Los Angeles Photogathering this weekend!

Hello All,

Annie from the Los Angeles Conservancy called me back and shared some great info to help us plan our gathering.

Bad news: She recommends that we do not do the Broadway (Theaters) walking tour due to the pace and the fact we will not be allowed to shoot inside the theaters.

Good news: She recommends the Historic Tour walk which is friendlier to photographers and gives time for us to do our thang. We can then walk Broadway on our own after the Historic Core tour (well, more like after we eat lunch).

We just need 8 people to get our own private tour which would start at 10AM and last for approximately 2 hours. It's $10 per head.

Here is a quick description of the Historic Core walk:
A great introduction to the architecture and history of Los Angeles, featuring some of LA's best loved landmarks such as the Biltmore Hotel, Central Market and the Bradbury Building.

• Moderate Walking: Tour covers about twelve blocks with few rest stops.
• Nearby to a range of restaurants from cafeteria to upscale.

http://www.laconservancy.org/tours/tours_group.php4

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

Also feel free to PM me with any concerns.

- Eric

Huntington Library and the Botanical Gardens would be my choice. Karen says it's beautiful, massive, and with a lot of diferent scenery.

I will also need a headcount for Carlito's and a time (8sh) so I can make reservations.....

Loren

Hi, I just wanted to expand on my suggestion (through Loren ;) to go to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino because the gardens are quite beautiful and expansive. They have a Japanese garden, a Rose garden, Desert garden, Shakespeare garden, Herb garden and several others. It's massive and gorgeous. Here's a link: http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalD...nicalHome.html

I was also going to suggest the Griffith observatory but it looks like it's not quite open yet. What a bummer!

I'm really looking forward to going back to my roots!

Karen

Hmmm....

San Marino
Downtown
Hollywood
and
West Hollywood for dinner

That's pretty tough. I'll have to get back to you on that.

If we do all that we will be at each location for 2 hours and the rest on the freeway.

Hmmm.....

Okay, here's my take on what's being discussed so far...

I am, generally speaking, against tours. Unless there is no way to get around them, or the tour guide kicks ass and has cool stories and stuff to tell... I tend to get along better on my own. My experience with hords of photographers is we tend to dwaddle, spend an hour in one location - tripods all over the place - then spend 30 seconds in the next place. If we're part of a "tour" then I am concerned we would not have enough time to really do photography. My interest would be less what the tour is about, more trying to capture what I want of the place.

But, I don't want to spoil the pot for the other gatherers! If we're collectively of the mindset that a tour is what we want to do, then I will happily go along!

The other thing I was not clear about from the links is whether or not we could even get into those places on our own. If being part of a tour is the only way to get in, and if getting in is what we want to do, then let's go for it.

The botanical gardens sound like they might be fun to do. Definitely would need some time there, for setting up tripods and whatnot. If it's possible to do a little of the city and a little of the gardens, without much driving - and still get to our dinner destination without being ragged - then that's my vote. As long as the walk of fame is in there somewhere :)

I wish I knew the layout of LA better so I could see how close together all these things are. But from the way people are talking, it sounds like there is a lot of freeway driving between spots, and, that freeway driving sucks. Eric, I am all for leaving the beach out as per your suggestion to simplify things. The last thing I want to do is spoil this for everyone, but my situation is that Brian and I will be driving about an hour (?) in to get to LA in the morning. I would rather not spend too much more time in the car! But, we'll do what we need to do to get it all in right!

Eric, I appreciate you taking the time to research all this for us. Awesome work my friend. I look forward to meeting you in the next month!

My votes are: minimal driving, and maximum time to do what we want. But, I am not trying to speak for the group.

I think we can lock this date in? August 19th?! Loren, count me as one head for dinner. Unless my photo backpack requires it's own seat :D

Let's rock LA! Yeah! :cornut: :8: :D

Rick

I also like the Huntington idea. Below is some information on the hours of operation and entry fees.

Summer Hours (through Sept. 3):
Tuesday through Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Admission:
Members: FREE. Click here for membership information

Non-members:
$15 Adults
$12 Seniors (age 65+)
$10 Students (age 12-18 or with full-time student I.D.)
$6 Youth (age 5-11)
Free for children under 5.
Groups of 15 or more: $11 per person

The only thing that I'm a little concerned with is that the Huntington opens at 10:30 so the time we'd have there would be limited to 2 or 2.5 hours (just an estimate based on the other things we want to see and do.)

Loren, I'm in for dinner as well. I won't pass up a chance to get some good Argentinean food!

Here is map to put all the locations in some perspective. I have some comments but don't have time to post it right now. BRB

Hi,,, New chicky here.
I'm in Ventura and do the LA commute (and beyond) almost daily.
I might be able to join in...
~ Cathy

Hello fellow LA Gatherers..... I have made a reservation for 8 people at 8 p.m. for Carlitos Gardel.

For those who want to go send me an email (photo@lorencrannell.com) and I will put you on the invite/headcount list.

Rick, Eric, Brian...still send me an email so I can have it for the invitation.


I second what Rick said about the gatherings...

I wouldn't mind spending some time in the morning for coffee and shooting the breeze, and then head out on group or individual excursions, and then meet back later for dinner.

Loren

Hello Cathy! We'd love to have you along! So tell us a little bit more about yourself.

Look forward to meeting you!

Rick

I just heard back from Rebekah (Villenadecorte.) She's had a very busy summer and is looking forward to a vacation with us in LA :) Loren, I asked her to check in if she wants to have dinner with us at Carlito's. Can anyone think of any other members in the NorCal area?

Hey Eric thanks for the map. That really helps put things in perspective! How much driving time do you guys think there is between points? Also, Eric would you mind changing the subject of this thread to include the date? We might get a few more takers if people see we've pegged down the date.

Loren I also like the idea of a mellow coffee to start the day. Got any ideas?

Looking at Eric's map, I assume the progression Saturday would be:
Botanical Gardens
Downtown LA
Hollywood and Dinner
Locals, is that correct? I am assuming that based on proximity and freeway routes.

Anyone want to meet Sunday morning before I drive back east? Coffee on the beach? Quick hike in the mountains? Eh?

Seeing as how you'll be staying at my place, count me in. :D

There's two museums there of interest (I just joined this Web site). One is the neon musuem (I sell my photography in the gift shop there) and the other is a digital art museum. Downtown is a great place to photograph. There are two must sees--The Standard Hotel (ultra-modern, hip hotel and restaurant) and Broadway (dozens of artifacts from the past to capture).

I'm Matt--hope this helps...http://digitalartphotographyfordummi...com/:thumbsup:

Whoops, that's Matt, the Digital Traveler at http://digitalartphotographyfordummies.blogspot.com/

Hello again. I've been thinking a lot about the botanical gardens suggestions and though I would love to return to the location of my very first photo shoot, I would have to advise that we not go there this time. The gardens are roughly 15 miles away from downtown Los Angeles and depending on traffic may take 30 to 40 minutes to get there. The gardens are far from the 110 fwy entrance which would take us into downtown.

The attached image also describes the possible rushing and driving that would occur by trying to hit three locations in one day. Also, spending 2 hours per location is probably not going to work since 15-25 minutes of that is also the act of walking back and forth to the car.

As an option, I've identified three locations for botanical shooting in downtown Los Angeles: 2 Japanese gardens and the rose garden at Exposition Park. There will most likely be an entrance fee but the gardens in San Marino do as well anyhow.

I think we would all enjoy a downtown/Hollywood photo opportunity and the challenge will be worth it after all is said and done. Downtown is a photographer's playground. To confirm this to myself I did a search on photography in downtown Los Angeles and was quite inspired to take it on after seeing some of the pro and amateur photography.

I will compose our own downtown itinerary and forget about the tour. I'll put a print out together for our own reference.

FYI: Photo John marked his calendar for our gathering but can't give me a guarantee. Let's cross our fingers that the captain will show!

Here is my proposed time frames for our Photogathering.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by walterick

Anyone want to meet Sunday morning before I drive back east? Coffee on the beach? Quick hike in the mountains? Eh?

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Wish I could join you guys :cryin:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by racingpinarello

Hello fellow LA Gatherers..... I have made a reservation for 8 people at 8 p.m. for Carlitos Gardel.

For those who want to go send me an email (photo@lorencrannell.com) and I will put you on the invite/headcount list.

Rick, Eric, Brian...still send me an email so I can have it for the invitation.

I second what Rick said about the gatherings...

I wouldn't mind spending some time in the morning for coffee and shooting the breeze, and then head out on group or individual excursions, and then meet back later for dinner.

Loren

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Thanks for setting up dinner Loren. Do they allow studio lighting in the restaurant? Just kidding. Coffee in the moring is probably a required task so I'll find a place for us to have coffee at 9AM. Good idea.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by manacsa

Wish I could join you guys :cryin:

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Why can't you?

Well, that all sounds reasonable to me. I would love to see the gardens Karen was talking about, but it just sounds like so much driving. I think the last schedule sounds flexible enough to let us all have a good time. It leaves room for us to move our plans around in case we stumble upon something interesting during our escapades that we'd like to do.

Loren and Karen, how do you guys feel about this? Would it bother you if we missed the gardens?

I already know where I want a group picture - standing on the Walk of Fame holding a star with Photo-John's name on it :D

I'm getting excited about this!
Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by walterick

Why can't you?

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Wife, baby boy, my mother, my in laws, church, a house that has a jungle of weeds for a backyard....need I say more?

:cryin: :cryin: :cryin:

I like hiking anywhere with my camera. Wish I could join ya'll. Maybe next year!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by manacsa

Wife, baby boy, my mother, my in laws, church...

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Bring 'em along! :D

You could leave the weeds at home though...

Sorry you can't make it!

Although I am planning to go, I am still not 100%. But if I do go, I definitely want to be in on the Argentinian dinner. So put me down. I think I can make a firm commitment next week.

Thanks for making the reservations, Loren!

I should be able to make it too, I didn't even know this was being planned, that's me paying attention...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kafin8ed

I should be able to make it too, I didn't even know this was being planned, that's me paying attention...

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Awesome! I was actually going to PM you but I couldn't remember what thread I saw your name in. I thought about asking you after noticing you were in Woodland Hills. I'm your humble neighbor in Reseda. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kafin8ed

I should be able to make it too, I didn't even know this was being planned, that's me paying attention...

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I would have let you know when I got around to asking you for couch space :D

Hola...

Since we're driving down from the Bay Area, the thought of sitting on the 405 all day isn't appealing. We'll meet downtown and do the "grit" tour and do the garden another time.

On Sunday we're going to find time to meet up with Karen's parents and possibly her grandmother so we probably cannot meet up on Sunday unless it's coffee early in the morning.

Looking forward to the gathering...

Cool. I'm glad we're all on board for this.

Loren, how early in the morning would you have to meet on Sunday to have time, out of curiousity?

Loren- please add me for the dinner at Carlitos.
Walterick- count me in for coffee and a hike- as long as its early!
Loren- when are you driving down? Friday afternoon? Evening?
Trying to plan this. Our season starts again August 1st. Im teaching Summer Intensives beginning next week through the end of July. Then starting August season, have 3 classes and a Production Company to teach that Friday. Contemplating flying down Saturday a.m....?
Sheesh. what time is everyone meeting Saturday morning?
B.
I NEED A VACATION.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by villenadecorte

Sheesh. what time is everyone meeting Saturday morning?

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We will be meeting in downtown at 9AM. I'll be looking for a good Starbucks for us on Broadway blvd.:)

Awesome! Thank you!

Karen and I are contemplating flying down on Friday night. We've been so busy and with very little rest that we need to maximize our "non-stress" time. If we do drive, we'll leave on Friday and stay at a cheap hotel before LA.

We'll be ready to meet people around 9 a.m. on Saturday for a fun day. Sunday looks to be a pretty tight schedule so we will probably have to pass on any fun activities.

So far I have 7 people for dinner ----

Loren

Not to make things more confusing....

I just heard a piece on NPR about the Labrea (sp?) tar pits? Are we going to be anywhere near that?

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Originally Posted by walterick

Not to make things more confusing....

I just heard a piece on NPR about the Labrea (sp?) tar pits? Are we going to be anywhere near that?

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The La Brea Tar Pits are part of the L.A. County Museum of Art in Museum Row in the Wilshir district. The museum is probably the best museum in town. The tar pits themselves are part of really nice park grounds. Just imagine combining 2 olympic size pools and filling it with thick crusty used oil that bubbles every so often. Now put a fake mastadon in the middle struggling to get out as the mother mastodon is reaching out on the side with it's trunk. That's it. Oh yeah, it does smell like tar.

Sorry Rick, the area although in the city won't be in passing range. It's between downtown and the beach areas but south of Hollywood.

Thanks Eric.

No worries, just wondered if we were going to walk by it or not :)

Heya Gene!

Glad to hear you guys are still on for this! :)

Hey Gene and Penny,

I will put you down on the list. If you email me your email addresses I will put you down on the Outlook Calendar so you will be notified if there are any changes.

So far we have nine people...

Myself
Karen (better half of me)
Rick
Brian
PhotoJohn
Rebekah
Gene
Penny
Eric

if there are any more people please let me know. pretty soon we'll have the restuarant to ourselves!!!

Loren

I'll be driving through downtown (and Hollywood) before I make specific announcements on locations. Places to park our cars in dowtown is very important to know and can not be researched online as far as I know. I'll have to scope it out first. Please stand by for official itinerary.

Thanks! This will be great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by genebowhay

Okay, so we're meeting at Starbucks on Broadway downtown at 9:00 a.m. right? What is the address of this particular Starbucks?

Loren, did you put us on the list for Carlito's?

Looking forward to this!


Gene

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Alan (kafin8ed) said he could make it. Not sure if he's planning on dinner or not. Also, I pm'ed Ray (Shrackman) and he's trying to make it too. Hopefully we'll hear from those guys if they're planning on dinner.

Boy, at this rate this photogathering is going to be one of the largest ever! I guess we were due! :)

Great idea Eric!

I just read up on the NEW YORK Photogathering last year. Nice shots and looks like they enjoyed themselves.

RICK, TAKE YOUR VITAMINS!

Just making sure :D

New York Photogathering

Luckily for them, New York is a walk and train/subway kinda town. In Los Angeles, we walk from our car to our office and back again OR we walk from our car to our homes and back again. There will be driving and lots of money spent on parking.

FYI, after the second leg of downtown we will take the 101 north to Hollywood and park ourselves at Hollywood and Highland (home of Mann Chinese Theater and the Oscars). When we get Starbucks at that location, we will then get our parking validated.

Just felt like mentioning. Everything will be spelled out in the official itinerary.