A Day in the City of the Angels

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day in this part of Southern California.

I had arranged to meet my friends Roger and Robby at Union Station in Los Angeles for a photowalk. Roger and I have the same model Canon cameras, and we’ve taken other photowalks before. Robby took the train down from Pasadena to hang out with us. Roger’s oldest daughter came along as well, and she had a camera.

I took the Amtrak up to Los Angeles, which took about 75 minutes from San Juan Capistrano. It was great not having to drive my car. I planned to arrive early because I wanted to take some “street photographs” beforehand.

“Street Photography” is meant to be candid – where the photographer takes a photograph of a person doing what they do. It’s pretty easy to pick those photos out in the list because they’re not posed.

After taking some photos in Union Station, I walked across Alameda Street to Mission Los Angeles (Mission of Our Lady of the Angels) and went inside. I was pleased that the Mission Church is an active parish. Walking over to the Mission was like walking into a Mexican pueblo. It was active and crowded. Mission Los Angeles is next to Olvera Street, which the heart of Pueblo de Los Angeles, the original “Los Angeles”.

Here are some of the “street photography” photos taken in Union Station, Los Angeles.

I also had hopes to take a photo of at least one stranger for the 100 Strangers photo challenge.

It’s best to take those photos alone. (You can see all of my “strangers” here.) Omar is a self-described “punk” who was waiting for his train back to the central valley. He said that his spiked Mohawk is like an appendage to him and he couldn’t imagine cutting it off. He puts his hair down during the week for work and wears cap.

OMAR

(100 Strangers Collection)

There is a park at the edge of Pueblo de Los Angeles historic district that was the exclusive domain of the homeless. I talked to a couple of Salvadorians who were in the park.

I went back to Union Station to meet up with my friends around 2:30.We walked up Olvera Street and visited Avila Adobe, which is the oldest standing building in Los Angeles. It’s very well preserved.

This part of Los Angeles is mostly Hispanic, and primarily Mexican-American.

Then we walked up to the new Catholic cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. We got to the cathedral just as Cardinal Mahoney had completed and dismissed the Sunday afternoon mass. There was a lot of incense in the cathedral from the service. Below the main sanctuary is a crypt area. Unlike old cathedrals, this area is light and bright.

From the cathedral, we walked over the Frank Ghery designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Here’s a photo of my friend, Roger, steadying his camera for a photo from the garden at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Below: Robby, Emma (Roger’s daughter), Roger, Me (taking the photo) – reflected on a wall at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

We walked down to China Town for dinner before we all split up. I had about an hour after dinner before I had to catch my train. I spent that hour in the Olvera Street district and took some photos of the area.

Here is a link to the photo gallery from yesterday’s photowalk in Los Angeles.