wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Re: My story - Korean Friendship Bell and Colorado Street Bridge
Mickael Therer 2004-Sep-27 21:38:00
Hi Roger,
these are all beautiful shots but my favorite goes straight to number4
I'm not sure why but it talks to me probably the presence of tree, the
dry stones and the water add to the bridge.
-mickael
--- In #removed#, Roger Howard <#removed#> wrote:
> Well, I had a very busy weekend with multiple sides of family in town -
> lots of running back and forth across Southern California, and with
> little spare time in sight.''
>
> On Saturday I went to the Port of LA/Long Beach hoping to shoot either
> the Vincent Thomas or (preferably) the Henry Ford Bridge, a beautiful
> steel draw bridge connecting Long Beach to Terminal Island (build as
> part of the war effort in WWII). Unfortunately the Henry Ford was shut
> down for construction work, and the Vincent Thomas is somewhat
> inaccessible (no sidewalk, and the streets around it are very
> industrial and primarily private).
>
> So we hit the Korean Friendship Bell site in San Pedro (the other side
> of Vincent Thomas), to have a nice hike on a beautiful day... the
> Korean Friendship Bell was given to the US as part of the bicentennial
> celebrations in 1976, and serves as a metaphorical bridge between the
> peoples of the two nations and their respective cultures. On the day we
> visited there were about 50 Korean visitors in a group, mostly well
> into their 70s and 80s and it was very interesting to watch, especially
> as a large Mexican wedding crowd arrived to have their wedding photos
> taken on the grounds and in front of the bell. However, I still wasn't
> convinced I wanted to use this as my contribution, as I had really
> hoped to shoot a real, literal bridge.
>
> Finally, Sunday in between chores and work, I hopped in the car and
> sped to Pasadena, suddenly inspired to shoot a bridge I had seen for
> many years but had never visited. The Colorado Street Bridge is a
> magnificent, long concrete bridge that swoops over the Arroyo Seco and
> is very typical of early 20th century LA style. It's right near the
> Rose Bowl, if you've ever been to the area, and can't be missed from
> the 210 freeway. I knew the area roughly, but it took me about 45
> minutes to find the best spot to unload my gear from and begin to work
> my way down into the canyon - there were no good signs marking trails,
> so I ended up doing a considerable amount of hiking and climbing to
> finally get right up to the bridge. There were a few folks along the
> way, met a homeless guy living down there in bliss (it would be quite
> easy to stay out of sight), and managed to climb myself into a few
> off-limits areas.
>
> Please take a look at:
>
> <http://www.pbase.com/rogerhoward/coloradostbridge>
>
> I still haven't chosen which one I like most - I also haven't finished
> the exposure blending, so these are each just one exposure just to get
> a sense for the framing.
>
> If you're interested, here's a rough (unblended) pano of the Korean
> Friendship Bell, shot handheld and not finished:
>
> <http://www.pbase.com/rogerhoward/image/34329838>
>
> Any feedback would be very appreciated so I can finally pick which to
> send off to WWPano!
>
> - R