With the new year already starting, I finally started to go through and properly organize some of my photography folders in preparation for 2024. After combing through some folders, I stumbled upon my trip to California.

Although this wasn't my first time to California, it was indeed the first time having a proper camera other than my phone. Having access to my camera made the trip much more exciting!

I was in California for just over 2 weeks and looking back at these pictures make me realize how much I miss the weather (cliche, I know). We are finally getting some colder weather here in Toronto, and I am very much a shorts person. Since it was my partners first time in LA, we did most of the touristy spots, which I honestly didn't mind since they are pretty great photo ops.

The must-do's for the trip was the Hollywood sign, Yosemite national park, Sequoia national park, Santa Monica and Universal studios. Santa Monica is probably my favourite part of LA. Which is funny because I am not really a beach person but I love the bike ride to Venice beach. The national parks were also a must-do this time around because I was finally able to drive since last being here. And WOW! were the parks worth it. Both parks were absolutely beautiful in person, and well worth the visit. The only thing I wish I could of changed was to plan more hikes. There was so much to see with such little time!

Hollywood sign is a staple for LA, and honestly I think it's always worth a visit when you are in the area. I think the trick to the sign is to do one of the hikes around the area. My partner and I decided to wake up early in the morning to do the trek to the top of Mt. Lee. It was great to beat the heat and you were rewarded with some pretty awesome views of LA and the valley (I think?). I wish I saved the link to the guide we followed, but I believe it was something very similar to this. Give it a shot if you haven't, some of the best angles of the sign show up during the hike. There is a really great photo op half-way through the hike once you exit out of the residential area, where a large plateau sits with a fantastic view of the sign!

I am pretty sure the malls are fairly popular but both Americana and Grove should be on everyones list when visiting LA. Even if you aren't shoppers, I think walking around the area pays for itself, especially in the Grove. Americana is the "bigger" outdoor space with an adjacent indoor mall across the street, which will probably be the safer bet if you do enjoy to shop. If you are more open to exploring, and especially eating foods I'd say definitely try visiting the Grove. The outdoor space is much smaller but it just adds to the atmosphere. It felt busy but not crowded, which I enjoyed because I often don't like being in completely empty areas in the middle of the city. The best part of the Grove was the neighbouring farmers market. There was a ton of variety for snacks and meals, it was impossible to try them all! I settled for some smoke meat which was absolutely delicious! If you are there after sunsets, I'd also recommend going down the street to the LA museum. This is where you can snap a few photos of the famous urban lights!

And it was all...blue?

I absolutely love bouncing between a set of black & white pictures to bright & warm colours. It for some reason just makes the colours pop just a little bit more!

We were absolutely blessed by the weather during our time in LA. Everyday was hot and perfect blue skies. It literally felt like everyday was exactly how it would be pictured in a movie. The iconic palm trees with the baby blue backdrop just screams California. I think I have too many of those in my storage...

One of my new favourite pictures came out of this trip, and maybe you can guess it since it is the odd one out of the bunch. If you haven't, well it's the one with my mom! It is such a candid picture, there is just enough texture to make it clean but not seem like a staged background. I love love love it! my mom begs to differ though...

Circling back to the national parks, even adding some colour back to these Yosemite pictures does not do it justice. You just cannot capture the feeling you have when you are standing at the bottom of the valley. Just enormous rocks on your every side. It genuinely does not seem real. It honestly boggles my mind that someone decided to climb one of those rocks El Cap without any safety gear at all! All I know is next time I visit, I am bringing a pair of binoculars!

There are still so many great pictures from California, I wish I could share them all. Maybe I'll do a part two to this post, just so I can reminiscence and ignore the cold dreadful grey days currently going on in Toronto. I would love to make an additional post about my trip to California in general, highlighting some awesome places to go, tips and tricks I've learned, or my overall experience as a non-Californian. Will definitely have to give it some thought.

But in the meantime...there still is a lot to explore with California, and I've only scratched the surface. Hopefully I can revisit you in the future and check off some other areas off the list. I would love to do more night time photography there, I feel like the city just glows!

- pat 😁

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