Posts Tagged Los Angeles

Our Budget Trip to LA

We travel a lot for photography work and we usually attach a mini vacation along with the trip, however this usually ends up being a struggle lugging all our gear along with personal luggage. I think it still surprises us that my gadgets always ends up taking more luggage than my wife’s clothing, makeup, and shoes combined. We decided this one time to try traveling as light as possible, a budget oriented vacay. My wife’s deal hunting skills got us round trip flights to Los Angeles for $133 each on Spirit Airlines, with a personal item only (no carry-on) – it was whatever we could fit under the seat. Challenge accepted! We had the luxury of staying at my brother’s beautiful home by View Park, LA and he graciously let us borrow his Tesla Model 3. With our personal bags packed and our TSA PreCheck and Priority Pass ready, we hit up Newark Airport like we owned the joint. The only camera gear I brought was the Olympus Mirrorless system, which allowed me to fit all my lens and body into the personal bag. I specifically wanted to try out the Lumix 7-14mm lens to see if it’s a useful lens when traveling. This came at a perfect time since the new iPhone 11 also announced their new super-wide lens which is exactly as wide as this Lumix. So is it worth bringing a similar lens if the cameraphone can get the same focal length? The short answer is, a tiny fingernail sized sensor will never compete with a larger sensor. It all boils down to how compact do you really need your camera versus quality. For most people, the new third lens on the smartphone will be sufficient.

This trip is also a brief review on a lens, car, and food. Just the way I like it.

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Bring Back The Summer

From creating a playlist for our trip, to listening to our soundtrack while driving 1,700 miles, to coming home and editing the videos, I always have a vision already seared into my mind as to what the final story will look like. I am full of visual stories when I listen to good music, and thankfully I have photography or video to help me express them. I produce videos for myself simply because I want to express what I feel when I am driving spirited through amazing roads with my wife and always looking for new adventures. Listening to these songs again will always remind us of our past experiences.

This was shot handheld with the Olympus OMD mirrorless camera. Please turn up your speakers, or put on your best headphones, and enjoy!

Music credits:
Phoebe Ryan – Mine
Rain Man – Bring Back The Summer
Gareth Emery & Alastor – Hands

1,700 Miles Through California

It was almost a year ago when I took my (then) girlfriend, Olya, to the West Coast for the first time. Wanting to make it special, I didn’t want to spare any expenses, time, or experience to make it one of the most memorable trips we will both ever have together. Our relationship was already serious and discussions about eloping wasn’t unusual. She had no idea that I would use this opportunity to propose to her, and she wouldn’t suspect a thing when the camera comes out to record our whole trip because that’s what we do anyways. More details on the proposal in the story.

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El Bob’s New Adventures in LA

El Bob has taken multiple trips to Los Angeles over the years, but he has many more places to visit! Thanks to Airbnb.com, there’s always a new and exciting place to stay, and with many friends, there’s always a new restaurant to try and new views to see. Unfortunately for El Bob, this trip ended with a boo boo, he should be all patched up before the next trip.


El Bob enjoys a beautiful morning view at the Griffith Observatory.

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El Bob goes west, again

El Bob went back to California and visited the north side for the first time. He landed in Concord, CA but the first stop was to the Golden Gate Bridge. El Bob attended a wedding the next day at Murrieta’s Well Winery in Livermore. From there, El Bob took a scenic drive down the famous Pacific Coast Highway, which took about 9.5 hours heading south stopping at many of the scenic overlooks. The drive from north to south is arguably one of the best drives in America. El Bob spent a few days in LA and met some new friends before going back up to San Francisco which only took 6 hours this time. El Bob’s trip ended with a second wedding at Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pebble Beach.

 


El Bob at the airport waiting for his meal to come.

 

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