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South Los Angeles













Look for this location in a scene early in "Straight Outta Compton," although it's not in Compton -- it's Slauson Avenue in the city of L.A. 




Northern California road trip

Kayaking the Gualala River.
Baby raccoons near my MacKerriker State Park campsite.
Hummer at the excellent botanical gardens in Fort Bragg.
Sailboat, Half Moon Bay.
Grapes in the Anderson Valley. 
Great blue heron at the aforementioned botanical gardens, which include a rugged section of coastline.
Mar Vista cottages in Gualala in the evening fog.
At the harbor in Fort Bragg.
Apple stand, Anderson Valley.
Harbor.
Fourth of July parade, Point Arena.
Stornetta Public Lands north of Gualala.
Bluey in hotel.
Downtown Fort Bragg.
Ten Mile Dunes.
Half Moon Bay.

Brown pelican, Half Moon Bay.


Novarro Redwoods State Park.

A few snaps from my recent vacation to Fort Bragg and Half Moon Bay. 

Some commentary: 

•The baby raccoons were visitors to my campsite -- I'll post more of those pics later. This one was the money shot; I have others that I like better that are more artsy fartsy. But it was important to get both of them together. 

•The hummingbird photo is flawed -- the focus is on the hummer's ass, not his beak. That said, hummingbird-in-flight photos are a dime a dozen and I worked pretty hard trying to get a bird in flight against a good background. So flawed as it is, I think I might end up liking this image if I can convince myself that color trumps focus. 

•I really like the pier shot -- it's an old sardine processing pier in Half Moon Bay. The fog makes it worthy, I think. It also works well in black and white

•The closeups of the rope, buoys, building in Fort Bragg and apple crates: I'm trying to find more interesting patterns and images in everyday things. Also, the closer I get the camera to these things, the more visual clutter I eliminate.

•The shot of the Independence Day parade in Point Arena is kind of fun. But it doesn't feel quite right and there's something about the composition that's off -- maybe I went for too wide a view. Same with the grapes and the sunbeams blasting through -- good idea, questionable execution. I include here for sake of discussion and in case I one day stopping hating on them. 

•That's my dog Blue on a hotel bed (yeah, I know). Lovely light on the white sheets. The image works well. 

•The redwood shot works because of the attractive curve in the road (curves!) and the truck offers some scale to the giant redwoods. The image is perhaps a little lazy but it's stronger than the ones I took further from the road. 

•I got up for sunrise on the beach and managed not to come home with anything that blew me away. I do like the light in this simple image of the Ten Mile Dunes. I want to like this shot -- but it leaves me feeling meh. 

The pelican close-up was courtesy of the many pelicans that reside on the jettys in Half Moon Bay. The fact that both birds were staring at me (I was in a kayak and very, very close) makes it a compelling image of a familiar subject -- and better than this other decent pic.

All my pics are here. Questions about licensing or a print? Email me.

--S.H.

All photos are ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced written permission.