In A MatterOf Time

L

os Angeles. One time a few years ago, I was photographing a chapter of a book. It was about the downtown area. You think beaches when you travel to Southern California. That would have been fun. But, oh no. My assignment was for downtown.

So, I did my best and before you knew it I made a nice little portfolio. This is one of the pictures in that collection.

Photographing Disney Center is a matter of waiting for the right light to bounce off the building in the right way. Adding the tree was a way of showing contrast between man and earth made things.

The funny thing about this is that Disney as a corporation says you can’t photograph this location. Right. Tell people that they can’t do something and here they come. Or, tell them they must do something and they won’t. See CoVid-19 masks for an example of that.

They gave up on the outside. After all if you create a monument like this you have expect it to attract photographers from near and far. You can’t photograph the inside without special permission and an escort from the marketing department. I know this because I did it. It took me longer to organize that then it did to actually make the pictures.

That’s what travel/location/even war photographers do. We spend lot of time dealing with people trying to get in our way.

It happened to me in Las Vegas once. I was assigned to photograph high roller suites. According to most marketing departments they don’t exist.

Oh, they do. And, they are free. Not for you and me. But, for very high rollers who spend a lot of money mostly losing when they gamble.

I was finally pleading my case when the VP of marketing happened to pass by. He asked what I needed to do. I showed him my letter of assignment. He replied that it wouldn’t be a problem and that he would accompany me. I think if I had talked to someone with his title at the first hotel I would have been allowed to work.

That’s it for today.

Stories from the road.