My photoalbum of the Californian travel in 1994

[dieastra]

20 years ago I took a trip through California which only lasted 7 days. Not much time to see the country but (it was a guided tour) we saw Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the Yosemite Nationalpark, San Francisco and then down through Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara back to L.A.

All of this time I had this photoalbum and the photos lying around but only now I finally sat down and put it all together. Since the pictures are original real pictures from that time (and kinda bad) I also added in many nice magazine pictures I have collected over the years. So you can compare my photos and professional ones.

Please click the link to see it and listen to my comments in very bad English! I know it is "of" and not "from" but I keep forgetting, because in German those two words are the same. And I am sure some pronouncations are way off, that's what you get when you learn English only by reading fanfictions and make up own pronouncations in your mind.

If anyone wants to correct me on something, also on some facts that might be wrong (I didn't write down any notes before I did this video) feel free so in the comments! That goes especially for analineblue and anyone else living in the area. And now enjoy! In case the embedded link is not working, here is the URL: http://youtu.be/7G42TEhfbHo

"" (Watch on YouTube)

Comments

[alumfelga.livejournal.com]

Beautiful album! I like that you put the photos from the magazine next to your own. You keep saying yours aren't as good but this when I can see all those places are real, with people around and everything :) Nice collection of tickets and leaflets!

I see you're a fan of the Golden Gate :)

You mention the space, the never ending roads with no other cars seen for quite some time, and it reminds me that I read somewhere that you need to drive a bit in the USA, to experience the roads yourself to understand mentality of the Americans. It's all there: the individualism, the national pride (the views!), even the big portions of everything - the next town might be miles away. I'm not sure what to think about it but it's an interesting thought.

Your English is very fluent!

[dieastra.livejournal.com]

(as you can see, I am making my way through my inbox, catching up with comments I never had time to reply to - only 767 to go)

Thank you very much, I'm happy you enjoyed it! I am really proud of this album. I had collected everything about America for a long time, but then to put it actually together in a sensible way is difficult and whenever I had tried before, was an overwhelming task. Especially since journal pages usually are printed from both sides, so if you want to keep the Golden Gate bridge from one side, you can't have whatever was on the other side!

But also, looking at all those pictures, one soon realizes how many stock pics there are - always the same one, with the exact same people. So it was easy to throw these out and go with the best of them.

It also was very satisfying, doing it by hand. Nowadays I do digital albums which then get printed, but I love the experience of moving it all around until I like the layout, and then glue it into places.

I see you're a fan of the Golden Gate :)

What gave me away? LOL
I have found in recent years, that I like to photograph buildings and nice architecture much more than nature. And bridges, especially the old steel ones, are always a marvellous sight. Surely it goes with my occupation, drawing such structures once in a while, you have a different view for craftsmanship.

That is interesting what you say about the Americans. I've never thought about it like that but it makes sense.