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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On the Road and In Your Backyard

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 23, 20185:00 am| 32 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

And now the long-awaited return of BillinGlendaleCA to get this week started out right!

My apologies to whomever I bumped; your pictures run Tuesday.

Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.

Until recently the tallest building in Los Angeles(and west of Chicago) was the US Bank tower(formerly the First Interstate Bank tower). The new Wilshire Grand building is now technically taller due to a spire on it. A couple of years ago a company opened up what’s called SkySpace on the 69th and 70th floors that even includes a plexiglass slide on the outside of the building between the two floors. I’ve been wanting to go up there but the cost was a bit prohibitive when the first opened(about $35), but they do have an annual pass that makes it much more affordable. So I finally bought the annual pass on-line and took the train downtown to visit. You take two elevators up to the 70th floor and walk down stairs to the 69th floor(or you could take the skyslide). They have two open patios(lined in plexiglass) on the east and west side of the building and windows that allow for a 360 degree view. Shooting through windows(or the plexiglass) does present some problems with reflections, but I shot close and straight to eliminate them, but that does lead to a bit less flexibility as far a composition.

Echo Park

Taken on 2018-04-11

OUE Skyspace LA

I’ve shot pictures of Downtown LA from Echo Park fairly often, but I’ve never really been able to shoot a picture of Echo Park from above since it’s usually behind a hill. A very short historical note: LA had planned for 4 reservoirs north, south, east and west of the young city. The east(Eastlake in Lincoln Park), west(the lake in MacArthur Park) and north(the lake in Echo Park) were built, but the south lake never was.

SkySlide

Taken on 2018-04-11

OUE Skyspace LA

The aforementioned skyslide, I’m not taking it.

Tourists

Taken on 2018-04-11

OUE Skyspace LA

This is the east patio, the skyslide is behind me.

Dodger Stadium

Taken on 2018-04-11

OUE Skyspace LA

This picture looks north with Dodger Stadium in the foreground(and the top of the Bank of America tower(formerly the ARCO/bp tower)) and Eagle Rock and the San Gabriels in the background.

Glendale

Taken on 2018-04-11

OUE Skyspace LA

This is Downtown Glendale which is about 10 miles away(this was shot with my 50-200mm zoom lens @ 200mm). It wasn’t the clearest day, but I’ve managed to clear away a bit of the haze.

Looking north.

Taken on 2018-04-11

OUE Skyspace LA

This was taken with the fisheye lens looking north. In the foreground are the building on Bunker Hill with City Hall behind them. The background stretches from Glendale to Pasadena.

 

Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

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Reader Interactions

32Comments

  1. 1.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 5:12 am

    I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t go for a Milky Way shoot this morning. I was headed for the coast and the fog rolled in. Speaking of the Milky Way…think I’ve got a form to fill out on this here blog.

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    April 23, 2018 at 5:22 am

    Skyslide?
    Oh Hell No ?
    Great pictures, Bill?

  3. 3.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 5:28 am

    @rikyrah: LOL, I agree. The kid, however, wants to take it. She’s a bit cray-cray.

  4. 4.

    satby

    April 23, 2018 at 5:34 am

    I wasn’t even comfortable getting into the Ledge at the Sears Tower after it was added on, though both the exchange daughters did. And I’m not scared of heights, so it just must have been the implied fragility of a glass floor.
    Nice pictures Bill!

  5. 5.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 5:56 am

    @satby: Thanks, the day wasn’t all that clear and many pictures were marred by reflections, so I got my camera a skirt for next time.

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel

    April 23, 2018 at 6:01 am

    Nice pictures ! I was surprised when we were there that there always was a haze over the city, I thought that was cured after the clean air act. It must have been really bad before.

    I went out on the glass in the Sears Tower in Chicago but it is unnerving. Not sure I would take the slide as I don’t trust designers and builders!

  7. 7.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 6:16 am

    @Schlemazel: LA will always be(and always has been) hazy on many days. We’re a coastal city and get some haze from the ocean(the marine layer) when the prevailing winds are not blowing offshore. The air quality is a thousand times better than it used to be

  8. 8.

    raven

    April 23, 2018 at 6:17 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: What do you think of the new Flickr deal?

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    April 23, 2018 at 6:31 am

    Even the Native Americans called LA the land of smoke before the fringes came. It’s hardly ever completely clear. The air quality is massively improved, though. I remember when you couldn’t see the mountains from downtown unless it had rained or there was a Santa Ana winds that blew the smog out to the coast. Those are great pics, Bill.

  10. 10.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 6:40 am

    @raven: I’m not sure what it means. I was actually thinking of joining Smugmug anyway.

  11. 11.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 6:41 am

    @Mary G: Thanks. I remember one day when I was working for Satan that we couldn’t see the library across the street from our offices on the 46th floor.

  12. 12.

    raven

    April 23, 2018 at 6:43 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: This is encouraging

    My Thoughts on the SmugMug Flickr Acquisition

    In buying Flickr, SmugMug more than anything is buying a community. I think that they are going to be very careful not to disrupt this community and look for ways to grow it thoughtfully. Having known the MacAskills (the family that owns SmugMug) for many years, one thing I can say for certain is that they LOVE photography and photographers. If you ever get a chance to visit their offices in Mountain View, do it. What you will find is wall after wall covered with the biggest prints you have ever seen in your life. These are people who are passionate about photography, not advertising.

  13. 13.

    raven

    April 23, 2018 at 6:44 am

    @Mary G: I had real respiratory problems as a kid in the late 50’s-early 60’s/

  14. 14.

    Baud

    April 23, 2018 at 6:49 am

    Nice.

  15. 15.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 6:51 am

    @raven: I read that yesterday evening. I’m just not sure what kind of integration there will be between Flickr and Smugmug and how that will work.

  16. 16.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 6:51 am

    @Baud: Thanks, just sent in some Milky Way pics.

    (Alain, did say to send more when I can.)

  17. 17.

    Baud

    April 23, 2018 at 6:56 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Great. Those are wonderful.

  18. 18.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 7:05 am

    @Baud: There’s one that’s got something special in it.

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    April 23, 2018 at 7:14 am

    Because we all love a good dog story, a heartwarming story about an elderly dog and a lost litte girl.

  20. 20.

    raven

    April 23, 2018 at 7:45 am

    Where’s the Pioneer Chicken Stand?

  21. 21.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 7:50 am

    @raven: No Pioneer Chicken, they do have a bar.

  22. 22.

    Quinerly

    April 23, 2018 at 7:59 am

    ?

  23. 23.

    raven

    April 23, 2018 at 8:13 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Warren Zevon’s song “Carmelita” refers to Pioneer Chicken: “I pawned my Smith Corona/And I went to meet my man / He hangs out down on Alvarado Street/By the Pioneer chicken stand”

  24. 24.

    JPL

    April 23, 2018 at 8:16 am

    Wonderful pictures. Going up on a ledge is not on my bucket list, though.

  25. 25.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 8:24 am

    @raven: You can only see a short portion of Alvarado, the church with the tower with the yellow on top is on Alvarado.

  26. 26.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 8:25 am

    @JPL: No ledges, just a plexiglass slide on the outside of the building…70 floors up.

  27. 27.

    MomSense

    April 23, 2018 at 8:45 am

    Those are great photos. The fisheye lens photo is really cool.

  28. 28.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 9:03 am

    @MomSense: That’s my favorite too, but it’s hard to take a picture with the fisheye through the windows, they end up being in the shot.

  29. 29.

    Mustang Bobby

    April 23, 2018 at 10:41 am

    Greetings from Montgomery, Ohio, where I’m visiting my parents for a couple of days before heading on to the Missouri Self-Taught: Lanford Wilson (1937-2011) and the American Drama conference at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. I’m presenting a paper on Wilson and comparing his work to that of William Inge, another Midwestern playwright, and doing it in front of other Wilson scholars and people he worked with at the Circle Repertory Company in New York. He was the subject of my doctoral thesis along with director Marshall W. Mason, who will be at the conference, so… no pressure, right?

  30. 30.

    Miss Bianca

    April 23, 2018 at 12:05 pm

    @Mustang Bobby: ha ha, no pressure, indeed! I’m sure you’re up for it, tho!

  31. 31.

    J R in WV

    April 23, 2018 at 12:29 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Bill, hope you’re still around at least off and on, wonderful photos! Thanks so much for all you do to encourage we photographers to try new things!!

    @Mustang Bobby:

    Congratulations on your upcoming presentation, Dr Mustang, I’m sure you will do the Jackals proud, as well as all who know you in the theater world!

    What a talented bunch of jackals today!!!

  32. 32.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 23, 2018 at 3:32 pm

    @J R in WV: Thanks, I always come back and check the tread after my time in the sleep chamber. Trying new stuff makes for interesting pictures, then again, sometimes it just doesn’t work. I got a LenSkirt to help with the reflections next time.

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