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