2009 Rose Parade Final Prep

Much of Pasadena is bustling as it prepares floats for the annual Rose Parade celebration on New Years Day 2009

Obama and Pastor Rick Warren Controversy

President-elect Obama has stirred up a hornets nest with his controversial selection of Saddleback mega-church pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his swearing in ceremony next month. Warren was a major supporter of Proposition 8 in California , and the gay and lesbian community, which overwhelmingly voted for Obama, are up in arms over Warren's selection as are Hollywood liberals as Tina Daunt points out.The battle over prop 8 is not over yet, California Attorney General Jerry Brown yesterday urged the California Supreme Court to reject it.I photographed Obama and Warren at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency in August, 2008.

Winter wonder-LA-land

It's cold still, but the storm has moved east leaving the mountains surrounding Los Angeles covered with a coating of snow. Snow closed most traffic routes out of L.A. including Route 14 and the I-15 freeway for the past 24 hours.

Plastic Water Bottle Pollution

After yesterday's rains, plastic bottles and other urban trash runoff accumulate on the beach in Venice. According to Dave "Sustainable Dave" Chameides ,"this year more than 25 billion single use plastic water bottles will be sold in the United States alone and more than 80 percent of those will end up being disposed of rather than being recycled, that’s 20 billion bottles to the landfill". For the bottles and other plastics that make it to the Pacific , much of it may end up at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Venice Canals Christmas Boat Parade

I just got back from checking out the annual Venice Canals Christmas Boat Parade. Here are a few pictures. Economic troubles or not, the show must go on for canal residents.

Full Moon Perigee

The orange tinted rising moon silhouettes a jet on final approach to LAX. It's the largest full moon of the year and is called perigee, which means that the moon is at it's closest point to the Earth. The orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle and at this perigee, it's only 221,560 miles away. The furthest distance is 238,855 miles. and is called apogee at that point. Due to the fluctuating orbit,this is the closest the moon has been in 15 years.

The Enchanting Amy Adams

I am a big fan of Amy Adams, I had the opportunity to meet he and photograph her for a story by J. Freedom du Lac in today's Washington Post . She was charming, beautiful, gracious, and so easy to photograph. Amy is a critically acclaimed actress, and yesterday she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work in "Doubt" which also stars Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, talk about a juggernaut of acting! And apparently she steals the show. Amy is taking Hollywood by storm!

Tough Times

The automobile industry is crashing, newspapers are in a free-fall. Today the Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times, filed for bankruptcy protection. President-elect Obama says it's going to get worse before it gets better, I hope not much worse. Down at the Port of LA , thousands of new cars are just sitting there because nobody is buying them. At least gas is cheap!

Wicked Christmas Photo

My first holiday photo of the year, the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Blvd

Wind Power

Today I had the opportunity to photograph two out of three things I've had on my to do list for quite some time, even if it wasn't my original intention. A wind turbine farm and the California Aqueduct. It started like this, I was parked on my couch ready to watch some football when I heard that due to bad weather in Florida, the Space Shuttle was landing at Edwards AFB, which is about a 100 miles from Venice. I left asap, but due to a huge traffic jam on the 405 and 5 freeways I missed the cutoff for the last chance to enter the sprawling air force base, which is 45 minutes before landing. And when the shuttle glided by overhead, it was way too high (many thousands of feet) to get a decent photo. So, since I was in the area and the light was nice, I decided to photograph a wind turbine farm off hwy 58 and also the California Aqueduct. I must say, wind power is awesome, and these giant turbines look really cool I think! And of course the aqueduct brings vital water to So Cal from Northern California.

MySpace Suicide Case Verdict

Guilty verdicts were handed down in L.A. Federal Court Wednesday on three counts in the MySpace cyberbullying case against 49 year old Lori Drew of Missouri. She created a phony MySpace account posing as a boy in an online romance that led to the suicide of a 13 year Megan Meier. Lori Drew arrived to court with her daughter who was formerly a good friend of the deceased girl until they had a falling out, starting this sordid tale. As a tribute to Megan, her mother Tina Meier wore a photo pin with her daughter's image on it when she arrived today. Photography is not allowed inside Federal Courtrooms court , but due to a pouring rainstorm outside, Tina Meier and the U.S. attorney moved a press conference inside following the verdicts being read. New York Times Story

Nicole Kidman Photo Shoot

I recently photographed Nicole Kidman for this Washington Post article that was published on Sunday. She was very peaceful and serene, and extremely easy to photograph. A nice shoot, and nice experience as well.

Screen Actors Guild May Strike

Here we go again, the Screen Actors Guild announced today they will seek a strike authorization vote as negotiations with the studios have broken down. The Writers Guild was less than a year ago, and now SAG appears to be next. With California's economy already suffering, this is not good news. I shot the above photo of Ben Stiller walking the picket lines during the Writers Strike last Novemeber. LAist Post

Treasury Seceretary Henry Paulson At Reagan Library

United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who has been taking lots of heat lately for his policies, delivered a speech today at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library one week after he assured American's that the banking system had been stabilized. Apparently Citigroup missed that memo, their shares dropped 26.4% to &4.71 a share today, leading some financial experts to speculate that the feds may need to bailout Citigroup next.

Aftermath

Mr Homayoun Ghani returns home to the wreckage of his home on Deodar Drive in Yorba Linda, California. His neighbors tried their best to put out the fire on Saturday, but the just couldn't get enough water pressure with the garden hoses. Overwhelmed firefighters did not arrive until it was too late.

Progress Today

Thankfully, no homes were burned today during daylight hours.With the winds finally calming down, it was a day of aerial drops and firefighters making progress and starting to gain the upper hand in Diamond Bar and the other fires still burning. LA Times photographer Luis Sinco and I were talking today, and he mentioned how these devastating wildfires are now a yearly occurrence in Southern California. It didn't used to be that way. It's just sad. On my way home I stopped to shoot the thick smoke hanging in the air over downtown Los Angeles as the sun was setting.

Destructive Wildfire Strikes Orange County

On Saturday, the wildfires hit Orange County and pummeled hilltop neighborhoods in Yorba Linda, despite valiant and heroic efforts of residents who did save some of the homes before the overwhelmed firefighters finally arrived. It was heartbreaking as I witnessed one home after another catch fire and be destroyed. I did pick up a garden hose and try to put out one of the houses catching fire out until the man in this photo below came and said he would take over. Unfortunately the fire got into the attic and it was too late to save the home.

Sylmar-Granada Hills Fire November 15

Another Santa Ana wind whipped fire in So Cal broke out late Friday night in Sylmar, in the northern Los Angeles city limits. unbelievable...