I would like to start this review with the statement that I am not a tour group kind of guy.  Generally, I would rather take a punch in the face then drive around all day with a bunch of strangers looking at obvious landmarks.  But after hearing about Urban Photo Adventures and meeting Mark Indig and Ken Haber, I sensed that they were on to something cool and that I should open myself up to a new experience and join them on a tour.

We started in Encino at the Sepulveda dam.  It was drizzling a little but spirits were high and everyone was ready for an adventure.  It was a great group of people to hang out with for the day.  Pilar Law from A&I came along with me and we both knew Lee Varis who wrote a recent photoshop book called Skin.  The rest of the group was a very diverse mix of professionals and photo enthusiasts ranging in age from early 20’s to mid 60’s.

At the Dam we came across two energetic guys who were filming a Star Wars tribute/mashup for their nephew in Israel.  They lugged a life size Vader (?) mannequin out to the dam at 4 in the morning along with camera gear and costumes.  This was one of the few times that we shot in a group like paparazzi.  The rest of the time we were encouraged to wander off and discover hidden photo ops in the general vicinity of the locations.  Sometimes we continued conversations and walked together, other times we all went our separate ways.

The next couple of stops were in Pasadena where we shot another dam and walked the Arroyo under the Colorado Street Bridge.

After that, we stopped at an access point to the LA River where there was a lot of interesting graffiti.  Joe Linton who wrote the book on the LA River, met us here and gave us some background and history as well as answering questions.

Lunch at La Golondrina on Olvera Street was a really nice break.  If you haven’t visited Olvera Street, you owe it to yourself to check out the oldest section of Los Angeles and some great Mexican food.

The rest of the day, we wandered around fringe areas of downtown Los Angeles that many people might prefer to visit as a group with great guides like Mark, Ken and Maria.  They are really the heart and soul of this tour.  All three of them are walking encyclopedias of great locations in Los Angeles.  Mark and Ken have about 50 years between them as successful location managers for the movie industry.  They are great guides, mentors and photographers.  If you ever have a chance to hear them speak about how to find cool places by getting lost, do it.

Be sure to check out the online gallery of their photography and of images from other participants before you take the tour.  It will give you a primer on how to open your eyes to finding industrial patterns and seeing differently.  The same can be said of sharing images with the tour group during the day.  It amazed me that we can all walk around the same area shooting the same subjects and have so many different images emerge.  Artistic vision is an amazing thing and this tour is a good exercise to get your creative juices flowing.

Several participants swapped lenses, tried out each others cameras and cool accessories like the Lens Baby that both Mark and Lee brought with them.  I got inspired by the panoramic stitch mode on my new Canon G10 and shot some cool images.  I also brought along our new Canon 5D Mark II right out of the box – thanks to Jim McCrary for bringing the manual with his camera.  I shot video with both cameras and realized quickly that I have more to learn about multi media.  I shot what seemed to look like nice HD video of Mariachi singers at lunch in the dark restaurant.  Considering the low light and the shaky hand held quality of the video, I don’t think that I’ll be selling my first video masterpiece to Canon for big bucks like Vincent Laforet.  Note to self, don’t be lazy next time and bring a tripod or monopod.

All around, it was a great day.  Mark, Ken and Maria really have something special with these Urban Photo Adventure tours.  Hanging out all day with like minded people who share an interest in photography and the city they live in is such a unique experience. I am grateful that I was able to be part of it.  I highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in photography, the city of Los Angeles or if you just like hanging out with great people and eating mexican food.  In this tough economic environment this tour is the perfect photo staycation.

I was only able to go on day one of the two days offered for this tour.  The second day includes a boat graveyard, a tugboat ride under some amazing bridges and some cool locations you usually only get to see in movies and music videos.  I hope to catch the second day next time around.  Future offerings include Slab City and Salton Sea tours.  I am definitely looking forward to tagging along to those locations.