Mulholland Drive

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'!

Pool-cuzzi light painting session

Thanks for checkin' out my blog! For those who don't know, I am a dad. ...a very fortunate one who's daughter is everything a parent could ask for and more! We have much in common and share a lot of interest, including photography. Light painting is something that we've learned together, over the years, and she's helped me on a lot of the projects that I've worked on. Which is why I decided to share some shots she got of me playing with a laser and a flashing light stick. I put the "pool-cuzzi" between myself and the camera, to add a reflection to the images, and set the shutter for  8 - 10 second exposures. The kid wanted to use the auto focus, though, so we had to try several times for each shot. Despite the repetition and fails, though, we had a good time, laughed a lot, and both learned more about the art of slow/long exposure light painting. Here are some of the successes we had that night. Check back soon for more pool-cuzzi light painting & more Bsombin'!

Too little too late...

They say hind-sight is twenty-twenty... Can't argue there. I mean, if I could look back on things before doing them, I would be living the life I dream about already. Instead, I'm still working towards making that life a reality and realizing all my dreams. It can be frustrating looking back on our failures in order to learn and grow from them. But, I feel that without reflecting on our mistakes, we risk missing the complete lesson that life was teaching us and open the door to history repeating itself in our lives. Of all the things one should reflect upon, matters of the heart tend to be the most difficult and frustrating to look back on,  for me. But, none the less, it is often the only way we can look at the lessons in their entirety in order to keep from making the same mistakes twice. I find that poetry has made this process of growing through hind-sight a little less difficult for me. So I use poetry as both a way to express my emotions and means to reflect and develope as an artist & person. The following is a poem I wrote when I realized that I had lost the woman I loved...

"Forgive Me Love"

First a friend & 

Then a pleasure, 

All the while

A Jewel & a treasure

...Because of this,

In my heart,

For you,

Has grown,

A love without measure

You've helped me to 

Heal;

You've lead me to

Grow;

You made me want to feel &

Taught me so much that, otherwise,

I'd never know

Your beauty & love

Inspire me to shine

Because,

In you,

I see the perfect heart

To pair with mine

...& though, I was blind,

for such a long time, 

And so often stepped

So far out of line,

Now, I see that 

You are the one

I've longed for &

Was lead to by the

Divine

Please forgive me,

For all I've done wrong...

Instead,

Let me show you my

Love's extent

& give me the chance to 

Make, all I feel for you, evident

-Bsomb4

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...

Kush Harvest Festival

Thanks for checkin' out my blog. As usual, my blogger self can't keep up with my photographer self. Lol. I have been trying hard, the past couple of days to get all caught up on editing and archiving all my images, so I can share them here. But the "need to be edited and archived" folder is still at about 15GB. I did make a large dent in the folder, however. So, while I finish editing and archiving, I will be posting what I have ready. This means that there will be a lot of new posts on here by the end of the week.

Last November, my partner in crime, Tony (from Stay Illuminated), hooked it up with tickets to the Kush Harvest Festival. He also introduced me to a lot of the acts who were performing that night. It was a great time hangin' out with the homie, dabbin' it up, and meeting a lot of cool (and a couple not so cool) MC's that I have listened to for years. Most of them were real down to earth and let me snap flicks of them. So here are a few images of some underground legends that I got the opportunity to meet and watch rock the crowd, at the show...

The one and only Circus!

A man who influenced, inspired, & taught me a great deal, through his music, by making me think a lot about a lot! ...& he's also my favorite MC of all time... Aceyalone!!

The legendary Self Jupiter!

A one of a kind style master, an innovator on the mic, and one of my all time favorite MC's... 

Mr. Myka 9 

Ace, Myka, & Jupiter, of Project Blowed & The Freestyle Fellowship, blessin' the stage.

Medusa! ...Need I say more?

Mr. Sick Jacken, of the Psycho Realm

& last but definitely not least, 2 doots that I love, The Living Legend's Mystik Journeymen!

Check back soon for more Bsombin!

 

The Hollywood reservoir

Thanks for checkin' out my blog! I was driving home from Burbank one morning, when I found myself steering off course and on to Barham Boulevard. Having the camera in the car, I wanted to take the opportunity to shoot DTLA from the Hollywood reservoir. I drove up into the Hollywood hills till I reached a sign that said "Road closed to the public." I surveyed the area, found a spot to park, grabbed my camera bag, and started making my way further up into the hills on foot. I was hoping that the clouds wouldn't make the view too hazy, as I was hiking up to the top of a hill that looks down over the reservoir and out onto DTLA. When I reached the top, however, I was greeted by a skyline that was barely visible through the clouds and smog. I did get some good shots of the LAPD helicopter, as I was encouraged to head back to my truck, though. Lol. I'm planning on going back, since I didn't get the shot I wanted. But, for now, I'll share the few shots worth showing, from that morning. Thanks for stoppin' by and please check back again soon for more Bsombin'!