Stuck In Customs » California

Hollywood and the El Capitan Theater

tratcliff — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:38:36 +0000

This is a cool part of Hollywood with a lot of activity and interesting people-watching. I do very much enjoy sitting stil with my camera and watching hundreds of interesting-people walk by, and it’s even better when there is a surreal background. In the distance there is the famous El Capitan Theater. You might have to click on ALL SIZES to get to the larger size to see it in detail.

The Fountains at Hollywood and Highland

tratcliff — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:07:10 +0000

Some lovely fountains just after dark in the center of a popular shopping center in Hollywood. The red sea of children playing in the water parted in time for me to take this photo.

The Lonely Road to the Dinosaur Dig

tratcliff — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:52:28 +0000

It was an amazing week out with Jack Horner and his crew. We could not have been any more remote! Out deep in the wheat fields of Montana, we were met every morning with amazing sunrises and the evenings had these surreal sunsets.

I’ll post more about the dinosaur dig, what we discovered, and all sorts of things in coming months… it was quite a trip and Jack was every bit the hero my son envisioned!

A Perfect Morning at Glacier National Park

tratcliff — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:05:47 +0000

I’m back in Montana for a few days!

We were graciously invited by Jack Horner up to northern Montana to join him on a dinosaur dig, My 7-year-old son (and the 7-year-old in me) is excited as can be by this once in a lifetime experience. We are not sure yet, but we think there is a special kind of Tyrannosaurus Rex that has been uncovered near Rudyard, Montana. Jack has his dig team out there, so we are going to camp out with them for a while and help with the dig… we are mega excited.

For a few nights before the dig, I took the family unit here to nearby Glacier National Park. We stayed at the Many Glacier Inn, which is this 1930’s Swiss-style chalet on a beautiful lake looking out at Mount Grinnell and several glaciers.

I woke up early in the morning to get this shot, while the rest of my family and the inn was still asleep. As usual, I had my ipod on full blast while I took in the scene and snapped away.

If you look down at the bottom, you can see all the rocks through the crystal-clear glacial lake.

Grand Theft Auto 4 in LA

tratcliff — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:14:51 +0000

This is one of most famous buildings in LA for these kind of advertisements. I can’t think of a cooler one than showing those three characters from GTA4. Even though I played and beat the game, I am not quite sure I ran into that gal on the left… I think I would remember that.

Kris Kros in his Prime

tratcliff — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:15:52 +0000

Here is one of everyone’s favorites, in his prime walking the streets of downtown LA, with his camera over his shoulder, in his element.

Kris Kros in Action!

tratcliff — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:58:40 +0000

I had a great afternoon with Kris Kros (Joe)! We’ve known one another for years, and, like so many people, I’ve always admired his work. He’s one of many of you cool photographers here on Flickr that inspires me to change and experiment. I was just as impressed with his person as his photography.

I had a few spare hours on Saturday, so I contacted Joe that morning to see if he had some spare time, and, luckily, so did he! We started out by planning to go around LA shooting, but I think we spent about 75% of the time sitting around cafes while discussing photography, art, techniques, and a bunch of other adventures!

The Hotel Figueroa

tratcliff — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:28:40 +0000

Right in the middle of downtown LA is this really unique and cool hotel called the Figueroa. It’s worth a visit if you ever make it downtown!

Times Square in LA

tratcliff — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:54:02 +0000

It’s a poor-man’s Times Square… LA’s attempt to make a cool hip place outside of the Staples center is the Nokia Blade Runner-esque montage of crass commercialism… It seems like a very strange place to me - it was pretty empty when I was there.

A Seagull at Sunset

tratcliff — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:40:45 +0000

Shot on the beaches of Los Angeles… a colorful and perfect evening!

This one uses textures from my textures tutorial at this link right here!

A Warm Fire by the Pool at the Custom

tratcliff — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:59:19 +0000

The LA nights tend to get a little cool, so there is nothing like an open pit fire to take the chill away. This is the hotel I stayed at in LA called the Custom Hotel (Stuck in Custom Hotel? Too easy!). I found it on this cool new boutique hotel site called TabletHotels.com. The site has the tagline “Hotels for Global Nomads”;, and aren’t we all?

It’s right by LAX and surprisingly inexpensive. They have this trendy club and bar (upstairs there) by the pool…

Good Memories of California

tratcliff — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:01:47 +0000

I had a great and busy time in LA last week… The weather was perfect and I found some time during the sunset to go out and shoot the dock at Manhattan Beach.

Ye Olde Traine Statione

tratcliff — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:55:57 +0000

I suppose it is not old enough to denote the medieval “e” on the end… This was shot in Old Sacramento near the train museum.

End of the Railroad

tratcliff — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:33:05 +0000

This was shot in Sacramento, CA at the Railroad Museum.

I’ll Meet You at the Train Station

tratcliff — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:58:21 +0000

This is the old train station in Sacramento. I thought this one turned out rather well!

Engine House

tratcliff — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 02:55:34 +0000

This is part of the old Union Pacific complex in Sacramento, California. They had a bunch of old trains there and I kept running into old crotchety engineers in overalls that didn’t like the look of me our my new-fangled camera.