colorado street bridge celebration

 this event is a local tradition here in pasadena.  although last year's event was canceled due to lack of funds, this year's event went off with much success (at least in terms of turn out!).  the beautiful colorado street bridge was packed with people, food vendors, activities, music stages, and festivities.  plenty of food and fun was to be had.

this was my first time at the event.  a few initial reactions - this is a fund raiser for pasadena heritage.  and they got our funds.  $15 to enter the street fair, followed by more money spent on food, drinks, and dessert.  it was certainly not a night of free fun and cheap eats.  on the other hand it was clearly an event that was totally unique to pasadena - how many other towns close down a historic bridge to throw a party?  the setting was truly beautiful with the vista del arroyo hotel to one side, and the rose bowl lit up with lights from the ongoing soccer game on the other.  it was also packed.  as the above photo shows, walking was not easy, especially near the popular food and drink booths, or around the music stages.  i think we were even more tuned in to this fact because we had a baby in a stroller, making it even harder to navigated the crowded street.

nevertheless we had a great time.  kudos to the planners.  i hope to see this event continue!

bcs national championship aftermath

i took this photo from the colorado street bridge overlooking the still illuminated rose bowl after thursday evening's national college football title game. the streaking car lights in the foreground are from the 134 freeway bridge.

a ride across the bridge with friends

this shot is from a recent ride with our friends. perfectly pasadenian with a view of the colorado street bridge, as well as the old hotel.

rose bowl and golf course

a slight haze on the horizon prevents this photo from being truly epic. click on the image to get a full sense of the area. you may be able to find the colorado street bridge, city hall, vista del arroyo hotel, and many other local landmarks.

pasadena from the south

i snagged this shot from the water tower hill in south pasadena while out on a recent bike ride. i like that you can see both the colorado street bridge, and the vista del arroyo hotel (both subjects will be featured in tomorrow's post).

the haze hanging in the sky is perfectly typical of southern california. part marine layer, part los angeles smog - it really makes picture taking a difficult task at times.

more sky watch friday photos can be found here.

the desirable colorado street bridge

the photo from which the banner image at the top of this blog was cropped gets seen every day, but has never been featured as a daily photo. due to some recent events, it deserves to make it's debut today.

long story short, earlier this week i was contacted by an online company who apologized for stealing the title banner image from the top of my blog and using it on their site. an intern had "borrowed" my work and passed it off as their own. fortunately the company was honest enough to inform me because i probably would have never seen the picture in use. it turned out to be random chance that they stumbled upon my blog and found the controversial image. the situation was resolved and the image was taken down but it raises an interesting question - how do you protect your online photography?

adding a watermark seems to tarnish the artwork, and even those can be airbrushed out. should we just take it as a form of flattery when our work is used, regardless of if permission is obtained? and what should the consequences be if you discover that someone has stolen your image? i'd love to hear your comments on this issue. let's get a discussion going on this.

the bridge at night

one more from the colorado bridge street festival.