A Story of Someone- 7/26

I had a wonderful morning that brought me from Santa Monica to Venice to Marina del Rey back to Venice and Santa Monica and on to the Brentwood Farmer's Market before heading back home to Santa Monica.

All via bike.

I met my friend's Ricki and Bryan and joined them for their (nearly) daily bike ride from the Marina to a hip street in Venice (Abbot Kinney) where we went to a hip coffee shop to have a drink and catch up (Intelligentcia). It was a perfect way to start my day.

I especially love being out in Venice and on the bike path before all the tourists and the general population is out making it really tricky to navigate and bike at a comfortable speed. I also had plenty of opportunities to photograph all sorts of interesting people. Ultimately I landed on this photo of a man walking his surfboard into the water. I had to do a double take because it could have been Summer Steve:

Coming in a very close second was this photo of a man with his bright yellow surfboard on his bike rack. You can easily see how nice it is to be out at that time of day without the distraction of too many people competing for space on the bike path:

Check out Cyrena and Sarah's photos coming soon.

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A Story of Someone 1/11

Venice Beach never disappoints and today was no exception.

I went for a late morning walk with my friend Katie, visiting from Chicago, but forgot my camera. And since it was a cool, rainy day, I knew it'd be okay to go back later in the day and easily get a parking spot. So this time, with my camera in tow, and another Katie (twin) by my side, I found plenty of opportunities to take this Sunday's photo. But when I was rewarded by this sight you're about to see, I just knew I had to capture this exact one for today's moment.

I mean...honestly. This man, and his friend, were in the middle of a bodybuilder photo shoot and I could not have been happier to stumble upon it. Thank you to Katie for leading me down to the water and for holding off on posting this photo on all social media outlets until I get this posted!

A close runner-up was this delightful man who was truly reading a book ignoring the hotbed of activity right in front of him. I found myself being fascinated at his ability to enjoy a book with the spectacular show only 10 feet away.

Check out Cyrena and Sarah's photos (in that order):

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (5:00 p.m.)

I was in such a groove with work that leaving to bike to Venice and back seemed like a gigantic pain in the ass. But I'm so glad that I did. Because it was beautiful and there were so many characters out and about that I got to see. It also left me wondering, "When the heck to the tourists go home?" Which I think is a clear sign that I'm getting older. But seriously. Venice and Santa Monica are still crawling with tourists and they certainly added to my 5:00 p.m. photo (and the outtakes).

After finding a safe place to lock up my bike, I got to the scene about 10 minutes early so I could try as best as I could to line up the p.m. photo as closely as the a.m. photo. This is proving to be challenging for the second half of the series for lots of reasons. Like I didn't write down where I took the photo from, so it's always a lot of trial and error when I get there. Like I don't always know the exact camera settings (lens type and set-up) I used. Like I was freaking tired and zombie-like during the a.m. hour. But it's all part of the fun and it's helping me be a better photographer by having patience and paying super close to details.

With that in mind, here's what 5:00 p.m. looks like along the Venice Boardwalk:

And here is the 5:00 a.m. and p.m. side by side (click to enlarge):

5 things I noticed between the two photos:

• I love that you can't even see the palm trees in the a.m. photo
• The amount of stuff (read: crap) you can buy at the Venice Boardwalk is astounding
• After a certain time, you'll always find someone walking around in a bikini in Venice (in the summer)
• In the a.m. photo, the lights create a leading line and in the p.m. photo, the palm trees do that. 
• Morning or night, the Sidewalk Cafe is easy to spot with its striped facade

Cyrena's photo

Sarah's photo from her amazing birthday celebration in Portugal

And a few outtakes:

 I love this tattoo shop and stop to take a photo of the colorful  & interesting people whenever I'm biking by

 There's something I love about watching tourists purchase sunglasses in Venice Beach

And this was the view behind me from where I took my 5:00 p.m. photo

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (4:00 p.m.)

Okay. Remember how sometimes throughout this challenge I've feared for my life (like from 2:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.)? Well. 4:00 p.m. presented a whole new life-threatening challenge in order for my photo to be lined up almost exactly like the one I took at 4:00 a.m.- cars and buses!

At 4:00 a.m., I didn't have to worry about competing with anyone in the street because, well, no one was out and about. I should have thought about my 4:00 p.m. self when taking this photo, because my biggest challenge was running out in traffic (literally) to take my photo as best I could.

For my p.m. excursions I need to study my a.m. photos to try and match them up perfectly (hello Type A!). I now know this requires me to get to my photo location a little early so I can try to set the stage. Luckily I think this will be as dangerous as it gets. I don't think any more photos require me to play in traffic.

I did the very best I could to snap this p.m. photo as closely to the a.m. photo, but at a certain point I realized I valued my life more than the accuracy of the two photos. Even still, you'll see from the side by side photo that I did a pretty good job.

As usual, it's busy and filled with lots of interesting characters in Venice at this time of the day and year.

And here is the 4:00 a.m. and p.m. side by side (click to enlarge):

5 things I noticed between the two photos:

• While not as many cars driving at 4:00 a.m., there are nearly as many cars parked at 4:00 p.m. as there were at 4:00 p.m.
• The VENICE sign looks better all lit up at night! 
• There seemed to be more beach activity going on at 4:00 a.m. than at 4:00 p.m.. I can't remember what exactly was set up at 4:00 a.m., but it looks more fun compared to 4:00 p.m.
• There are lots of flags flying around this part of Venice that you never saw at 4:00 a.m.
• And finally, the addition of people, in this photo at least, brings the photo to life more than what I experienced at 4:00 a.m.

Cyrena's photo

Sarah's photo

And a few outtakes from my bike ride back to Santa Monica from Venice. It was a beautiful day!

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (3:00 p.m.)

For this photo, I hopped on my bike and traveled the very busy bike path from Santa Monica to Venice to capture my 3:00 p.m. photo. What a difference from when I was there at 3:00 a.m.. I remember at 3:00 a.m. questioning whether it was a safe decision to wander alone in Venice. Apparently I couldn't have been too concerned since I returned to a different, equally unsafe and questionable area of Venice at 4:00 a.m.

At any rate, it really was like a completely different scene and I knew this would be a place where the contrast between a.m. and p.m. would really come alive. There were several photos to choose from that I snapped immediately at 3:00 p.m., but I went with this one because it was the least chaotic of the three to choose from. (Although scroll to the bottom to see the two I didn't choose).

Here are the two photos side by side (remember to click on the photo to see it bigger):

5 things I noticed between the two photos:

• Similar to 2:00 a.m., at 3:00 a.m., if you weren't from around here, you may not know there's an ocean out there!
• The sign from 3:00 a.m. is nowhere to be found several months and 12 hours later at 3:00 p.m.
• The Venice Pier at 3:00 a.m. is actually closed off, but at 3:00 p.m., you can walk all the way to the end (1,310 ft. in length)
• The fog is so dense you can't even tell that there is a lifeguard tower or lights lining the length of the Pier
• Like my own personal game of Photo Hunt, the trash cans have been placed closer to the entrance of the Pier at 3:00 p.m.

Sarah's photo (thanks for the shout out)!

Cyrena's photo 

My 3:00 p.m. outtakes which paint a perfect picture of the complete chaos of a sunny summer afternoon in Venice. Tourists. Surfers. Tourists. Segway Tours. Strollers. Bikers. Tourists:

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (5:00 a.m.)

I had some technology challenges for the 5:00 a.m. hour which required that I get up not once, but twice, at 4:36 a.m. in order to capture my image.

Like the previous photos, I knew where I wanted to go. Motivating myself to get up and out of bed at these super early hours is just not my thing. Today I had to have a serious pep talk encouraging myself to leave the comfort of my warm bed and schlep myself to the Venice Boardwalk.

Typically, the Venice Boardwalk is crawling with tourists, unfortunates (most people call them homeless), vendors and "entertainers." Not to mention it perpetually smells like marijuana and questionable food. But at 5:00 a.m., I can report that the Venice Boardwalk is basically deserted. The unfortunates who are usually sitting along the Venice Boardwalk during the daytime asking for money are sleeping along the side streets, curled up under plastic tarps and questionable sleeping bags. And the crowds of people, the overpriced souvenir shops, the smells and the sounds were all wonderfully absent at 5:00 a.m. making it a pretty pleasant place to be.

This photo is taken from the intersection of Market Street and Ocean Front Walk looking north.

Cyrena's Photo

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (4:00 a.m.)

Jet lag was working in my favor just a little bit. I crashed hard around 930 p.m. (yes, another wild and crazy Friday night!) so when my alarm went off at 3:36 a.m., I had already gotten a solid six hours of sleep. Steve still needed to nudge me to turn off my alarm. I easily would have slept through it otherwise. I think this will be the last of the worst hours to get up. For some reason 5:00 a.m. doesn't seem quite as bad.

The streets of Santa Monica and Venice are quiet this time of the morning. The people who have had too much to drink are mostly home at this point and off the roads. Getting to Venice was a breeze and I knew exactly what I had in mind for this photo. It's another iconic Los Angeles sight and I was definitely curious about just how active this part of Venice would be at 4:00 a.m. The answer? Not totally dead, but not very busy either.

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Exploring Venice with Amy

Amy and I took the train to Venice today and had such a great time. We got an early start to the day, took the metro to the train station, hopped on the train and 2 ½ hours later we were in Venice. It’s amazing how different it is from Milan.

First of all, you walk everywhere! We got off the train station and walked around from 1130am until 6pm. And as tiring as it was, and at times my dogs were barkin’, it felt great to be outside and active for so long. There aren’t any cars in Venice because you get around everyone on boats! I resisted the urge to go on a gondola ride. Not because I don’t love Amy and not because I didn’t want to do it, but because I hope to go back one day with Steve and share that experience with him (Amy if you are reading this, you can’t take it personally!). So yeah, boats and water everywhere which means you walk all over the city.

It was very beautiful and picturesque. I think in total we took close to 200 pictures. The super awesome present from Kara came in handy today and at this point has become something that I love to whip out just to see how other people will react. We used it all over Venice and got so many stares that we orchestrated taking pictures with us (using the Molly Pole) on my camera while sly’ly taking pictures of other people’s reactions of the Molly Pole with Amy’s camera.

It’s so much fun to go to a place where you’ve only ever seen in beautiful pictures. The canals and gondolas were great to see in person. It’s not like it’s any different then what you see in the movies or anywhere else, but it’s cool to see them yourself. Eloquent words are failing me a bit right now, but hopefully you get the point. To see this stuff in person is obviously way better than getting it through pictures and movies! Except if they're my pictures.







In Venice we went to the top of Campanile di San Marco. It was originally built as a lighthouse to assist navigation in the lagoon, but now visitors can hop on an elevator to the top. You get incredible views of Venice, the lagoon and the Alps in the distance (on a clear day). We got amazing pictures of the entire city. It was beautiful to look out and see the city in all her glory. Rebecca had asked later that night if I enjoyed it and without any hesitation I said “YES!” She asked because some people find it depressing. When I asked why, she reminded me that the city is technically sinking due to the water rising and that when some people go there, it’s all they can think about.

I had the opposite reaction. I really loved Venice. The city is so vibrant. Full of people who appeared to be much more friendly than any of the “locals” I encountered in Milan. This is probably because it’s a much smaller city and the chances of being surrounded by massive amounts of tourists is much greater. But it was the architecture and the small walkways and canals that really moved me. I loved the hanging laundry from people’s balconies. The dogs walking around without leashes following their owners around without hesitation. The Venetian glass (jewelry) everywhere. The people who spoke Italian and English and who humored me by smiling when I would say “por favore” or “gratzie.” The Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square and Basilica, The Grand Canal…

It was just perfect. Me and Amy finally catching up after spending a long time apart and getting into a very comfortable groove talking about everything and nothing. The timing was also perfect. It was the perfect amount of time to arrive, walk around, eat, shop, explore, talk and meander back through the narrow moonlit streets to the train station. As we made our way over the Grand Canal for the last time as we walked to the train station, we were treated with an amazing nighttime view of Venice with my favorite moon!



And maybe what I loved the most was that we didn’t have a map at all. We just walked around and followed the signs pointing us in the direction the Rialto & S. Marco and had a perfect day.

The train ride back was incredibly relaxing and provided me with enough time to try and catch up on my personal journal and I also feel in love with a little Indian girl who kept smiling at me. And on the way home, we swung by the place we had pizza the first night and capped off the evening with some insalata mista no pomodore and pizza margherita and coca cola light por favore.

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