Freeway Noir: 6

"I don't want to go in there," She said when she saw the tunnel.

She had a habit of biting her lip when she was scared about something.  She was biting it it now.   It made him want to speed the car just to startle her.  He wanted to drive right up to the edge of the truck ahead and stop just short of collision.  A screech of brakes, a scattering of the change in the cup holder and possibly blood jazzing up that pale pink lipstick.

He didn't like it that he wanted to scare her this much.  As they pulled into the tunnel, she laughed a little.

"Oh," she said.  "This isn't so bad."

He kept his eyes on the lane lines, his foot carefully adjusting to the proper speed limit.  He didn't look to see if she was biting her lip.  It was probably to dark to see, anyway.

We're almost home from Freeway Noir Week -- a series of shots taken from the passenger seat while stuck in traffic on the 110 Freeway.  

Freeway Noir: 5

The hotel gleamed like platinum in spite all those dirty windows. She'd been fooled by flash before.  It was shiny, sure.  But it wasn't clean.

I'm dipping my toes into the dark side with Freeway Noir Week -- a series of monochrome shots taken out of the car window while stuck in traffic on the 110 freeway.  

And no, I wasn't driving the car --- but I was just driving my family crazy as I tried to channel the spirit of Raymond Chandler.

Freeway Noir: 4

Nothing in this place was truly civilized.  Even the palm trees stood like wild sentries threatening to attack all who approached the concrete jungle.

Freeway Noir Week continues.  Share my shots taken while stuck in traffic on the 110.  

Freeway Noir: 3

With all of the infernal sunshine in this town, there are bound to be shadows.  A lot of shadows.

Join me this week for Freeway Noir: a series shot from the 110 Freeway.  

Freeway Noir: 2

In a cityscape turned ghostly by dusk, painted faces stared from an almost-empty parking structure.  She was a long way from home...

Join me for Freeway Noir this week:  a series of shots taken while stuck in traffic on the 110.

(Do I have to mention this again?  I shot all pictures from the passenger seat, not the driver's seat.  And boy was it hard to drive from there!  I kid, I kid...)

Freeway Noir: 1

Anyone who lives in Southern California knows that being stuck in traffic for too long can make you feel dark and paranoid.  With that in mind, this week I bring you a series of shots taken while stuck in traffic on the 110, trying to get back to South Pas.  From the 4-level to the tunnels, Los Angeles offers the perfect noir landscape.  Anyway, you guys know that I love a chance to pretend like I'm the lovechild of John Alton and Dorothy B. Hughes...

It's Freeway Noir Week, everyone.  A series of shots from the 110 freeway, en route to South Pas.  

Disclaimer: DUH!  I wasn't shooting while I was driving.  Haven't any of you heard of carpooling?

Tiny Sophisticates

Oh, the kids are growing up before our very eyes! Here, a group of soon-to-be-second-graders cut up for my camera on a year end field trip to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. And to think, just a few years ago all those taxidermy animals would have elicited tears and nightmares from the little tykes.

"Don't be afraid," I foolishly told my group as we entered the hall of North American mammals. "These animals can't hurt you."

"They're just dead, Mrs. Allee," one of the boys reassured me. "It's not like they're zombies."

Well, there ya go.

Tucked Away in the Big City

South Pasadena's small town oasis makes it easy to lose track of the fact we're located smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles' urban jungle. (Well, okay, not in the middle exactly. More like up around the northeast end.) Just minutes from downtown LA, South Pasadena conceivably could have been where J.J. Gittes could have settled down to "forget Chinatown."