Shutter Mike Photography

Be sure to check out Part I of my images from the Bradbury Building if you have not seen them already.  It is really a beautiful building.

I am finally up to the fourth and final building from the Shooting Architecture weekend workshop in Los Angeles last July.   Although each of the buildings we shot that weekend was impressive, the LA Central Public Library, One Bunker Hill and the Million Dollar Theater, they definitely save the best for last.

You may not be familiar with the Bradbury Building off hand.  But it has played a role in many Hollywood features on both the big and small screen.  Think Blade Runner or 500 Days of Summer to name two.  The nondescript exterior may have most people walking right by not noticing what awaits inside the doors.  But once inside it is truly inspiring.

The late 1800s building features a light filled five story atrium adorned with intricate iron work, marble, carved wood and red brick all under a glass ceiling.  Tourists are allowed access but only up the second floor landing.  We however got special access to all 5 floors which allowed for some spectacular architectural photography shots.

The Bradbury Building has seen numerous occupants over the years.  Today the internal affairs department of the LAPD occupies most of the building along with several other businesses.  But it is the architecture that takes center stage.

This is the second set of images of the Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles and the 6th of 8 posts from the Shooting Architecture weekend workshop I attended in July.  There is some amazing historic architecture in the downtown Los Angeles area.  You can check out the Los Angeles Central Public Library, One Bunker Hill and more Million Dollar Theater images at the links below.  And check back on Friday for my favorite of the four buildings from the workshop, the Bradbury Building.

Los Angeles Central Public Library Part I

Los Angeles Central Public Library Part II

One Bunker Hill Part I

One Bunker Hill Part II

Million Dollar Theater Part I

The Million Dollar Theater was the third building we photographed on the Shooting Architecture weekend workshop last month in Los Angeles.  This theater is classic early twentieth century theater architecture and design.  It has the ornateness and opulence and of early movie houses with a bit of wear and tear of almost a century of use and reinvention.  The theater was built by Sid Grauman of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater fame on Hollywood Boulevard and was reported to have been built for $1 million in 1918, hence its name.  Since the 1930s it has been used primarily for Spanish language entertainment with the occasional cameo in films and television.

Architecturally and photographically this is an amazing space.  It is a very dark space, as would be expected of a movie theater, so it is a challenge to photograph.  Long exposures of up to 30 seconds are absolutely necessary.  It is also a very red space as you can see from the photographs.  The lighting is red in hue and the seats are red which, I think, presents a very, dare I say, theatrical look.

This was a great space to photograph and we had full access from the lobby to the depth of backstage.  There were even a few stair cases that lead to the depths below, but I did not venture down them since there was no light.

Built in 1927, the Pasadena city hall has a Palladian style of architecture reminiscent of 16th century Italian Renaissance architecture.  The rectangular building surrounds a courtyard with rose gardens, a center fountain and arcades (the architectural kind, not the video game kind).  The front facade is dominated by a six story circular domed tower that can be seen from some distance away.  Against a bright blue California sky the tan color of the city hall building really pops and makes for some great architectural photography.

This is a continuation of the architectural photography I shot at the Shooting Architecture photography workshop in LA last month.  The first building we photographed was the Los Angeles Central Public Library (be sure to check out Part I and Part II of those photographs if you haven’t already).

This building is One Bunker Hill.  It was originally the Southern California Edison Company corporate headquarters when it opened in 1931.  One Bunker Hill is an art deco 14 story high rise with some very opulent interior styling.  Seventeen varieties of marble, murals on the walls and soaring 30 foot ceilings can be found in just the lobby.  Unfortunately we were not able to go to the private offices on the upper floors for this photo shoot.  But the lobby alone was a lot to take in.

This is the part two of my photographs of the Los Angeles Public Central Library which I photographed during the Shooting Architecture photography workshop weekend in July.  You can check out the photographs in part one for a refresher.  These images are from the rotunda space in the original 1926 structure.  This section of the library contains some fantastic murals by illustrator Dean Cornwell depicting the history of California on the four walls of the rotunda.

The California missions usually have beautiful gardens associated with them.  So besides the missions themselves being great photography subjects you have the bonus of the gardens.  I recently visited 5 California missions.  These garden photographs are from the San Buenaventura and Santa Inés Virgen y Martír.

The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden in Balboa Park in San Diego is a three acres garden displaying about 2,500 roses in almost 200 different varieties.  The garden is beautifully laid out around a fountain and a large gazebo.  The best time to photograph the roses in full bloom is April and May but the rose bushes bloom March through December so you should be able to capture some beautiful shots most any time of year.