Thursday, February 21, 2008 – The Unreal

When you drive a Mini Cooper out here those big Hummer things on your bumper, piloted by the perpetually impatient, are a bit unsettling. Sometimes that finds expression. This is the giant wooden Hummer that catches your eye as you head inland on the 105 Freeway.  From a distance it seems to be great promotion. Up close it's disturbing.  Note the name on the rear bumper – "Bummer."  It's at Finance Auto Sales, 11604 Prairie Avenue, Hawthorne – and they kindly let us take these shots. It's a Trompe L'Oeil work that just screams Los Angeles.

The real thing –

A bonus, a fake fiberglass wave at a surf shop on Lincoln Boulevard, Venice Beach –

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik