Pictures of California

I just returned from a quick Spring Break trip down to sunny southern California, where I took a whole bunch of pictures. I haven't had time to really go through them yet, and may not for awhile since I'm heading off on another trip in a couple of days. But here are a few that seemed to have turned out okay. If nothing else, they give you some idea of how great the weather was while we were there (a big part of the appeal of going of course). I'll probably post a bunch more in the coming weeks. Above is a shot of a duck pond in a small park n Wilshire Blvd. in West L.A. I was waiting there while my friend Bill took care of some business at the Polish consulate a couple blocks away-- the reason for the trip.

Next is a picture of the Santa Monica Pier, our next stop. This is one of my favorite spots in the area-- and last Thursday was such a nice warm and sunny day it was a perfect time to visit.

I have a nice telephoto lens for my new camera, which came in handy shooting the surfers out on the waves, like the one seen above. Some readers may remember that on my visit last year (and using a different camera), I posted a couple of really long shots from a distance.

A little later that afternoon, we stopped by the La Brea Tar Pits, and this gentlemen played us a nice rendition of "Blowin' in the Wind."

Across the street from the Tar Pits and LA County Museum of Art (which you can see reflected in the windows in the background)is a giant office building. In front of it is this display, featuring actual panels from teh Berlin Wall, now painted by a variety of artists with images that have something to do with the Wall's history (some are more obvious than others). This is actually part of a bigger project, and I gather similar sections can be seen at other sites in this country and elsewhere.

That gives you kind of a snapshot of our first few hours in L.A. I'll post more pictures as I get a chance to review the rest of those I took (over 450 altogether).