The Painted Hills

First of all: yikes, I really need to post more often. I'll work on that. Anyways, a few weeks ago, in mid-July, my dad and I drove to Eastern Oregon to the small town of Mitchell, population 121. Mitchell is located very close to an area called the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, at which there are three different locations, or "units" as the National Park Service calls them, where visitors can see beautiful scenery. We came to see the most famous: the Painted Hills, considered one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon. They are located 9 miles from Mitchell, and get their name from their multicolored layers caused by different types of sediment buildup over millions of years. Essentially, when viewing the Painted Hills, you're looking at millions of years of history. 

The Painted Hills had been on my Oregon to-do list for years, and I was thrilled to finally be there. We were only there for one night so, after resting a bit after the four-hour drive, we headed out for the rest of the night. 

The area the Painted Hills are located in was much smaller than I'd expected, though that's not to say it was lacking in beauty. Reds, golds, blacks, and yellows streaked the hills with color like nothing I'd ever seen. We explored a few of the various trails before stopping to watch the sunset over the hills. 

After sunset, we headed back over to the Cove Trail, where there's a really cool boardwalk that winds its way right through a red area of the hills, allowing for the closest look at the hills in the unit. This was my favorite area of the Painted Hills; something about the lightly-colored boardwalk against the red sediment was quite pleasing to the eye. Here, we waited for the sky to darken enough to see the Milky Way. Now, I've seen some pretty incredible stars over the years, but the Painted Hills were at a whole other level. The Milky Way was crystal clear; I'd never seen it so prominently before. We were lucky enough to have the entire area to ourselves for hours, just watching the stars and shooting the Milky Way. We saw several shooting stars and satellites, as well as a few erratically-moving lights in the sky that at first looked like satellites but, based on their movements, couldn't have been. That was definitely a bit weird. 

I can't recommend taking a trip to the Painted Hills enough. Due to the small size of the area, you really only need to spend one night here, but it's absolutely worth it.

A Day with McLaren

As a car enthusiast living in Southern California, I have the opportunity to attend a multitude of different car shows with a higher level of exotic cars than almost anywhere else in the world. One of those shows is called Sunset GranTurismo, and is hosted by the premiere exotic car dealership in Los Angeles, the O'Gara Coach Company. O'Gara Coach is home to brands such as Aston Martin, Mclaren, Bugatti, and Rolls-Royce, amongst others. Sunset GT began last year and quickly rose to the top of the show list for many car enthusiasts, myself included. 

At the February show, Sunset GT hosted its second-ever photography contest. Photos were entered via Instagram through the use of the tag #OGBritishInvasion, and were to be exclusively of British vehicles featured at the February edition of the show. In late February, the team at O'Gara would pick three winners, each of whom would be awarded a private photoshoot with the newest McLaren model, the 720S. 

After submitting many photos from the event, I was honored to be chosen as one of the three winners! And so, after being delayed a couple weekends due to rain (couldn't tell you why there has been so much rain in SoCal recently), I finally had my photoshoot this past weekend, and, boy, was it worth the wait!

When I arrived at the dealership, I was thrilled to see that the car I'd be photographing was painted in McLaren's iconic "McLaren Orange". Years ago, I had the opportunity to drive the McLaren 12C Spider in Las Vegas, and it was painted in the exact same shade; even the wheel and brake caliper colors were identical to those of this 720S. It felt as though things had come full circle. I've been lucky enough to ride in and even drive some pretty amazing cars. But the 720S is on a completely different level. While I didn't have the opportunity to drive it, I was able to feel the sheer speed and performance capabilities it possesses while riding as a passenger around Beverly Hills. At one point, the driver, O'Gara Coach's social media coordinator named Danielle, floored it for just a brief moment, and we rocketed forward. It was like nothing else I've ever experienced this side of a Tesla, and would give far more expensive cars a run for their money.

I was given around two hours to shoot the car in any location I wanted around Beverly Hills. For my first location, we took the car to Franklin Canyon Park, just off of Coldwater Canyon. Franklin Canyon Park is a nature-lover's haven where you'd least expect, smack dab in the middle of Beverly Hills. Here, I was able to take photos that showcased the McLaren Orange 720S in a more isolated environment, seemingly away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We spent most of the two hours here, before moving on to my second and final location.

We ended the photoshoot at the parking garage of The Petersen Automotive Museum, a renowned auto museum on Wilshire Boulevard. From here, I was able to photograph the car in a more urban setting, with views of Century City in the background. I also got a few long exposure shots inside of the parking garage. I almost wish that I had spent a little more time at this location versus the last, because I ended up liking more photos from there than I did the previous location.

Overall, my day with McLaren Beverly Hills was truly amazing, and is the highlight of my year thus far. I can't wait for future O'Gara events! 

Fourth time's the Charm?

On May 23rd, I and three friends made the trek from Orange County to Joshua Tree once more. This time, though, we would be staying the night rather than driving there and back in a matter of hours.

We arrived at our Airbnb around 4:00, and set off into the park soon after to do some exploring. Joshua Tree really does have some stunning landscapes; it looks like you're on another planet! We explored around Skull Rock and watched the sunset from Key's View before heading out to get food and then rest until dark.

I am happy to say that, after three previous attempts, the skies were completely clear for Milky Way photography. The stars in Joshua Tree are truly incredible; you can see the Milky Way with your naked eye, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

Our first stop of the night was Arch Rock, a popular astrophotography location. So popular, in fact, that we had to wait around 30 minutes for other photographers to leave in order to get the right viewpoint. However, it was definitely worth it, and I'll be sure to come back to this location soon to try out new angles.

Next, we stopped at Skull Rock. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with these photos. The Milky Way wasn't aligned right for this location, and the foreground was difficult to light up. So, we moved on fairly quickly.

Lastly, we stopped at an area with a lot of big Joshua Trees to get the somewhat cliché but killer picture of the Milky Way over a field of  Joshua Trees. These may be my favorite photos of the night. While there, we also took a few photos with the road as a foreground, which came out quite nicely, as well.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip to Joshua Tree. I am so lucky to live fairly close to this park for the majority of the year and look forward to exploring more of it as time goes on.