Haven’t been night shooting since my last trip to San Francisco, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve had one in Los Angeles….so I went with my homie Andy Trujillo-the best person I know for night shots! The cool thing about me and Andy is our style of photography- artistically, we’re both very different but are able to share different ideas and help each other out when needed.
We went to Grimes Canyon in Moorpark, about 50 miles west of LA. This is a cool spot for night shooting because of the horseshoe shape and the long stretch of road that you can see from afar. We were there on a Monday night around 8:30pm, so there was still a decent amount of cars driving home from work.
It was the first time that both of us have been to this place. With a little research on the way to the location and some light scouting, we parked at the bottom and started our hike up. I had a rookie moment and forgot my flashlight at home. Luckily, Andy had an extra flashlight for me, so we were able to climb up with a fairly clear view. The climb was a little steep and we lost site of any main trail, so we had to spend some time figuring out where to safely set up. About a minute in to setting up, a sheriff started flashing his light at us from afar. He asked what we were doing and told him that we were taking pictures. The guy was really cool and said, “Alright, just be careful,” and left. I thought for sure he was going to kick us out for trespassing.
It was nearly 9pm by the time we started taking our first pictures. We shot in 2 different spots very close to each other. This shot was at my first location. Now that we know where to park and set up, we’re definitely going to go back to get more and better captures. I always suggest to people that when going to a location alone, try getting there while there’s still sunlight so you can study where to go and not go. This location was pitch black with steep areas. The good news is at the end of our session, we found a much easier way to park and walk, so if you need some information on this location, let me know!
I edited this picture to make the red stand out. It’s a vibrant color that I love enhancing and it reminds me of the hot Southern Cali weather. Hope you like it and thanks for reading!
-JT