peaceful country walk, that wasn’t meant to be.Right as we started our walk a slew of emergency vehicles came by.And left us in their dust.Even a helicopter came over head.

Which was very very appropriate since our destination is the film location for M.A.S.H. We spoke to the rescuers, someone had fallen, more on that later.Soon we were off the road and onto a rocky path through chaparral – this is the low native growth here in So Cal.We turned a corner and there it was! The M.A.S.H site!  Today most filming seems to be done on sound stages, with a few outside shots just for authenticity. But with this show they built the whole camp out here and a few relics remain. I’m thinking someone may have done some touch up work on this ambulance.How they convinced anyone that this dry, arid environment is actually in Korea is beyond me.Here is a ‘burnt out’ vehicle. There are a number of information placards that show maps and details of where everything was on this set.Even the shed has it’s obligatory bullet holes.Iconic signpost, this looks too new and clean, someone must come and replace it from time to time.On our way back we stopped at the ‘lake’, this is where the rescue had taken place. If you think this is some large lovely lake, think again, the camera makes things look so much larger. I do love the reflection, clouds are rare around here.This area is well known for rock climbers, I assumed that one of them fell (we were told it wasn’t a serious injury, probably broken bones) but no, the people by the lake told us that a kid was goofing off on the dam and fell.  Yes there are signs telling you not to climb on the dam, but really who reads or pays attention to signs??I have no idea if the state stocks this lake or if this father and son are just enjoying the act of fishing without ever catching anything.We also walked by the visitor center, it was already closed.This is what river beds really look like around here.Final shot, a family enjoying the pond.  Can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon