Travel Photographer Based In Dayton - Recent Work

On my 2023 trip to Los Angeles, I accomplished a travel goal I’ve had for many years. I went on two Hollywood studio tours, Warner Brothers and Paramount Studios. Each studio was different in many ways, but both were awesome. If you’re in the L.A. area, I highly recommend these tours.

One of the goals of my October 2023 trip to Los Angeles was to watch the sunset from Malibu California. Originally I had planned to go to El Matador around 4:30pm. When I arrived, the small parking lot was completely full. I had a wedding meeting to call in to, so I had to find a place to stop. I had seen the signs for other California State Parks along the way, so I drove a few more minutes to the next park, La Piedra State Park.

In September 2023 I spent a day with friends in Palm Springs California.  I have been to this Coachella Valley city several times, and it was nice to return.  One item on the itinerary was to visit the JW Marriott Desert Springs. This beautiful, large resort in Palm Desert is famous to me for being the hotel visited by Saved By The Bell. The resort is dated but classy as if stepping back in time. It is a true oasis in the hot desert of southern California.

In October 2023, I visited the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles California and inadvertently ran into LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art. I was exploring the ground of the Tar Pits and came across a large well-manicured gravel area. In the middle was a concrete culvert with the biggest rock I’ve ever seen. After I was done looking at fossils and asphalt, I went to see what turned out to be LACMA.

If you are looking for an observation deck in Los Angeles, the one at the top of L.A. City Hall is the best. The magnificent building feature a free, non-de script viewing platform overlooking downtown, the west, the south, and the north. After clearing security, take the elevator to the top floor. Once there, you have to go up one of two staircases to access the deck. It isn’t marked. Once up the steps you’ll be in a small gathering room with tables and chairs. There are doors leading to outside viewing platforms that can maybe hold 6 people each. It was quite odd but wonderful.

On a 2023 trip to Los Angeles, I set aside time to visit the La Brea Tar Pits Museum. This is the most interesting museum I’ve ever visited and is an LA landmark. There are fossils of ancient creatures bubbling up through the asphalt in the ground. In fact, there are random areas on the property that are marked with cones or small fences. Inside the building are numerous beautiful fossils and exhibits.

I visited the most amazing stadium I’ve ever seen.  SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles (Inglewood) is the home of the NFL teams Rams and Chargers.  This giant stadium seats more than 70000 people for football games and 80000 for concerts.

During the summer of 2023 I had the opportunity for a quick trip to New York City, my sixth. I took my nephew on a sightseeing trip to some of NYC’s most iconic locations. Near the top of that list for me, a concert photographer and concert lover, was touring Madison Square Garden. This is the most famous venue in the world.

On a Monday in July 2023, I found out that I would be going to New York City on Friday. My nephew wanted to surprise his girl friend by showing up a poetry reading. So I went into travel planning mode, and book flights to Baltimore Maryland and Amtrak from Baltimore to New York City. This happened to be the second year is a row that I’ve done this route, so it came easily to me.

Summit One Vanderbilt was a truly life changing night in my life. I knew that New York City’s newest observation deck was going to be unique. This tourist attraction was mind blowing! We timed our entry to coincide with the summer sunset.