High School Football Season Begins

Pasadena -- I've never been a huge football fan. Oh sure, when the Superbowl comes around or rivals USC and UCLA battle it out on the field, I get into the game.

A few years ago, I started shooting for Maranatha High School in Pasadnea-- my nephew was on the football and baseball teams. He's since graduated from college, but now my 14-year old son is on the team and I am having a blast shooting the practices. His first scrimmage/game is Friday the 22nd. Go Minutemen!

My photos are at www.minutemenphoto.com

Memoirs of a Geisha

San Marino -- A few years back, I shot a series of photos with a friend at the Huntington Library, Japanese Gardens. She was made up and dressed as a geisha. Although the original prints went out as color, I recently experimented with Nik Software using the Analog Efex Pro2. This is the result.

The Huntington Library is a popular film location as in the 2005 motion picture, Memoirs of a Geisha.

Behind the Paper Veil

Pasadena -- My wife, Amber, who is also my best friend, photo art director and co-worship leader, decides to disguise herself behind a few paper towels. We won't tell what happened next....

Front Row Seat to a Sierra Storm

High Sierra -- My destination may be 280 miles from LA, but what the heck--it's only few hour's drive. This was my view as I watched storm clouds gather shortly after dinner near Lower Golden Trout Lake. That night a steady rain fell as I slept like a baby inside my 11-ounce, cuben fiber shelter. Okay, one pound if you count the titanium stakes and polychro ground sheet....

I shot this photo using a Canon Powershot Elph 110.

Big Ship in Giant Harbor

Los Angeles -- The photo above is the stern section of a container ship, the USAC Jilfar. I snapped the shot from a grassy area at Ports O Call Village. The huge ship passed by on-lookers as if it was a parade float. Most spectators watched in awe.

The mammoth, cargo vessel was built in 2014 with the length overall (LOA) of 984 ft. At first I thought this could be one of the new "mega ships," but after a quick wiki search, the Magleby Maersk wins with a LOA of 1,306 feet.

So, How's That Working For You?

Los Angeles

LA is Place of Discovery

Los Angeles -- One would think that a native-born Angelino would have visited the Griffith Park Observatory more than once in his lifetime. Back in the late 70s, we high schoolers used to run around the park at night looking for guards to chase us, but we ended up chasing each other more than anything. We used to also visit the nearby Greek Theater, climb the trees behind the last rows and watch bands like Peter, Paul and Mary perform.

Pictured above, a family watches a near 250-pound brass ball on a 40-foot cable, slowly swig from side to side, knocking over small pegs representing the current hour. What most people don't realize at first is that the giant pendulum is not turning, rather, the Earth is rotating causing the ball to appear to move.

Blue Boy

Orange County, CA -- Every once in a while, I pop a shot and discover a winning image. I took this photo at dear friend's wedding this weekend. By the way, I did not manipulate anything on this image other than adjusting exposure.

Lemon Drops from Heaven

Pasadena -- Twenty fourteen has been a good year for citrus. Our lemon tree is bursting with fruit--so much, we can't keep up with the yellow beauties falling onto the driveway each day. We now affectionately call them "lemon drops." Some days we have more than 15 Eureka lemons fall at a time. That makes enough lemonade for the whole neighborhood, plus a few for cooking....

The Happiest 5K

Los Angeles -- It's called "The Happiest 5K on the Planet," for good reason; you can't help but smile!

Held at Dodger Stadium, more than 15,000 runners, walkers and dancers gathered at 7am for the Zumba dance warm up, dancing to songs like, "Happy."

At 8am, the laid back, 5 kilometer run began. Participants passed through a series of five different colored gauntlets, covering the happy runners with a powdered splash of blue, pink, orange, purple and yellow before finishing through a tunnel of colored, swirling confetti.

The event ended with more dancing and throwing of rainbow powder. What a fun and clean way to kick off summer of 2014 -- LA style.

More fun photos at JohnTaylorsonPhoto.com