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I was driving to work yesterday and pulled over to take this amazing sunrise image. I did not manipulate the color on this photo in anyway. It is as it was. I couldn’t help the rhyme running through my head: “Red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky in morning, sailors’ take warning.” It did, however, turn out to be a very beautiful and bright autumn day.
L. Gloyd (c) 2009
The Day of the Dead celebration, El Dia de los Muertos, is a practice that goes back thousands of years in the cultures of the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America. When the Europeans came to this area, the celebration was blended with the observance of All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1 and 2. Elements of pre-Christian and Christian symbols were merged and the celebration became one where the observant remember their deceased loved ones. Today this celebration is observed in many Latin American countries as well as Latin American communities in North America.
I came across this Day of the Dead altar in my community. Passerbys were invited to write messages on pieces of cloth to honor and remember their loved ones and pin them to the altar. On the altar are marigolds which were sacred flowers to the ancient Aztecs, comical skeletons as a reminder that death is not to be feared, candles to represent life and hope, incense to purify the space, food as an offering to the deceased, and crosses to show that Jesus has triumphed over death.
L. Gloyd (c) 2009
When we were kids, we rarely went up to Hollywood. It was a seedy, tacky place of lowlife nightclubs, shady ladies, and other bizarre people. But gentrification has set in and it’s become a trendy place to be, tourists not withstanding. My sister and I took the subway up there yesterday and played tourists. Here is my sister in a very touristy pose in front of the Babylon Court at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center (home of the Kodak Theatre).
The court is a tribute to D.W. Griffth’s vision of Babylon in his 1916 film Intolerance.
We strolled along the Hollywood Walk of Fame:
and ended up in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre,
where we encountered some interesting folks:
Now let me just say something about this. These are actors who on their own (not paid for or endorsed by the theatres or local businesses) just show up each day in front of the Kodak and Grauman’s and pose with tourists for tips. This is fair — except they don’t tell you they want tips until after your snap the picture. My sister and I found this out when we got chewed out by an obnoxious little man dressed up as Chaplin. It was very bizarre since neither my sister or I took a picture of him and didn’t intend to take a picture of him. He just started mouthing off at us for not taking his picture and tipping him. Anyway….. only in Hollywood, I guess.
Here’s one more image I took especially for my colleague Heather who lives in Australia:
I thought you would like that, Heather. 
Signing off,
Your Hollywood reporter……
LJG. (c) 2009
There is a wild fire in the Angeles National Forest. Usually, when there are such fires, the smoke makes a yellow ashy haze. I’ve never seen smoke form clouds like this. One report I heard says that the smoke plumes are about 25,000 feet high. It looks more like a volcanic explosion. This is a bad one, folks. Already people have died and homes have been destroyed. The fire is heading towards a mountain top that has all the local radio and television broadcast transmission towers. They most likely will burn and some of our communications will be disrupted.
It is sooooo hot but it is supposed to cool down this week. I hope so.
With my camera in hand, I thought I would just go back to the basics and experiment with some color compositions.
Images: L. Gloyd (c) 2009
Taken at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, July 2009
“Bread and Coffee”
My thanks for this prompt goes to the Woman on the Wrong Side of the Mirror, who got it from The Night Writer, who got it from Inspiration Flirtation.
My inspiration comes from….
- Holding a camera
- Opening a journal to a blank page
- Watching a cursor blink
- Encountering the Ordinary over bread and coffee
- Experiencing the Divine through writ and ritual
- Picking and tripping over stones in the shade of oaks and sycamores
- Scanning the sea for wild whales and wayward pelicans
- Watching an egret hunt for her supper
- Cooking
- Roaming museums and libraries and connecting with the spirit that draws to Communion all creative souls
- Ascending mountains to see the dance of heaven
- Gazing at moon jellies and sea dragons in the dark
- The History Channel
- Rendezvous with the dark man in my nightly sojourns.
- Reading a trashy novel
- Solving a mystery
- Bellydancing
- Hanging with kindred angels
- Watching incense curl to the heavens and being thankful for it all.
Text and image: L. Gloyd (c) 2009
“Big Sky”
L. Gloyd (c) 2009
I gotta find a way to meet the owner of this house. That person can’t be anything but FUN!! Arrrrrrrgggggg and AVAST!!!! Hang ‘em from the yardarm!
L.Gloyd (c) 2009
I know it’s just a grey lump in the water, but to me this is the shot I’ve been waiting for my whole life. This is the first time I’ve every seen a wild whale with my own eyes. Yes, I’ve seen trained killer whales at aquatic parks and, of course, I’ve seen loads of documentary films on whales. But this is my first live encounter with an untamed one.
A few days ago I took my camera to work with me. I had seen a news report that there was a California grey whale in the channel of a nearby boat harbor, so during my lunch break, I went down to breakwater at the mouth of harbor. No whale. Oh well, I got some other shots of interesting things so it wasn’t a complete waste of time (see previous post). That was Wednesday. This morning, Saturday, I decided to take a chance that the whale was still in the harbor and went down again with my camera. I climbed out on the breakwater like I did a few days earlier. Still no whale.
Then I saw a group of people on the breakwater on the other side of the channel. They were looking at something. I hopped in my car and drove all the way around to the other side. I parked and walked about a mile out to the end of the rocks to where the people were gathered.
Then I heard it: the whooshing sound of a whale blow. Jackpot. (The yellow spot on the map is the location of the whale. I was on the strip of rocks just above it, about 35 or 40 feet from the animal).
I knew that I would never be this close to a wild whale again. The law in these parts say that one cannot approach by boat protected marine animals. Getting too close means a hefty fine and time in jail (rightly so). So the whale being this close to land is an opportunity that will most likely not happen again for me. This would be my one-and-only-chance to get the photo I have been waiting decades to get.
I turned on my camera and poised myself. Suddenly, the animal breached. The crowds oooh-d and ahhh-d. I quickly lifted my camera and snapped the shutter. There was a long pause and a very slow click just as the whale moved back under the water. I looked at the camera’s monitor and my heart jumped. The glaring red flash of the “low battery” indicator blinked at me.
“NO!” I said, a tad too loud because heads snapped around to look at me. “Stupid, stupid, stupid”… I realized that I had left home without putting new batteries in my bag.
I snapped a few more pictures, each one with a delay that allowed the animal to sink back into the water before the shutter snapped. Finally, the camera completely gave up the ghost and shut itself off. I sighed and settled back to watch the whale gracefully lolling around in the water. I got lost in watching the whale and the people watching it. Fathers and mothers were lifting children onto their shoulders and pointing, “Do you see it? Do you see the whale?”
I was briefly moved to tears: this creature was so amazing and perfect that I finally concluded: what the hell, so I didn’t get a picture. I am seeing this wonderful animal with my own eyes. Me! What did I do to deserve so great a gift?
It was joyous.
But I did learn a few things that I want to pass on to you. First, always take your camera with you. You won’t get that perfect shot if you don’t have it. Second, always, always, ALWAYS keep fresh batteries with you. Duh. I knew that but I didn’t do it this time and I paid for it. Third, be willing to go the extra mile (literally). Twice I went looking for the whale. I was willing to try the third time and climb out on nearly a mile of breakwater to get the shot.
Finally, look for the miraculous in the ordinary. It may look like only a grey lump in the water, but to me it is one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.
Here he is again, up close:
To read more about grey whales, see my article from two years ago: A Whale Watching Meditation.
Text and images: L. Gloyd (c) 2009
PS: I may just go back out there again soon with fresh batteries, just to see………………..
“Fishing”
RFoxx gave me some good advice (see comments below), so here is a revised version of the image. Thanks, RFoxx.
“Fishing 2.0″
L. Gloyd (c) 2009
“Ageless Fun: A Day at the Beach”
An “Aged” Photo
L. Gloyd (c) 2009
Recently, a number of these signs have been put up on the streets and roads around the area I live. (The signs on the other side of the streets say “Entering Tsunami Danger Zone”).
It was a little disconcerting to see these at first. They are signs that uncomfortably force to mind the danger and unpredictability of the natural world we live in. However, what really bothers me is that these are an enormous waste of tax-payer dollars to state, basically, the obvious. Trust me: most of us around here know which way to run.
L. Gloyd (c) 2009
My sister and I went hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains today, up Temescal Canyon, through groves of 300 year old oak trees. The going was easier than last time (which you can read here) and we made it to my destination — a bridge over a small waterfall. It was only about four miles round trip, but the trail was steep and rocky and we were keeping our eyes open for rattlesnakes and poison ivy. When we got to the top we found a man engaged in his Qigong practice. I see why he chose this place for his practice – the edge of a pool at the bottom of a small waterfall in the shade of sycamores tree. Come, see what I saw today:
“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.”
– Katsumoto to Captain Algren in The Last Samurai
“Japanese Flowering Cherry Tree”
L Gloyd (c) 2009
Taken at the South Coast Botanical Gardens, Rancho Palos Verdes, California (February 28, 2009)
Aztec Statue
Art historians do not know the reason why this fellow’s chest has been laid open. It makes one wonder how our own creative works will be interpreted (or perhaps not even understood) if they happen to survive a thousand years and end up under the scrutiny of some future group of scholars.
Image: L. Gloyd (c) 2009
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