Metropolitan L. A. Microstock
I am still working through the image take of the my jaunt to downtown Los Angeles. The architectural market images are a world unto their own. There are a lot of “payload” shots I can use for my blogs and minisites, as well as some serious micropayment potential. Los Angeles had a very crisis filled beginning as a city, and many opposing forces caused buildings that were by turns functional, ugly, beautiful, and briefly enduring.
I knew already that the Water Tower and other “usual suspects” might stand out, but I did not expect the Biltmore to shine as it did. The deep red brick really spoke up against the skyline, and the angle from the high Bunker Hill ground level painted a rolling San Francisco type topography downtown Los Angeles rarely pulls off. I grabbed a couple of shots that recall the brief elegance of Los Angeles as it might have been.
The juxtapositions possibly by low angle geography to the skyline evolved from my mode of transit. taking the Red Line subway I emerged staring upward, seeing the skyscraper tops collide in intersecting angles in a foreshortened near horizon. The gleaming newness of some of the buildings contrasted with the elegance and stylish flair of more historic structures.
Images don’t really convey the feeling you get traveling from the upper passes of Eastern downtown Los Angeles to the Western flats, and fairly every zone has had some recent redevelopment. The spires of some Gothic Revival factories and some blighted projects vy with revivified “classic” luxury apartments and superfunded remodels.
The origins of Los Angeles, in an era after the Civil War when Americans came West for their health and weathered the Gold Rush, made for some heady times. Rail and paved road were headline events. The Mexicali ranchos were changing hands so fast the courts were calling entire estates to order to settle ownership claims. All this stands behind each on of these overfunded gleaming foreign-owned downtown Los Angeles towers.
The shimmering granite of the Gas Company building made for some ambitious exterior shots. sidewalk block angled without the reflection and presence of at least one pedestrian. I was amazed at the opportunity to get an entireI believe I stopped by at a fortuitous time to capture the long sun rays shining down the “lane” between the canyons of buildings, without urban midweek traffic smashing down on me.
I got some shots so clean of stray shadows and car traffic reflections I feel they are some potential microstock or tourist traffic site images that will sell. This was a bit of a surprise as I would have assumed in every case the city had nothing more to “show” me. Just another lesson in looking to make microstock efforts pay off.
