"Sun Vally"

I turned down on Pendleton Street only because of the canary yellow auto body shop on the corner. Being Saturday it was busy, cars parked all around, so I just jutted down the address and drove on. The street dead-ended with a beat up blue fence advertising Valley Mustang Auto Parts. I almost missed this rusty gate and and the drunken king, off to the side, but the breeze was banging the metal parts together, as if to get my attention. I can't make up my mind which cropping I prefer.

Some other photos from earlier this summer:

Side of a recycling place a couple of blocks from Tujunga. I have photographed this spot multiple time with varying success.

Back of a muffler place on Magnolia. I shot this in May. The place have been in the neighborhood as far as I can remember and probable longer.
On the door a "Notice of Belief of Abandonment" was taped, something about the rent not being paid for 14 months. The place is empty now, signs gone, all painted over in real estate neutral.

There are million different churches in The Valley.

I prefer shooting in evening or when the sky is overcast, storm is gathering. Those are rare times, but the colors are so much deeper. Shooting under the blinding Southern California sun is tricky.

More Urban Landscapes

I went out photographing today. It was bad time for it really: bright midday sun, harsh shadows. I snagged a couple ok shots anyway. There is the movie prop/antique store on a little street off Chandler. It does not fit with my landscape project, but it is there, so I took some photos. Thanks to the light and polarizing filter I got this somewhat odd image. I have yet been able to decide whether I like it.

Old House

This empty, abandoned house used to stand on the corner of Vineland and Kittridge. It had a surprisingly large piece of land around it, maybe as a throwback to earlier era of the neighborhood. Someone once told me that the area used to be all orange groves in the old days. The property was all fenced around, but there was a convenient hole on the fence. I was eyeing the place for weeks, and when I saw the For Sale sign put up I decided to get a move on. One afternoon I climbed through the fence to take some pictures. The house was smallish and rather quaint. There was a boarded up gazebo in the back, and another building, tool shed or garage maybe. Behind it I found an old work bench. There was graffiti on most walls.

Just a few weeks after I took the pictures, the house mysteriously burned down. I climbed through the fence again. The roof of the house was gone and part of the front wall too. I could see a white fire place in what must have once been the living room. However the pine trees and the big old weeping willows were still standing, barely touched by the fire. A few weeks later all of it - house, gazebo, trees - were bulldozed down. They were supposed to build a big apartment building on the spot, but the lot is still vacant.

The Valley

Finally gentrification has crept into The Valley, hit North Hollywood and started spreading. The whole neighborhood is a curious mixture of dilapidated old commercial buildings, furious new development, graffiti, and out of whack real estate prices.