Continuing with the stairwell series, because for some odd reason I keep seeing something in them I'm compelled to photograph, here's a random stairwell at LAX Airport in the parking structures.

Known as the Gisele Library, this architectural wonder sits on the campus of the University of California Sand Diego

A classic cat like this deserves black and white treatment.

Growing up in Washington, black widow spiders were something exotic from far away lands. Then I moved to California and started finding them in place I did not want. I can still remember seeing my first one when we lived in Orange. It got my heart racing with an instant shot of adrenaline because of my vast ignorance and the overhype in society for this creature.

While some talk of Chicago being on fire and overrun, the view from the Chicago River seems pretty chill.

It’s a good song, from Dr. Dre…

Los Angeles has no shortage of interesting back alley scenes. Sometimes they need a little help with composition, but this one, for me, was pretty much perfect when I’ve viewed it on my screen in black-and-white.

I'm just back from two days attempting to climb Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 United States. It's an odd distinction, for sure, but it's also a good challenge. The hike up proved unsuccessful in the "reach the top" sense, but it was a great time to be on the mountain and in the wilderness. I made the attempt with my friend Josh, pictured here with some buff calves.

Not from Bishop, but from down the road at Manzanar, in California.

A lot of rust happening behind a mechanics garage. Main'y driveshafts and brakes.

Another photo from the Bishop area after the brighter sunset colors had passed.

I’ve only been in Chicago a few days and I’ve already seen a handful of artistic renditions of these unique towers along the river. Locally called the Corn Cob Towers, their official name is Marina City, which also seems odd. More than a dozen of the lower floors are parking and with the upper floors giving way to living space.

I recently upgraded my main camera….my iPhone. The specifications on the 17 Pro looked like a solid upgrade from my old phone. It was worth waiting a few years for better cameras. All the other cool stuff aside, I really want better quality images from my everyday camera. And it delivered. For instance, while this 200mm equivalent image won’t look good printed at 14” wide, it is still 12MP and decent.

Sometimes the picture titles just wrote themselves, no thinking involved. I love how this Northbound train just south of Chicago was hanging out right above pedestrian traffic.

Phoning it in today, playing with the macro lens. I don’t use this handy and useful feature on my phone often enough. Usually you have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a specialty macro lens for a DSLR and now most phones have a decent version. Get out and macro more!

Back to Bishop, CA for more wonderful autumn light. A few sprinkles had started by the time the last of the sun was peeking through the western clouds.

This photo is in the category of ‘Most interesting sunset photos happen from parking lots’. Technically this was in a dirt lot next to a parking lot, but the magic was the same. Had to duck and dodge powerlines.

Today I got to do that fun thing where I play tourist in my own city. With a good friend from out of town visiting, we decided to go to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Amongst other exhibits was a section highlighting Director Bong Joon Ho complete with tons of storyboards from his Academy Award winning movie Parasite.

Sometimes when you get addicted to a flower, you just can’t stop. Also, when you get a new camera, even familiar subjects become moments of fascination. In my case, I got the new iPhone 17 after a number of years of not updating because the cameras just weren’t compelling enough for me. Then they made some sizable improvements with the iPhone 17 Pro and I have been hooked on the macro lens for a few days now.

Growing up in Washington, I had never heard or seen a bird of paradise plant. Maybe I saw one once when visiting California, but I wasn’t the kind of kid to remember odd plants. Now that I live here, I take them for granted. Which is a good sign it is time to stop and smell, and take photos of, the flowers.

A small fern nestles against the base of a towering tree.