LAX Bomb Squad

Thanks for checkin' out Bsombin'! I might have said it before. But, for someone who doesn't travel much, I spend a lot of time at LAX. With most of my family living in other states and countries, there's always someone flying in to visit or going to visit the family elsewhere. On my most recent trip to the airport, it was my youngest sister who needed to be dropped off. My mom also wanted to go. When we got there, mom decided to go in with my sister to make sure her luggage wasn't over the weight limit. It was late at night (on a week day) when we got there, so the airport was empty. While they were inside checking in my sister's luggage, I waited outside in the car, since the loading zone was empty. I had my camera with me and it was taking a while for my sister to check in. So, I decided to get out of the car and take a few pictures while I waited. I walked about 20 yards away from the car, to get a better shot of the Bradley terminal, while I was shooting. To my surprise, that set off alarms with the airport police and the bomb squad. To them, it looked like I abandoned a car in front of a terminal, since they couldn't see me shooting in the shadows. Within minutes, I had a squad car pull up behind our car. Before I could turn to address the cops in the squad car, a bomb squad truck with a K9 office pulled up. The bomb squad office quickly got out and asked me what I was doing as he let the K9 officer out of the back. I told him that I was just taking some pics while I waited for my mom. He laughed and said, "You can't just leave your car unmanned like that." He explained why it looked suspicious and politely asked me to wait by the car. The other officers walked up behind me, while the bomb squad spoke to me, and surrounded me. Once the bomb squad officer said it was okay, the other officers walked me into the terminal to find my mom. They saw that my mom is handicapped and were nice enough to let me stay parked in the loading zone while my sister finished checking in. They even let me keep shooting and stayed to talk to me about photography. They also let me play with Bailey (the K9 officer) and take his picture. I thought it was funny how they called the bomb squad on Bsomb. Fortunately, all the officers were very cool and it was a fun encounter with the LAPD and the bomb squad.  ...Can't say I've had too many of those. But you can't let one bad apple (or cop) spoil the bunch. And that experience goes to show why you shouldn't. I was able to get some shots worth sharing, before I had to leave. And, on the way home, I also shot some moving long exposure shots...

I hope you liked the pics! Thanks again for checkin' out Bsombin'! Check back soon for more photos, art, poems, stories, and more!

Waiting At LAX

Thanks for checkin' out Bsombin'! My daughter recently went to visit her mom and sister in Arizona for a few days. Her flight home was scheduled to land at LAX at 6:30AM. Since I haven't had an time to shoot lately, I decided to go a little early and take my camera with me. I got there around 6:15AM. So I wanted to hit an easy-to-access spot, because I thought I wouldn't have much time to shoot. First spot that came to mind was the most obvious... The LAX sign is on the way into the airport's terminals, making it the easiest to access spot I could think of. I wanted to shoot a time lapse, but without knowing how much time I had to shoot, I settled for some trippy light trail shots instead. After about 20 minutes shooting light trails by the sign, I still hadn't heard from the kid. I wanted to get some shots from a 7 story parking lot rooftop that is right next to the LAX sign, next. Since time was limited, however, I had to move quick. I packed up and (literally) ran from the sign to the parking structure. To avoid parking attendants and security, I headed straight to the the nearest staircase and got started with my leg workout. By the time I got to the roof, my legs and butt were on fire! But I got straight to shooting, as soon as I got to the top. Not 5 minutes after getting to the top, I got a text from the kid. Her flight had landed... I clicked the shutter a few more times, packed up, and run back down to the truck. In the 30 some minutes I had to shoot, I made a handful of pictures I like. After I picked my princess up, we headed to world famous Randy's Donuts to get a sweet treat and make a few more pictures...

I hope you enjoyed "Waiting At LAX". Thanks for checkin' out Bsombin'! Please check back soon for more adventures, stories, art, poetry, photography and more!

Lurkin' 'round LAX

Many thanks for checkin' out my blog! With a big family that likes to travel, a lot of my time is spent at LAX making me very familiar with the airport and it's surrounding neighborhoods. This is in part to my usual routine, when a flight is late, being to get out he camera and shoot. Most of the time, though, I find that the delays are in the day. Night flights are usually on time, so I don't get to do a lot of night shooting by the airport. Last November, however, my sister's flight got delayed and I found myself with a couple of hours to kill. And, so, the lurk began... I found a spot to park, right off of Century Blvd., and started by the LAX sign at the Century entrance. First a trip to the top of a parking lot structure, for elevated shoots, then down on to the streets. I made my way down Century to Sepulveda then headed down Sepulveda a ways before flippin' a bitch and heading back towards the car. By the time my sister's flight had landed, I was back at the car with a memory card full of captures. Too many to share, but I will share some of my favs from the night. Thanks again for stoppin' by. Check back soon for more LA stories, images from the city of angels, and more Bsombin'!

El Segundo

...No, I didn't leave my wallet in El Segundo. Although, I couldn't help singing the hook from that old Tribe Called Quest classic, as I drove through the city. My destination, for that afternoon, was a look out point with a view of LAX's runways, and my plan was to test out the new tele-photo lens I got. The combo of airplanes and photography made killing and hour a breeze. Before I knew it, the fam's flight had landed and I had to rush to the terminals to pick them up. I didn't leave without getting a lot of good shots first. I decided to share 4 of my favorites, from that day, and here they are...

Terminal Rain In Los Angeles

LAX Captures - Day Shots

...Another trip to LAX, to pick up grandma. We got there early, so we went and sat under the guide lights, that lead to the runway, to capture some plane images...