House of Blues Sunset Soon to Join The King

Hollywood -- I covered a set of a good friend recently at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. Sadly, the bouncer told me the building was sold and they were going to be out of a job by July 2015.

RIP House of Blues and BB King.

JT Cobb and His Estate

Altadena -- Springtime brings beautiful, late afternoon sun, warm evenings and the smell of star jasmine. A perfect recipe to shoot portraits!

My wife and I were out scouting locations a few weeks back. During our late-afternoon location safari, we thought we would pop off a few fun shots of each other. We even brought props (the hat).


No, I'm not really as tough as this photo may look -- I'm even tougher. Watch out Paul Hogan! (and yes, Paul is alive despite the recent internet hoax of his death going around)

My beautiful wife is there on the right.

The Avery Building

Pasadena Magazine has a good writeup on this architectural icon--I don't. All I know it that the building inspires me, especially on a beautiful, Spring afternoon.

I pass by the abandoned building every day while taking my son to school. Last Friday, I thought I would

Living Up To The Name

Bad Water -- Two hundred and eight-three feet below sea level. This is Death Valley, where LA thrill-seekers, adventurers and edgy vacationers go to be a little different from the rest.

I took this photo of my buddy Dean, who thought it would be cool to lay down on the road. There were no cars in sight except for our two, VW Westfalias.

In the mid 80s, my buddies and I used to travel all over California to explore back roads, hidden desert canyons and ghost towns. In those days, I was a full-time photographer averaging about $7.50 per hour. The VW van was my transportation and hotel room. I would not have traded those days anything.

Of course, when I was on assignment, my publisher would give me 3 rolls of Kodachrome 64 and ten rolls of Tri-X 400. On trips like this, I shot an entire weekend with a single roll of 64 and two rolls of Tri-X, as seen above.

Let's Go Bowling

Whittier -- Friendly Hills Bowl is the kind of place you would find along Route 66 or in your favorite 1950s teen movie. The architecture is a cross between The Jetsons and early Las Vegas strip. You can almost smell the bubble gum, here the sliding of saddle shoes and hear Sinatra spinning on a 45.

Shop at Joe's

Los Angeles -- Speaks for it's self.

How To Kill Two Birds

Pasadena -- Two weeks ago, a neighbor knocked on our door with a petition in hand. They were looking for participants in helping eliminate the incessant barking from another neighbor's dogs by getting the police involved. Although the barking is annoying, my wife had a better solution.

Our neighbors with the dogs don't have time during the day to walk their two, restless dogs. So, rather than the police removing the dogs, my son approached the neighbors and asked if he could walk their dogs everyday after school for a fair price. So now he spends 30 minutes a day, helping the dogs walk off their "barking."

The dogs are happy, the neighbors with the dogs are really happy, and my son is..., well happily employed.

Valentines in LB

Long Beach -- Two lovers overlooking the downtown Los Angeles skyline.

Best Sandwiches in Town

Watts -- There's not much of a market left, but in it's day, I would have loved to tried "the best sandwich in town."

Old buildings along the 20-mile stretch of the Alameda Corridor have a special charm to them. Classic signs like this especially need to be preserved on film, or at least on Daily Photo LA.

Car's Got Legs

Baldwin Park -- Creative car cover