A VISITOR IN ONE'S OWN CITY

Sunday I went to Franklin Canyon Park for the first time. It's a huge wilderness spot in between the city (Beverly Hills) and the Valley located near where Coldwater Canyon meets Mulholland Drive (across the street from the Tree People). Had I not been there to partake in a Polaroid Nerd Out event, I never would have even known it was there. I was shocked by the sheer size of it -Franklin Canyon Park is really vast - 600 acres in all. Part of the parks history dates back to 1914 when William Mulholland constructed L.A.’s first reservoirs at the top of Franklin Canyon and one of these reservoirs is really the setting for the opening sequence of the "Andy Griffith Show" where Opie (Ron Howard) tosses a stone into the lake. I spent most of my time on Sunday at one area of the upper reservoir, but there's plenty left to explore when I return. A lot of the trails were pretty flat and not rocky so I may experiment with my mountain bike one day. And it was definitely a dog friendly park so I will have to bring Lucy The Boxador as well.

Polaroid photos (Polaroid 195 using expired Fuji FP-100C instant color film):

I think all these tall, feather like plants appearing in many of the shots are Common Reed (Phragmites). They were absolutely stunning up close.








With this shot, I wanted to see if the Fuji FP-100C could really capture all the different shades of green coming from so many different plants and trees. I think it did a very good job.



Sony T100 digital shots:
I think this may be a Redwood tree, it was really beautiful and kind of graceful. I enjoyed it's cool shade for quite some time.





Me (fairly thrashed after too many hours out in the 100 degree heat) holding my homemade sign.


All photos by Lydia Marcus
Photographed August 24, 2008 in Beverly Hills, CA

Franklin Canyon Park
2600 Franklin Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA
(310) 858-7272