All shot at Lower Arroyo Seco Park in Pasadena this afternoon. The Arroyo Seco is one of the main tributaries of the Los Angeles River -- it starts high in the San Gabriel Mountains and then falls steeply into Pasadena, where it levels out and flows through a canyon for several miles before joining the L.A. River in downtown L.A.
The park is very nice with tons of native trees and other native plants (thanks in part to some serious restoration efforts). There's just the little matter of the park's centerpiece -- the creek -- having been channelized and entombed in concrete. And thus one of those Southern California moments: paradise paved over. Again.
But hey! No channelization and no Pasadena Freeway and no homes built right next to the creek which historically was probably pretty dry a lot of the time and a raging torrent when the big rains came.
As for the photos...I just snapped them as Julie and I walked Blue, our new pit bull mix. I don't think anything above is epic, but they're good practice photos -- a chance to work on composition and exposure while taking a stroll. The photo of the girl riding the horse is my favorite. The possum (perhaps dead, perhaps playing possum) as seen through the chain link fence is my second favorite of the bunch. The Matilija poppy in the first photo was a tough shot; it would take some time and effort to make that one really work.
All photos taken with my Nikon Df and the Nikon 18-35 3.5 wide angle lens. I had a couple other lenses with me, but was too lazy to change them.
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--S.H.
The photos above are ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced written permission. All rights reserved.