Endings

Yesterday winter ended. How is it that I survived all winter without getting sick, and then the first day of spring, my head swells like a balloon?

Spring break also ended. And I made my last drive down I-5 from San Jose to Los Angeles -- the last time for school, anyway. Less than 2 months left, and then college will be over. And I'm kind of freaking out.

The drive was gorgeous. The rain and the high winds cleared out the central valley, and the rolling hills were green and breathtaking. Unfortunately, my camera was out of batteries, so the moment I tried to take a picture mid-drive (Adrian was a doll and took over halfway down because I felt like my eyes wanted to seal shut they stung so bad), I couldn't. I thought I would actually get a good shot!! Oh well, they were beautiful to look at on one of the few drives I was actually a passenger for.

Adrian brought a power inverter so he could DJ half the trip with his laptop, so I gave my camera battery a quick charge, and when we stopped to pee in Valencia, I got a quick shot from the parking lot as the day came to a close as well.

[1/1250 sec, f10, ISO 400, 105mm]

~*~

Mulholland Drive

Today, Justin and I took the scenic route.

There was one popular outlook along Mulholland just above the Hollywood Bowl that had good views of Los Angeles.

[1/500 sec, F9.0, ISO 400, 28mm]

[1/500 sec, F9.0, ISO 400, 90mm]

Downtown Los Angeles & CA-101

[1/400 sec, F13, ISO 400, 83mm]
Downtown Los Angeles & Private Plane

[1/640 sec, F11, ISO 400, 105mm]
The Observatory

[1/125 sec, F14, ISO 400, 105mm]
The Hollywood Sign

On the way back to the car, I was inspired by the local flora:

[1/2000 sec, F4.0, ISO 400, 50mm]

[1/30 sec, F22, ISO 400, 28mm]

The original plan was to then drive to the beach to take pictures at sunset, but we were inspired by a scenic overlook (one of the many which we were frequently cautioned about by periodic road signs almost more common than the "DO NOT SMOKE" signs).

[1/8 sec, F20, ISO 400, 28mm]

Oh what I would give to live in this house...

[1/10 sec, F20, ISO 400, 65mm]

I get far too distracted by silhouette sunset pictures...

[1/160 sec, F16, ISO 400, 50mm]

[1/160 sec, F16, ISO 400, 83mm]

[1/320 sec, F16, ISO 400, 83mm]

[1/125 sec, F22, ISO 400, 43mm]

And I was all too enraptured by the sky...

[1/15 sec, F20, ISO 200, 55mm]

[1/10 sec, F20, ISO 200, 40mm]

[1 sec, F20, ISO 200, 50mm]

But I took far too many pictures, and at some point, it was time to go home...

[1/50 sec, F3.5, ISO 400, 28mm]

~*~