Urbanscapes

Veiled in the sea of fog

As soon as the sun rose, the marine layer rolled in and engulfed the bridge. Only foghorns echoed relentlessly.

What a sight!

Sunrise over refinery The clouds got intensified and the flames spread across the sky above the horizon. As the sky gradually brightened up, the rest of the city slowly emerged out of the dark. What a sight! All I did was press the button to capture more images.

Little happy kid in a candy store all over again

Sunrise over refinery Lately I missed a couple of opportunities of catching beautiful sunrises despite some overcast skies and rainy morning, but I wasn’t really expecting that a new opportunity snuck upon me this morning. Or I wasn’t paying attention to the sky. And when I did, I saw smears of red glow in a huge blanket of sky. It looked more like a patch of dying embers were trying to come in a huge pile of campfire ashes. The glow got brighter by the minute, and I had to act quickly to get my drone ready. Soon, the sky right above the mountains lit up when I was flying the drone close enough to the refinery. It happened so fast as it usually does, and I couldn’t waste any time. I was so thrilled. I was a little happy kid in a candy store all over again.

Blood vessels

Night street It’s been raining on and off for a couple of days. As another storm is approaching, the sky barely catches a break. Gloomy skies persist. I didn’t know what to expect, other than the fact that I wanted to take pictures here. This particular sidewalk always offers pretty fall foliage in the fall. The leaves turn vivid red, and it looks as if the entire row of trees caught fire. In winter after all the leaves fall, these trees resemble blood vessels. One thing that I noticed today though that it’s only late January and yet the cherries have already started blossoming. Maybe the pending rain storm will give them a hard time sustaining. The sunset was no avail. I knew that other than street lights, there weren't many colors to work with, so I decided to bring the streaks of red tail lights from the cars driving by into the frame.

Hopefully better luck tomorrow

Sunrise over the refinery It was one of those moments where I was ready but totally forgot about it. So, I had my drone ready. And then I started working on something and totally forgot that I was waiting for the sunrise. Then, something told me to look up. And I looked out the window. Damn... The sky had already turned red. By the time I flew my drone, it was quite orange. Oh well, hopefully better luck tomorrow.

Colorful sky over the park

Sunset over the park I’d been waiting to fly my drone to capture the sunset for some time, and the winter short days during weekdays prevented me from doing that due to work. So, I was super excited about the possibility as I saw the massive amount of clouds lingering in the west, and once it was close to sunset time, I flew my drone. My original plan was to fly the drone over the refinery and frame the refinery with the sunset backdrop from the east side of the refinery, but I realized that it was rather risky to keep the signal connected from where I was due to the distance. So, instead, I decided to capture the colorful sky over the park. It was so pretty that it might’ve worked really well for just landscape photography with my Sony I thought to myself.

Before the rainstorm

Sunset over refinery As the sun was slowly sinking over the horizon, I flew my drone as close to the part of the refinery that I wanted to capture as possible. My initial plan was to fly it to the other side of the facility as seen here so that my drone could face west, but soon after this shot, it wanted to come home. Oh well… Nonetheless, the sky lit up thanks to the clouds hovering over the mountains. This was taken the day after Christmas, before the rainstorm which we just had a few days ago, so the mountains had no snow caps. Happy new year everyone!

Gotta love the colors...

Sunrise over refinery The next shot that I’d been meaning to take was this... Super close to the facility, but still high enough to frame in the gorgeous sky. The colors in the sky didn’t fade for another few minutes, which gave me enough time to compose a shot that I really liked. After hovering over the refinery back and forth a few times, I found the spot that I was pleased with and took a snap. Gotta love the colors...

Flames torched on the sky

Sunrise over refinery I’ve been meaning to post a couple of shots that I took several days ago but never got around to it till now. I dared to fly the drone as close and above the refinery as I could. Although I wasn’t too far from it, I still get a bit of anxiety when flying my drone over a facility like the refinery. Who knows how a machine can fail me in any given moment. Nonetheless, the sky was perfect, and it was time to fly it over the refinery to compose a shot that I had been wanting to try. As gorgeous as the sky was, I knew it wouldn’t last any longer than several minutes, so I had to be very quick and decisive. The flames torched on the sky were intense, and I really didn’t want them to go away so quickly. And yet, once I started seeing the colors fade, I knew it was time to bring my drone home.

A few brush strokes

Sunrise over refinery As usual, I kept my eyes on the part of the sky right above the horizon. It was still dark. In a few minutes though it could be completely a different story. Although there’s no guarantee of having a fantastic sunrise, if I am not ready, I would never be able to catch it when it comes. And then I saw the layer of clouds above the horizon slowly getting percolated through in orange and red. It was time to bring my drone out and fly it away. The clouds partially covering the sky looked as if somebody ran a few brush strokes across it. The town was slowly waking up to the crisp morning air while Long Beach and Terminal Island at the far end got almost engulfed by the intense glow.

Before colors faded away

Sunrise over refinery The sun hasn’t shone a whole lot for the last few days due to the ever lingering layers of clouds. It meant that we could get lucky for sunrises and sunsets. I looked out the window and waited. And as soon as I saw a streak of red and orange lights started flashing over the horizon, I grabbed my drone and flew it up into the still dark sky. And it turned out that this morning was one of those spectacular sunrises that I was waiting for. I took my time taking photos, along with the video footage of the drone flying toward, from and over the refinery, before the colors faded away.

Time to say goodbye

I stopped at this inlet of the lake upon arriving here earlier. But everything in the frame was in the sun. So, I promised to myself that I would come back the next morning. However, by the time when I walked around the lake and back to this spot, except for the apartment buildings behind the park, everything was in the shade. So, I decided to spend some time here. The water was calm here as it was nicely tucked in a shallow recess. And I really liked the reflections of the bridge while having the buildings in the background. But what I was really digging was the warm tone lingering across the buildings as the sun dropped further. Inevitably though there were some people crossing over the bridge while taking this shot. So, I took a few shots to remove them in the post. Once I got them, it was time to say goodbye to the lake.

In portrait mode

The lake turned out to be quite larger than my first impression. And that was a good thing. In general people love a lake or a pond in a park. And here I was witnessing many folks really enjoying themselves while doing whatever they were doing. Jogging, walking, pushing the baby strollers or simply people watching while sitting on the benches. I ended up at the spot closest to the sculpture. The water was calmer here because this recess was quite well sheltered in. Loved the color contrast, particularly aided well by the primary colors of the sculpture, juxtaposed against the blue hues of the adjacent buildings. To be honest, the very thing that made me highly anticipated to come around to this spot was the wooden posts floating in the lake that I had seen while on the opposite side. It turned out though that they were too far from the shore. Also way too close to the sculpture and the tiny island on which it was built. Nonetheless, I really liked this particular moment in portrait mode.

Because I was there

While at it, I moved my tripod just a little bit, like a couple of feet, to my right and composed another shot. As the wind didn’t make up its mind and kept blowing and stopping, the sun also shone through the clouds on and off. Definitely tranquility was the theme of this photo-op that I was going for but the winds kept stirring the water. It demanded a lot of patience between shots. At times I had to just sit there and wait for longer than 10 minutes. Mirror-like was the images that I had in my head, and yet it wasn’t always there. Nonetheless, I was quite happy with the fact that I was sitting behind the camera capturing the moments that otherwise I would not have done in my life. I remember these moments because I was there.

Into a ball like an armadillo

I slowly strolled around the lake counterclockwise and stopped wherever an interesting sight caught my eye. And this particular sight did just that. The colorful sculpture shouted for my attention. The pines looked like clumps of moss on sticks. And the old water plants in the foreground. But, it turned out that this was quite challenging as a huge rock sat right at the spot where I wanted to plant my tripod. And my 24mm prime lens wasn’t helping either. First I placed it right in front of the rock. But it became obvious rather quickly that even with the flip-out screen out and tilted up, it was tricky for me to view what I was composing. It was one of the rare moments where I found myself contorting my entire body into a ball like an armadillo. I wished there would have been another way, but when I wanted the sculpture in the dead center of the frame along with the water plants and the reflections of them in the foreground while not being cropped. Then, when it was all ready to go after spending a good 10 minutes constantly shifting the tripod and the camera, I came back up as if the armadillo unspooled itself up and sat down on the rock. I released a huge sigh of relief and stretched my back while watching the lake. Once the clear reflections were set in as if things came into focus, I pressed the remote shutter release before another whiff of wind would disturb the reflections.

Man in my sunset stroll

Sunset stroll I looked up at the sky about ten minutes past five and thought that a fair amount of clouds was still lingering. I wasn’t sure if they would remain for another half hour and help create a beautiful sunset. I knew I didn’t have enough time to drive and reach the beach in time. So, instead I decided to try it at the park. There were not a lot but some people who came out for an evening walk, and it was inevitable to see at least one of them in my composition. For that reason, I took at least an extra shot at the same exposure thinking that I was going to Photoshop them out by blending them. But then, when I actually got to this shot, I completely changed my mind. I couldn’t resist leaving him in as he was walking down the path while keeping a foot of distance from the borders. He became the man in my sunset stroll.

Solitude behind my camera

One winter afternoon at a lake While visiting South Korea, in terms of photography I didn’t travel as much as I originally anticipated. But I had been eyeing on this park, the lake in particular, even before getting there. So, when I had this afternoon all to myself, I grabbed my gear and went for a long walk. The park was not crowded at all but, to my surprise, a stream of people either taking a walk, jogging, walking dogs, or pushing baby strollers around the park never stopped. Thankfully though there was not a single soul by the lake, so while I was there, all I had to worry about was the wind that picked up every five minutes. Other than that it was such a lovely late afternoon that I enjoyed my solitude behind my camera. And this makes the first photo of the year taken and produced in 2020.

Engulfed in flames

SUNRISE OVER SOUTH BAY Sunrise over South Bay Again, I wasn’t expecting it. At all. But something told me that I should look up. And I did. Holy moly. The sky was about to be put on fire. I grabbed my drone and flew it immediately. The colors got intense. I simply couldn’t take my eyes off the controller screen. The sky was literally engulfed in flames. If you ever sat around a campfire and looked at the flames for a while, you know you are simply fascinated by the shades of flames dancing around the firewood. It is never boring, It is almost hypnotizing. Mesmerized by something that keeps you watching, but you know very well that you can’t touch it.

As beautiful as it could be

SUNRISE OVER SOUTH BAY Sunrise over South Bay I wasn’t even expecting it. And I don’t know why I looked up at the sky. And I saw the sky above the horizon had already turned pink. Part of me knew that I didn’t have much time.. But I reached for my MavicPro anyway. And there it was. The spectacular colors across the sky. No other words needed to describe it. As beautiful as it could be. I was so thrilled to get my morning started like that.

SUNRISE OVER SOUTH BAY Sunrise over South Bay It was one of those moments. I looked up at the sky, which was rather cloudy. And the clouds were hovering over Santiago Peak and beyond. They lingered, rather than dispersed or burned off. Then it was the moment when I started to see a bit of pink cast on the clouds. I had a feeling that it would turn into something firey. I swiftly grabbed my drone and flew it away. And there it was. The sun was about to rise over the south side of Santiago Peak. What surprised me the most was the vast, and clear view of the South Bay that expanded as far as Long Beach beyond San Pedro and the harbor. It was simply spectacular. Loved every shade of the slightly diffused glow cast on the refinery. The unmistakable, iconic sight of Torrance with the steam bellowing right below the sun looked, simply, perfect.

As quickly as it came

SUNSET OVER SOUTH BAY Sunset over South Bay Came back from a long trip, and I didn’t think that I’d be shooting anything today. And yet, when I looked outside, the sky was turning crazy pink. I hurriedly grabbed my drone and flew it up high. It wasn’t as crazy as last time, but it sure was intense. And just like that, the colors faded as quickly as it came. Brought the drone home and packed up my gear.

Sense of stillness

SUNSET OVER SOUTH BAY Sunset over South Bay Today was overcast, pretty much all day, but the sky was finally breaking near the beach (at least seen from where I was), and I thought it may turn out to be a fantastic sunset. But I didn’t feel like driving out to the beach. Instead, I pulled out my old DJI Mavic Pro and let it take off from a little park nearby. While the massive blanket of clouds was still hovering overhead, it was very clear out in the ocean, and the sun was clearly visible. No marine layer. It had been a while, so I totally forgot how sensitive the gimbal wheels and the sticks were. I flew it away from the park so that I could position it near I-405 and high enough to catch the sun dropping behind the ocean horizon. The sense of stillness across South Bay created by the soft light was very palpable while the blanket of clouds soaked in red was hovering overhead as if the entire sky was blotted out by the alien spaceship. And there was a small but bright dot barely floating above the horizon. I am planning to fly the drone more often. Stay tuned.

As the clouds that had completely blotted out the sky for most part of the day finally broke, I arrived at the park. I grabbed my camera gear and walked across the soccer field to the opposite side. I wanted to compose a shot of this particular tree and the dirt trail that looked like gliding past beyond the tree. However, to get the composition that I liked, I realized that I actually had to lose the sight of the sun, which was sinking fast behind the power towers. So, I exposed the shot long enough to take advantage of the clouds colorfully stroking the sky soaked in bright orange hue.