About the biggest favor a resident of Los Angeles can do for an obvious non-resident standing in the street with his entire family is toot the car horn at him and motion for them all to get back on the sidewalk.
LA is a famously fast driving city, no one walks, cars tear through every last half-foot of pavement. It’s not unpredictable. It’s actually extremely predictable. Virtually every inch of roadway in Los Angeles will at various moments of the day have automobiles thundering over it. Curbs are worn with the tell-tale signs of drivers who have slammed and scraped into them.
So let me say it here to anyone who ever comes to L.A. to visit. Wait for the walks signs. ON the sidewalk. When you get the walk sign, proceed warily. If you don’t yet have a walk sign. Wait on the sidewalk. Let me repeat that last part.
ON THE SIDEWALK.
With your precious family. All of them. The children. If you don’t, and someone has to toot the horn at you to make sure you don’t walk into their two-ton motor vehicle, just wave and step back. Maybe with some quiet reflective gratitude.
Maybe not like this this guy. Who began shouting at us in a language I’d never heard before after Mrs. 50’Lux tooted the horn at him. But the tone was unmistakable nevertheless at conveying the message that he wasn’t at all appreciative of the fact that we were sending him a gentle warning that could save his life.
50'Lux 
A very American way of thinking. Cars first. Nice photo though! 🙂
Thank you, Rosa. I like the image very much also. It’s about, in this case, the relationship between a family and my camera and car, but it is a strong photo and that’s why I posted it. And it means very much to have the validation of a WONDERFUL visual artist such as yourself.
Thank you again,
db
Your pictures are stunning in their crisp, vivid portrayals! I live in So Cal and I must say I think people down here really must have a ‘death wish’ at times..they just hop right off of curbs devil-may-care…sheesh! You’ve captured some really great shots of the way life really looks down here.
Thank you so much, CJ. I replied to your comment yesterday from my iPhone WordPress App. That thing is nuts.
I think I have managed a color look from this gear that really suits me and what I’m trying to do. I hadn’t really anticipated having this kind of satisfaction with the M-E’s colors. But I’m there.
As far as capturing LA. I really believe in what I’m doing. Diane Arbus once said that she had this feeling that if she didn’t take the pictures she took, nobody would. And her pictures and what she chose to photographer were both so different. After all the years I’ve been doing this, I KNOW that no one else is going to choose to photograph what I do here in LA.
Anyway. Thanks for visiting and commenting and hope you come back often.
db