The American Dream

Most photographers that shoot nature and travel probably have dreams of traveling the world to all sorts of exotic locations nine months of the year becoming the next Art Wolfe. I think Art Wolfe is an amazing photographer with an even more amazing work ethic but not everyone is cut out for that sort of [...]

The Journey is the Destination

Travel photography is not about F-stops, HDR or the size of camera-sensor pixels. Travel photography is about the experience. My first visit to the Eastern Sierra region was in the summer of 2004 when my friend and I took a three-day camping trip to Mono Lake / Bodie and Bishop. It was quite the trip, [...]

Chicago Board of Trade

Chicago is one of the more interesting cities in this country in my opinion. I’m really big into historical places and the Prohibition Era is really intriguing to me. This street scene looking toward the Chicago Board of Trade reminded me of the Kevin Costner / Sean Connery movie, The Untouchables. It was my favorite [...]

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

A bit of shameless self-promotion but this photo of Canada Place is currently on display at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I think it is probably displayed at Canada Place since it is the main press center for the Olympic Games. Lindsey Vonn probably doesn’t have time to read photo blogs but it would also be [...]

Mulholland Drive

If you are the “hustle & bustle” type then L.A. is probably perfect for you. As I was turning left onto Cahuenga, I intended to stop inside of the gas station but noticed this Mercedes following way too close to make it into the gas station safely so I kept going. Before you know it, [...]

Downtown Church

As I was driving down from the Santa Monica Mountains with Patty Griffin’s fantastic new album, Downtown Church, playing on my car stereo, I spotted this large cross overlooking downtown L.A. so I immediately pulled over into a ditch then used the last of my three remaining frames that I had on my memory card. [...]

Oops!… I Did It Again

This was taken on Wednesday night after another day of rain on Tuesday. I can’t keep talking about the same thing over and over again so I’ll talk equipment this time… My first few attempts at this scene were taken with a Canon 70-200mm lens on the full-frame 5D Mark II but it wasn’t enough [...]

LA Skyline Twilight

From where I live, Mount Baldy looked great. However, from L.A. not so great. The peak kept getting obscured by haze but then it peeked out just barely for a few minutes as the sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean. It was cold and windy outside, and I kept having to refresh the Yahoo [...]

Los Angeles Skyline Photo With Winter Backdrop

I am coming to the conclusion that mid-morning winter light might be as good as it gets in Los Angeles. As a landscape photographer, I am always evaluating air quality and lighting conditions in every way and time imaginable even when I’m not photographing. The morning after a storm is usually as clear as our [...]

“The Size of the Rat”

If you have been following this blog over the past month or two, this scene has probably become a familiar sight. I have this compulsion to get this photo exactly the way I want but all the stars haven’t aligned quite right just yet. In some shots I even got the bloody red sunset light [...]

Happy Holidays

This is my last blog post for the year. Though I didn’t shoot as much as I would have liked, it was still a fun year. Three especially memorable photo shoots were:
1. Butchart Gardens
2. The Wedge
3. Minter Gardens
Next year promises to be an exciting year as I have signed up for a grizzly bear photo [...]

Los Angeles Skyline and Mount Baldy

No colorful sunset because it was cloudy on the horizon but man, what a view! I’ve wanted to see a snow-capped Mount Baldy behind the L.A. skyline for years now. Friday night had some crazy red light on Mount Baldy that would have been perfect but I was hiking in my local hills which doesn’t [...]

Foreclosure of a Dream

I’m sure that almost all of us know someone that has been severely affected by the current economic situation. People my parents’ age (50+) in particular probably saw their dreams vanish before their eyes along with the Dow Jones. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have this 30 year plan laid out [...]

Los Angeles Winter Storms

I took this photo right as our previous storm was passing through. By the end of this weekend’s storms, I’m hoping that we will have a snow-capped Mount Baldy which is located directly behind the L.A. skyline but obscured by clouds in this photo. I went up yesterday morning hoping to photograph landscapes in fresh [...]

Route 66: The Mother Road

I was born after Route 66’s heyday so I don’t have the personal connection to it unlike probably many of those my parents and grandparent’s age. But what I do relate to is that many Americans long to leave the rat race and day to day grind behind to hit the road. Route 66 is [...]

Roy’s Motel

Roy’s Motel and Cafe is an iconic Route 66 landmark located in basically the middle of nowhere. Only the cafe is open now while the doors to the motel is open so you can wander around stepping on shattered glass every step of the way. It is definitely an interesting place to photograph americana or [...]

Mission San Miguel Arcangel

Having photographed 17 of the 21 California Missions, Mission San Miguel Arcangel is the one that I am most intrigued by. The chapel was severely damaged by the Paso Robles earthquake several years ago and has been closed ever since. It is currently under construction. What makes this chapel particularly unique is that it has [...]

Feels Like Home

Point Pinos Lighthouse is located in one of the most scenic coastal areas in California but after getting the obvious photos out of the way, I like to explore the “smaller scenes” that give a place its character.
On a side note, I once gave a girl a diary with a copy of Chantal Kreviazuk’s Feels [...]

A Walk in the Woods

I don’t recall sharing this story before but it is kind of embarrassing. I was on a trail looking for an overlook of Taylorsville Lake and in parts you have to go through that thick brush and into the forest you see on the left. After some time, I saw a bunch of white things [...]

Steinbeck Country – Salinas

For every kid educated in California, Steinbeck Country is probably familiar territory. I think that also plays a big part of why I am so fascinated with the Monterey Bay area.This region is the most historically-rich region of our state in addition to probably being the most beautiful.
See more of my Monterey Bay pictures.

keep looking »

Subscribe to In The Field.

In the Field: Photo Blog by Richard Wong