Where the Wild Things Weren’t

Here is another one of my most recommended places to visit. As you drive up to Northern California into the Redwood forests of Humboldt County you can pull over pretty much anywhere, go for a hike, and experience some amazing scenery. And if you are lucky you might run into some of the native species like bears, elk, or Bigfoot. When I was a kid, I always feared forests since I had read so many books about creatures who lurked within the trees. As I was hiking around taking photos, I was expecting wild creatures to peer out from behind the trees. I even thought I would discover a wooden lodge where an old blind man would be playing the violin to a tearful Boris Karloff.

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Lorena GiamboAugust 10, 2012 - 10:17 pm

WOW, I love this picture! It makes me feel serene and in contact with my creator!

Rafael BautistaAugust 13, 2012 - 6:59 am

Glad you liked the photo @[1290480431:2048:Lorena]. I never imagined that my photos would inspire such spiritual emotions. I’ll will keep your words in mind when I’m out shooting photos from now on. Namaste.

The Griffith Night

I’ve mentioned before how much I love the Griffith Observatory and recommend it to everyone. Not only is it the best place to get a panoramic view of Los Angeles, it’s also very friendly to photographers. Whenever I am traveling and go out to shoot photographs, I always have to watch out for the tripod police. If the security notices you have a tripod, they might kindly ask you to put it away or not so kindly ask you to leave the premises. But at the Griiffith Observatory, they don’t seem to mind. Whenever I visit, there are photographers walking around with tripods and nobody bothers them. Everyone is enjoying the beautiful views and taking photos. But come closing time, it is best if you leave when they ask you to. They even call the cops every night to come clear the place out since nobody wants to leave.

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Supermoon over Cozumel

Remember when there was all this talk in the news about the supermoon? Apparently, the moon was going to be so close to the earth that it was going to cause all kinds of natural disasters. I was all set up with my camera gear on the rooftop of this beach house in Playa del Carmen awaiting the gigantic lunar phenomena that was about to unleash itself on Earth. Well, there were no natural disasters and the whole thing was kind of a dud. I was expecting a Neptune size moon but in the end it turned out to be the same old moon with a just a little brighter wattage. At least the view was really nice. I sat there enjoying a bottle of Havana Club Añejo 7 Years while watching the island of Cozumel basking in the moonlight. I figured, heck, if this is my last night on earth might as well have a drink and toast to the beauty of mother nature.

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A View from the Hood

Anyone who has ever lived in Los Angeles can tell you how parts of the city transform every ten years or so. I found this street up on a hill in a residential neighborhood near downtown. I was trying to take a photo of the skyline from the street but the fence was blocking my shot. There was a neighbor preparing a barbecue for his family and he invited me up to his porch. He said the view was much better from up there. Man, he wasn’t kidding. You can see the complete LA skyline from his front porch. From the Disney Hall in the north all the way to the new Ritz Carlton on the south. He told me this used to be a pretty rough neighborhood back in the day. Now its been transformed with a beautiful new park right past the fence that is used by Hollywood film crews and an elementary school right next door. And they have brand new condo buildings that have been built in the neighborhood. It’s not exactly Beveryl Hills but it’s nice to see the progress being made. He said he had been living there his whole life and didn’t feel nostalgic at all about growing up in the hood.

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Daniela in the Water

Whenever I see a boat out on the water, I always check to see what the owner has named it. I always wonder who they named their boat after. Like this boat I found way down on the Mexican Caribbean in a little village named Paamul. I wonder who Daniela is? Maybe she was a long lost love or a dear departed mother. Whoever she is, I am sure she was close to this boat owner’s heart. I have found that in Mexico, you are pretty much guaranteed the boat will always be named after a female. They are so romantic down there. Here in California, we tend toward more poetic and philosophical names like “Reeling in the Years” or “Liquor on the Rocks.”

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The Roosevelt at Night

There is a big difference between exploring a city during the day and again late at night. You suddenly see things at night that you would never expect to see during the day. In downtown Los Angeles, driving during the day can be a maddening experience with all the traffic and noise. But once the sun goes down and most of the traffic heads back to the San Fernando Valley, it’s like being in a completely different city. The movies “Drive” and “Collateral” captured the mood of LA at night quite well.

I was driving down Flower St. one night and came to a stop at a red light on 7th. As I was sitting there waiting for the light to turn green, I felt a bright glow of warm colors emanating from the building to my left. I turned to look and the saw the whole building cycling through a prism of reds, violets and purples. I was so taken with the glowing colors I didn’t notice the stop-light turn green until the cars behind me started honking and waving at me with one finger. So I pulled over and began setting up to take some pics. That’s when I noticed a couple of other cool things I would never see during the day. Like that giant statue lying mummy style atop the building ledge. And check out the old lady with the monster cigar in her mouth. From now on, when I travel, I think I will only go shooting at night. Much more interesting.

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Thunder Clouds in Santa Monica

Many people complain about living in Southern California, but I prefer to look at the positives. Yea, the traffic sucks, there are not enough open spaces, real estate is expensive, and the traffic sucks. But then you get a glorious sunset pretty much every night which can help you forget all the bad stuff. Now, a funny thing is that there are hardly ever any clouds in the sky here. Believe me, I check every day. One day, I was driving around downtown with my little boy late in the afternoon when these amazing clouds started forming in the distance. I turned to my son and said “Want to go to the beach?” “Mmmm, ok” was his response and off we went. We darted onto the 10 fwy and headed west toward Santa Monica hoping to arrive before sunset. I shot photos for about an hour and by this time he was becoming anxious to go over to the amusement park at the pier. He thought I was only going to take one photo and instead I kept saying “One more picture and then we’ll leave.” We don’t get these type of clouds often. And the colors in the sky this evening were cinematic. When the sun finally set, I gathered my gear and said “Ok buddy, let’s go.” Since he was such a trooper, I let him get on all the rides twice. Then we each got a caramel apple on a stick, drove onto the dreaded SoCal traffic, and went home.

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Somewhere in the Yucatán Jungle

Being that 2012 is the year of the end of the world Mayan prophecy and we will all be laid in ruins, I thought I would start off the year with a photo of an authentic Mayan ruin. Most travelers to the Yucatàn are familiar with the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá, Tulum, or Cobá but there are many more just lying under the dense jungle waiting to be discovered. If you ask a tour agency they will try and sell you a pre-packaged tour, including a guide, to one of the big three. Now those are definitely worth visiting at least once. But since I have been there so many times, I just take off to the local Mayan villages and begin exploring on my own. Much more adventurous that way. For a moment, I imagine I am Indiana Jones searching for lost Mayan treasures. I was constantly on the lookout for giant rolling bolders and evil Nazis. But all I found were some locals trying to sell me t-shirts that said “Spring Break Cancun.”  Spring Breakers???  I think the prophecy has already come true.

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The Majestic Grand Canyon

Majestic….there really is no other word to describe the Grand Canyon is there? Maybe they should just change the name to The Majestic Canyon. Much more poetic. Even after seeing numerous photos and postcards, it is still mesmerizing when you first lay eyes upon it. As you stand there admiring it all, you wonder if God took a brush one day and just started painting a la Monet. But be warned. The downside is that as you look out over the canyon you will begin to feel tiny and insignificant in the big scheme of things.

I have visited the Grand Canyon three times and can’t wait to return. If possible, I suggest visiting both in the summer and the winter. The summer allows for trekking down to the river below and admiring the canyon from a completely different perspective. The winter has less crowds and beautiful snow falling everywhere. Whichever time you go, the power of Mother Nature is sure to impress. And to think that at one time all this was underwater. Majestic indeed.

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Half-Moon Over The Golden Gate

This is one of those iconic shots that everyone tries to take back with them when visiting San Francisco. When I went, it was surprisingly devoid of any tourists or photographers. I was the only one up there. After a couple of minutes, I realized why. It is friggin cold up there. There is regular San Francisco cold and then there is this place. Cold and windy, to boot. I thought I was going to get swept out into the water. I always imagined this area was a lovely park with people strolling about enjoying the views while walking their puppies. In reality, it used to be part of a military site where they would be on the lookout for invading armies during WWII and the Cold War. Lucky for us, the commies never invaded and this is now a national park available for everyone to come and enjoy the incredible views…including the commies.

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[…] climbed up to the Battery Spencer lookout point to photograph the iconic Golden Gate Bridge right after sunset. As I was setting up, I looked west towards the Marin Headlands beyond the ocean […]

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