the day a space shuttle flew over california

nasa's historic space shuttle endeavor 

Friday September 21, 2012 was one of those great days where I grow old and look back at with a smile.  An event that I heard broadcast on the radio found its way inside my ear. It immediately exploded to first in-line on my list of priorities!  No way am I going to miss out on watching a piece of history that happens to be so closely connected with the study of the universe, that massive organized chaos of the unknown.

I welcome you, loyal reader, to another fascinating post here on germy-in-socal!  After a formidable documentary slumber, it was a retired old rockets final flight that awakened the quest that continues on as germy-in-socal returns!

with the benefit of binoculars,
 a lifeguard watches endeavor's venice beach fly-by

Months spent away from my documentation of southern california have brought me to this moment of clarity...life is good  :)  Growth, experience, wisdom and patience guide the path I chose to walk.

Life as a unit stills photographer, a pulsating new passion for surfing...even hosting guests from around the world to give others the opportunity to feel that california sunshine!  Then, as if on cue, I hear that a space shuttle, attached to a giant 747 was going to make it's final 'farewell' flight over los angeles...thats when I knew...life is good  :)

two f-18 jets fly escort to the legendary spacecraft

Current guests of my downtown los angeles apartment, three Macedonians, (who by some crazy chance had never been to an ocean beach before this day!) accompanied me to one of the designated fly-by areas, the beloved venice beach.

mirjana      stefanie             anna

waiting for the shuttle to make its way down from san francisco and sacramento, I offered my skills behind the lense and agreed to grab a shot of the girls in a jumping photo together...then.......BOOM!

It came!  And I accidentally caught this shot of the three of them glancing behind to catch their first glimpse of the shuttle as they race back to our towels to grab their own camera's!  Love this one  :)

endeavor's piggyback flight headed north over santa monica

It was an incredible sight to see, and in every way, shape and form I was overwhelmed. But the day was not complete...

After a visual adrenaline rush with emotions at capacity, the waves of venice were looking damn fine! I sped off to grab the board, and snuck in 2 hours of bliss, just the ocean and me...

days like this are rare, as are the moments of clarity they can inspire...

thanks for reading!

- j

the los angeles river

Boy oh boy...an unexpected adventure swept me away from blogging the past 3 months and to readers I apologize.  An apology as well to my suffocating creative half who has taken a backseat to an intensely regimented photography 'boot camp.'
But all is for the best.  As creative expression takes a breather in the corner, germy, estudiante de foto, comes alive and soaks up the knowledge around him, gorging on hoards of text and hydrating with visual concepts.

My focused field of work made a drastic transition 3 months ago as the new year began.  Not to say that I really had a true field of work in mind; as an amature photographer I bit at any opportunity there was...but taking photo's for the film industry was the last place I saw myself by far!

Alas, a break in filming for a week allows me time to catch up on missed sleep.  Feeling recovered and surprisingly finding myself in the mood to actually shoot outside of work, I bring you photo's from my latest adventure: beautiful in it's own special way, The Los Angeles river, downtown LA section

 

Summer is just around the corner and I'm hoping to put together another great one of beach destinations, interviews and photo's of everything going on here for SoCal 2012!

Enjoy the photo's and stay tuned for my latest SoCal adventure!

Thanks for reading!

                 - j

lense elevation: downtown la at night

A true staple of accomplishing dreams, I have truthfully wanted these shots since I first started free-running through the downtown streets of LA.  Like a gazelle in a free, wide-open expanse of landscape, I treat every obstacle the city throws in my path as a personal challenge to conquer.

If I don't dominate that 10 ft. gap/ winding staircase/ raised flower pot/ gorilla jump over ever trash can today....than by the will of man, I will certainly dominate you tomorrow!

One of my many goals to conquer has been to climb atop the beautifully seducing rooftops of LA's famous downtown skyline.........undetected!  Now although the roof of the luxurious Biltmore Hotel isn't exactly the tallest structure around, I saw an opportunity to climb on-top of a roof, so climb I did.

Steadily ascending, floor by floor via a sketchy fire escape, I reached my destination in stealth with camera in tow.

LA's downtown rooftops 0:  Germ the worm: 1  mark it!

 

Thanks for reading!

          - j