defocus·blog

Cross-Country Route Planning

It's a topic people ask me about more than perhaps any other: if you're planning a cross-country road trip, what route should you take?

Flight Deck

I have no idea what this guy was doing on the flight deck of the USS Midway.

Color Guard

On the flight deck of the USS Midway, the color guard was practicing for an event that was taking place in a day or two.

Play Fun Win

Once you get to The End, what's next?

Men

As you can tell from the little icons I put in the corner of my posts, I like universal symbols. If I can use one in an abstract design, I'm all over it.

Santa Monica Pier

Now that I've manually cleaned up the scratches, here is some Kodachrome from Santa Monica Pier, the western end of Route 66.

End of the Trail

For the dedicated Route 66 explorer, visiting the Santa Monica Pier is a must. Little of the history survives once you get into Los Angeles – Route 66 passes right through Beverly Hills, after all – but this is the end of the old Mother Road, so you'll get here eventually.

Rebel

The only reason I wanted to go to Griffith Observatory was Rebel Without A Cause. I guess I'm not the only one: lo and behold, this bust of James Dean sits out front.

What I Won't Miss About Kodachrome

I sent twelve rolls of Kodachrome off to Dwayne's for processing. Much of the returned film is badly scratched, mostly horizontal scratches running length-wise along the film, with other scratches thrown in for good measure. Infrared cleaning in the scanning process is troublesome with Kodachrome and often does more damage than it cures.

Beverly Hills Cop

I knew what I was going to call this picture before I even released the shutter. As I waited for him to walk up the street into the right position for the shot, I had it all in my head.