Englishman in LA

[didger]

The closest NP to LA (I think) and very different indeed from anything you pommies are used to is Joshua Tree NP, about 2.5 hrs drive (depending on just how horrible the freeways are and exactly where you'd be starting from) directly East from LA.  I've lived in the little desert town of Joshua Tree since 1970 and I never get tired of it.  You might want to do a google search and see some pictures of the area first.  I don't think you'll be disappointed unless you just have to have wet and green.

[Paul Sumi]

Oh, and a few places in and around L.A. for flowers:

Descanso Gardens
http://www.descanso.com/

Los Angeles Arboretum
http://www.arboretum.org/

Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens
http://www.huntington.org/

[Ben Rubinstein]

Thanks guys, appreciate the time you've put into these answers! Didger, if I wanted wet and green then I'd stay home!  :: , Maybe I'll arrange to bump into you there and go shooting together, though I've no idea when it may be.

[Lisa Nikodym]

If you have a clear day just after it's been stormy or windy (to blow out the smog), you might try driving at night up into the mountains immediately north of the L.A. Basin (the Mt. Wilson road is a great one) and take night photographs of the lights of the L.A. Basin spread out in front of you virtually as far as the eye can see.  It's an impressive sight.

Lisa

[Ben Rubinstein]

Nice pics Doug.

[Ben Rubinstein]

My father recently married an American from LA. Although they are living here in the UK, it has opened up an opportunity for me to head out there to explore some landscape photos that will look different to my present haunting ground of the Lake District and the Highlands of Scotland.

I will be using LA as a base, having somewhere to stay and easy access to food, however I  don't mind staying out at motels for days at a time, though as an Englishman, I'm not really used to loooong drives the way Americans are (then again our speed limit is 70!)

What National Parks or areas of interest to a landscape photographer are there that I would be interested in and how far away would they be?

Thanks

[Paul Sumi]

Greetings from a native Angeleno.  How long will you be staying and what time of year?

Here are a few links to get you started.  Nothing is particularly close to Los Angeles, expect to drive for a few hours to all-day.  But one of the great things about California is that you can experience the seashore, desert and mountains all in one day.

Kind regards,

Paul

California State Parks
http://www.parks.ca.gov/

National Parks in California
http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parksearch/geosearch.cfm

Monterey and Big Sur
http://jrabold.net/bigsur/
http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=570
http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/GeoImages/Ba...lif/BIGSUR.HTML

Yosemite Valley
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/
http://www.nps.gov/yose/
http://www.yosemite.org/
http://www.yosemite.national-park.com/
http://www.americansouthwest.net/califor....rk.html

Eastern Sierra (including Mt. Whitney, Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes)
http://www.395.com/
http://www.monolake.org/
http://www.nps.gov/seki/whitney.htm

Western Sierra (Kings Canyon, Sequoia national parks)
http://www.americansouthwest.net/califor....rk.html
http://www.americansouthwest.net/californi...ional_park.html

Death Valley
http://www.nps.gov/deva/
http://www.death.valley.national-park.com/
http://www.desertusa.com/dv/du_dvpmain.html
http://www.americansouthwest.net/califor....rk.html

Joshua Tree
http://www.americansouthwest.net/califor....rk.html

Anza Borrego desert
http://www.anzaborrego.statepark.org/

[Sfleming]

Some spots I can recommend:

The Devil's Punchbowl about an hour N of LA.  Fantastic Rock formations.  Get a map at the ranger station and stay near the trail.  People get  lost  real easy in there and it gets cold at night.

Another  that is  little known is Mountain Home State  Forest  E of Bakersfield.  The same Giant Redwoods as King's Canyon and nobody goes there.

Point Dume Seashore Just N of  Malibu.

If while you are there the  fog happens to roll in,  early am,  take one of the Canyon roads  up towards  Mulholland Dr and you might get one  of  those  rare and  fantastic shots of LA from  'above the clouds'.  I lived up there for three years  and only saw  it once and did not have a camera.  One  of  the most unusual and beautiful sights  I've ever seen.

[didger]

Didger, if I wanted wet and green then I'd stay home!   , Maybe I'll arrange to bump into you there and go shooting together, though I've no idea when it may be.

Well, you have no idea when and I have no idea where I'm apt to be at that time, whenever.  Email me when you have some idea.  If you don't get a quick reply it means I'm out shooting somewhere else.  Most of February I'll be in India.
There's such a lot of places you could go in California, but you'll need to re-adjust your thinking about distances.

[Akiss]

one of my favorite place in LA is the pier in Santa Monica.