Waiting for Things

In Los Angeles a day of rain is treated like the coming of the Great Flood. Networks go on Storm Watch, freeways are tangled messes and residents bar their doors and keep the kids home from school.

We don’t like water that falls from the sky.

But we love post-rain Los Angeles. The skies are bright blue with puffy white clouds, sidewalks are washed of dirt and wilting plants perk up and come back to life. The city takes on the appearance that I like to think it had 60 years ago when seeing the clear profile of the San Gabriel mountains jutting from the valley floor wasn’t a novelty.

The Los Angeles skyline also takes on a more photogenic appearance after a storm. There is a spot that I have been scouting with a nice view to the city, but the city skyline with a washed out featureless sky is not exactly my idea of a good photo so I’ve waited patiently for more interesting light. I don’t envy nature photographers who wait days and months for the perfect light–I’m not that patient! But Monday morning as I drove past my city view I was greeted with a skyline that seemed worth taking a small detour.