Disney Concert Hall

We took a short trip to LA and stayed with Jieun's cousin at her high-rise apartment downtown. Looking out of her balcony to the left, you could see the Hollywood sign in the distance. And to the right, I saw a weird metallic structure. Of course, it turns out to be the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I got up super early on Monday morning and decided to walk the couple of blocks to take some pre-dawn photos.

Incidentally, I felt the ground shake during one of my long exposures. I thought it was vibrations from the passing buses and trucks. I later found out there was a 4.4 magnitude earthquake nearby.

Burning The Cube

I first heard about the Life Cube when a friend posted a photo on Facebook about a month ago. I suppose it was only fitting that I bumped into him Friday night for the ceremonial burning. If you haven't heard about it, you can go here. Basically, it's an art installation in downtown Las Vegas and it was set to be burned down on Friday, March 21 at 8pm. I never made it down there prior to burn night, but watching it go down in flames among a large enthusiastic crowd was good enough.

Korean Friendship Bell

After enjoying some great seafood by the Redondo Pier, we took the scenic drive around Rancho Palos Verdes and finished our short coastal tour at the Korean Friendship Bell. The views in the area are spectacular and completely not captured in the photo below. I shot a few angles on the structure. But in the end, this simple telephoto image of people walking up to the bell was my favorite.

MGM Skyloft

Thanks to Yelp, we had another photo session with Jeff Mitchum. He's an incredible photographer who has been very gracious and welcoming to us. You can see his work at his original gallery at the Bellagio and a newer one at the MGM.

This time around, a large group of us were escorted up to the 21st floor of the MGM Grand—the so-called Skylofts. I missed the last one where they shot from a wrap-around balcony at the Cosmopolitan. That one looked like a better vantage point of the strip. Still, it was an enjoyable evening. And any time you can get some first-hand inspiration from a photographer of Jeff's renown, it's an opportunity you cannot miss.

Rose. Rabbit. Lie.

Thanks to House Seats, we've now seen the 8pm and 10pm shows at "Rose. Rabbit. Lie." It's tough to describe the concept other than to say it provides you with a whole evening of entertainment by combining variety show, bar, restaurant, speakeasy, and nightclub.

This image is from the speakeasy AKA "The Study." We were already impressed with their tasty and stiff cocktails in the regular bar AKA "The Music Room." But the drinks here are truly delicious. Everyone's favorite mixologist from "The Laundry Room" downtown now works here. (Rooms, rooms all over the place).

Really, this was a chance to mess around with some HDR techniques I learned from watching Trey Ratcliff's free tutorial.