Los Angeles is massive! I'll let the photo do the talking.
Here's a 100% size view . Amazing detail!? My thanks to the Canon 5D, Canon 24-70 L, and Unsharp Mask.
For the geograhers ... this picture was taken over Inglewood looking Northwest towards Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.
The Canon 135 f/2 L is a legend in the photo forums. It is sharp, fast, and small. I bought one last year after a long debate in my head between the 135L vs Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L. I'm glad I picked the 135 L!
The #1 reason I picked the 135 over the 70-200 is size. The above photo was taken at Point Isabel with my Canon 5D and 135 f/2 L. I had to hold the camera with only one hand because I was squatting and had our 25 pound baby in a backpack. My other hand was on the ground for balance. I don't think I could shoot one handed with a 70-200.
This photo also has the legendary 135 L sharpness. Check out this 100% crop:
The dogs were jumping around so I had the ISO up at 320 and a shutter speed of 1/2000th. I set the aperture to f/5.6 so i would get a good amount of dog in focus.
The black dog in the photo is our mutt Jack. We took him and his dog brother Gatsby to Point Isabel for some excercise. I walked around with the baby in a backpack and carried my Canon 5D with the 135mm L f/2 attached for almost two hours. When we got home I had a ton of keeper images and I wasn't in a bad mood from carrying a bulky lens around all afternoon.
This photo was taken early in the morning at San Francisco International. I love this type of lighting -- bright sun with cloudy background. The light is like this at SFO many mornings. The sky in the east is clear and fog creeps in from the ocean.
If you look closely you can see the aircraft is named Tubular Belle. Richard Branson made his first fortune off the album "Tubular Bells". At Virgin Atlantic he has a 747 named Tubular Belle. The aircraft in this photo is an A-319. Richard Branson is a 1/4 share owned of Virgin America.
Here is the song Tubular Bells
When arriving in Los Angeles from the east the suburbs seem to start impossibly far away from the airport. The sprawl begins unrolling 70 miles out in the desert. The above photo was taken during a rare clear morning. We were arriving around 9:00 am from Washington Dulles.
You can see that the L.A. suburbs are in a steep valley. Afternoon heating pulls moisture in from the ocean. Most days the valley is filled with a thick haze, especially by late afternoon. The mountains surrounding L.A. also trap the exhaust from all the vehicles traveling the sprawl. This creates the famous L.A. smog. However, there was a recent study released that said Los Angeles residents create the least CO2 per person than any other region in the nation. The Southern California climate causes the least amount of home heating and cooling. The famous smog is mostly the result of geography.
I can't wait for winter to sow cap some of the higher peaks around Los Angeles. Look for some cool pictures on this blog in January!
This is a sunrise view of the drop off area at the international terminal at KSFO. In the background you can see the ever present San Francisco fog creeping over the ridge.
Here's an aerial view of the bay area fog bank.
I took this photo at the start of a long day of flying. I have several more shots from this day that I'll be posting throughout the week. This blog is updated during baby naps. That might explain the short posts. Well, I have to go clean sippy cups now.
Just when my blog was starting to get some traction and readers -- bam, I borrow out my laptop and can't make a post for five days. The key for a successful blog is regular posts. Luckily while my laptop was away I was able to take a lot of photos so I'll have some material ready to go all week long.
The above photo was taken in Claude Moore Park in Dulles Virginia. Our Dulles hotel is 1/2 mile from this park. I took this photo in the late afternoon, almost sunset. I was walking the trails of the park looking for a good photo when I came across this section of trail. I liked how the branch in the upper right corner was back lit causing the leaves to glow, the trail was dark, and at the bend in the trail there was light. The little bit of light at the trail bend created a "light at the end of the tunnel" look. I think this might be a good stock seller.
