• Clogged Arteries • - a photo on Flickriver

            For whatever reason when I've come to any of these overlooks that cluster around the winding Mulholland Drive, I've spent the majority of the time focusing solely on the large scale of the view and the sky, even though one of the main highlights for me is watching the streaks of traffic and busy lights below. The distance from this view to where I live is roughly 1 mile yet when I stand up here, it feels like I'm a world away. Even when the weather and conditions don't necessarily offer an exciting photo opportunity, it's nice to come up here away from the crowded, loud and fairly dirty Hollywood and take in some nature.

I can't tell you exactly when the lights come on in the city because I have yet to notice the transition, despite a dozen or more trips to this overlook and the area down the road I sometimes visit when this is too crowded. I can probably set up a timeline through my photos but I tend to shoot long exposures up here and often will see a several minute exposure with dull buildings and then the next image is totally lit up. It was about a week ago and maybe 45 minutes after arriving when the sky finally darkened and I first noticed the red tree shaped lights atop the Capitol Records building. 

It's odd to see a city go from dull to glowing and with sundown now around 5pm, the change happens very quickly. Perhaps that's hard to believe (and maybe if I had more experience with these cityscapes it wouldn't surprise me each time) but I'm sure if you find a view in your city like this, you'll see the same rapid transition and possibly not even realize it's happening. It's also possible that most of these lights are on and they just aren't as vivid until all the sunlight has left. 

I didn't really think this type of shot would be interesting to me, but reviewing them at home has changed my mind and is making me reconsider some of the the other overlooks I visited last January and February and sorta dismissed since. Wind can be a challenge, particularly in some of the other overlooks and a wide angle shot rarely turned out well from them. It was always some combination of blur and an inability to find a compromise with exposure speeds that ruined my shots. I will return to a few of those overlooks and hope a new perspective and approach to shooting them will make a difference. It will also be nice to take the dog back to some of these views. In the first month or so here, he and I spent parts of many days driving up and down Mulholland Drive. The last day I dragged him out while shooting started at some of those overlooks, then to the Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu before ending up high above the fog in the Topanga Mountains. Perhaps this time we will skip 2 of those 3 destinations and just pick 1 :)

**note: looking through my images on lightroom, it appears that the Capitol Records tree shaped lights came on sometime during a 284 second exposure shot taken between 5:21 and 5:26pm haha. 

WHEN & WHERE
Hollywood Bowl Overlook
Los Angeles, California
December 30th, 2016

SETTINGS
91mm
ISO 100
f/13
10 seconds

   

Taken on: December 30, 2016

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Hollywood Bowl Overlook

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California

city

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light trails

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evening

foliage

hillside

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industrial

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18-135mm

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Sets appears in: • Maryland to California With A Dog: 3,600 miles over 10 days • Long Exposure

Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T4i, f/13.0, 10 sec, 91mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS REBEL T4i
Lens:	EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
Aperture:	f/13.0
Exposure Time:	10
Focal Length:	91mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 Macintosh
Show full info

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