My brother and his family come home every holiday season. He is a photographer too, so we look for some time while he is here to go out to shoot. I enjoy his company and it forces me over the rest of the year to get out and to check out places in Southern California for his next visit.

Now I am a 3rd generation Angeleno.  I have lived in Southern California all my life. Between work and exploring I get around a lot and considered myself a seasoned local.  I thought I had been to most of the interesting places we have here. Wow was I wrong. After a few years of checking sites out for our shooting day, I have realized there is absolutely no way possible you could ever see all that is interesting in Southern California.

This year's photo shoot happen to be on a day where we also had a lunch planned in Marina del Rey with one group of friends and a dinner with family in Calabasas. So we figured we would find a place to shoot the sunrise down south and work our way up to catch the sunset at El Matador State Beach. This way the social engagements were in sync with our photo shoot.

We chose to do the sunrise at the Griffeth Park Observatory. I have been to the Observatory many times at night. I had never even thought about going there for sunrise. It was awesome. It was a clear day and Los Angeles in the golden glow of the morning is beautiful.

After a while it was time for breakfast. Since we were close to downtown and my brother wanted to shoot the Bradbury building I suggested Philippe. Most people know Philippe for their French Dip sandwiches; usually before a Dodger game. What most don't know is Philippe has a great breakfast. My favorite is their Pork Chops.

After breakfast we headed over to the Bradbury building. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Bradbury it is a historic office building at the corner of Broadway and 3rd. It was built in 1893 and has this incredible 19th style century interior with very intricate ironwork ornamental railings and a glass ceiling. One of the building's claim to fame is being used in the cult classic movie Blade Runner. That is only one of the many movies and TV shows shot in the building. Others including Pay it Forward, Marlowe, Outer Limits, and Chinatown. It is free to check out the lobby and the first staircase platform. Well worth the time to visit and there is a host of other things to see within walking distance including the Grand Central Market, Disney Concert Hall, and the new Grand Park.

Right across 3rd street from the Bradbury is one of my favorite building murals. It is called the “Pope of Broadway” and is a painting of Anthony Quinn dancing. Eloy Torrez painted the mural in 1985. He portrays Anthony Quinn as a Christian icon. The image of Quinn has the traditional posture of Jesus on the cross; outstretched arms, slightly bent knees and head tilted to one side. The small enclosed parking the mural is behind gives it a church-like setting to view the mural. The religious theme is reinforced by crosses under Quinn's arms. These crosses are painted in arched doors which mirror the design of the door in the north entrance to the Bradbury building just across the street. I was so excited when I saw the mural this time. Over the years it had gotten pretty worn down. It was faded and the paint was flaking off. Viewing it this time I was overjoyed to see that it had been restored to its original glory.

So after the Bradbury, we went to our lunch and then headed for El Matador State Beach. It was suppose to rain later that day and there were these beautiful high clouds heralding the storms coming. It looked as though they would not block the horizon. This would set up the possibility that they would turn that nuclear red you sometimes see just after sunset. Alas, that was not going to be the case. We had the wonderful subdued pastel sunset instead. What gave the soft sunset some character was the fact that there were 20+ commercial fishing boats just off the shoreline. There must have been one hell of a big school of fish off the beach because they were all still there well after sunset.

Big Stopper

We then headed off to dinner. It was a great way to spend sunrise to sunset and a reminder that Southern California is a treasure trove of beautiful places.