UNIVERSAL AT NIGHT

Universal At Night Photos by Lydia Marcus

Photographed February 5, 2009 in Universal City, CA using an Olympus XA with Kodak Professional 400UC Film.

TIDE POOLIN'

Leo Carrillo beach in Malibu is consistently one of my favorite places to visit and photograph. I just love climbing around the rocks and investigating the tide pool. There are several ways to get there, but I usually take the 101 North to Malibu Canyon, head south over to Pacific Coast Highway, then West (a right turn) on PCH approximately 25 miles until you hit Leo Carrillo. From the Valley to Leo it's about a 45 minute to hour drive each way. The tide pool is just in front of the #3 lifeguard tower (and incidentally, dogs are allowed on leash from this tower and continuing west up the beach). I just google low tide Malibu to find out the best time to go there and check out the tide pool. Usually there's a several hour window about an hour before to an hour after low tide that's good. If you go after that, the waves usually are just hitting the rocks too hard and it can be dangerous to stand there. I always see tons of starfish (many different colors including orange, light blue, and purple), sea anemones (they are really fun to touch), mussels, crabs (little teeny black ones and bigger red ones), and even little fish swimming in the watery crags and crevices of the tide pool rocks. And I've even spotted dolphins and whales from this beach.



















After an outing at Leo Carrillo, I always stop at this little food shack called Malibu Seafood, located just before you find yourself back at Malibu Canyon. It's totally no frills - you order food inside, wait for your number to be called, and find an open bench to sit down. My fave meals there are swordfish with rice pilaf and salad (the ranch is really good), fish and chips, clam chowder, or a pot of steamed clams in a nice broth.








Leo Carrillo State Park / Malibu photos by Lydia Marcus

For additional images from this series go to my Flickr page

Leo Carrillo State Park: 35000 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA
Malibu Seafood: 25653 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265 (310) 456-3430

VICTORY TRAILHEAD

I love shooting digitally, but once in awhile it's nice to slow down and do things the old school film way. The only problem with me shooting film is the rolls tend to sit around for quite some time before I can get them off to a decent lab. Just got back a roll from my Olympus XA - a rangefinder from the late 70's with a fast f2.8 lens and cute as hell black clamshape body. This roll was TMAX and I really love the dreamy, hazy yet kinda sharp look. It's weird though to see grain again. These images were taken by me on the Victory Trailhead in Woodland Hills - a fantastic place to hike that actually makes you understand what the Valley was like back when it was inhabited by Native American tribes like the Tongva, Chumash, and Gabrielino. The Victory Trailhead has rolling hills, Oaks trees (btw, my hometown Encino is the Spanish word for Oak), and the perfect amount of quiet and serenity to make you feel like you actually escaped the city. B/W shots are TMAX, the rest are a mix of digital and some color film.




















Update: Directions to Victory Trailhead. You can take Victory Blvd at any point in the Valley and just go as far West as you can go. Victory actually ends at the Victory Trailhead (just West of Valley Circle in West Hills). From the 101 freeway exit Valley Circle Boulevard. Head north to Victory Boulevard. Turn left. Park entrance is approximately one mile at the end of Victory Boulevard. There are other entrances too, go to http://www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=28 for more info.