If you want to see more LA pics, the rest are up on my flickr account, but they didn’t quite make the grade for Ban Sidhe… except this sunset shot, which is aptly fitting since I am flying home to New Jersey today… in golden splendor since I got upgraded to First Class in recognition of a lifetime of achievement and contribution to the industry. I think.

What other reason could there be? Last night was spent playing NWN across three continents, and the flight leaves early, so I intend to sleep on that nice comfy seat, thank you very much. Can you tell I’m sleep deprived?

The Walt Disney Concert Hall sits on a raised platform that sits on a hill, one corner at street level and the other three raised above the sidewalk. It’s disconcerting since I’d associated hills with San Francisco and polder-like flatness to Los Angeles, Hollywood hill sign notwithstanding. In any case, the platform is rectangular while the Hall is most definitely not, and there is left-over space up there, which forms a ‘community park’ with white concrete flooring and a few plants and trees that must feel like they’re in the tropics in the summer, stuck between mirrors and white stone.

Community Park, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

One of the features of the park is a little open air amphitheater, perhaps 40 meters across, that nestles against the silvery mass of the Hall, leaving a narrow path between the two. The light plays between the two curved mirrors and photographers have been known to disappear in this Bermuda Triangle-like space.

Finally, a building as bright as the sky. The entire dynamic range of the shot fits into my camera’s abilities and I get that leaden density of blue and white and grays caught on screen. I’m touched by Grace and light has decided to squeeze itself into my grasp.

How can I refuse to squeeze the trigger?

So you’re in LA for a professional conference on public transit system fare collection methods and technologies, fighting to stay awake and not think too hard about the many hours until the next online gaming session with your buddies at 4AM in your hotel room… when, out of the blue, you get a three hour lunch break! What to do?

Photograph downtown LA, of course… and where can an modern architecture aficionado find something that will work well with the harsh light and deep blue skies of high noon in Southern California?

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Main Entrance

Where else?

I’m warning you, I have plenty more where that came from, so if you don’t like the brushed metal wavey look, it’s going to be a slog…

PS: This series has reconciled me with my wideangle zoom. It really came into its own during this little walkabout.

I brought the camera on this week’s business trip to California. Good thing I did, the light was gorgeous today. Today’s picture was taken with my beloved 150mm, but everything else was shot with the Ugly Duckling, i.e. the 12-24mm zoom. I’ll put some of the results up over the next few days, but I must say I may have been a little harsh on the little fella in the past.