Orange County Photographer, Jeff Sipper

I was recently watching the new Anthony Bourdain show, The Layover.  He was spending about 30 hours in New York City showing places to eat and places to check out.  In between his segments they had very short interviews with the locals.  One woman comes on and says, “You can always tell the tourists, they are always looking up.”  Ok, you got me there.  I mean, how could you not?  It’s NYC.  Everything is built up, and the Empire State Building, once the tallest building in the world, seems to be an anchor point and an easy place to figure out where you are in the city.

The next time I show the Empire State Building, you’ll get a slightly different vantage point.

I first shot this skylight about 15 years ago when I was freshly out of school.  Of course, back then, it was shot with my old 4×5 camera that I had to put on a tripod in order to shoot.  It was the first time I had ever really been thrown out of a place for taking pictures.  Apparently you need to have a permit in order to set up a tripod and take pictures at Union Station.  Regardless, I found it was easier to play dumb and keep shooting while arguing with the security guard.

This time was much easier.  No tripod, no permit.  Just shoot and go.  Union Station is still one of the best places in Los Angeles to shoot in.  The lighting is always interesting and the people much more so.

Near the end of out 10 day working vacation that took us from shooting a wedding in State College, Pa to Philly to NYC, and back again, we finally got to spend a day wandering around Philly.  We got to see the Liberty Bell, downtown Philly and headed over to Fishtown to find a really good beer garden that would make an ideal spot to hang out on a Saturday afternoon. The weather was a lot nicer than when we were back there about 10 years ago for Christmas.  That day, we rolled down to Geno’s so I could have my first legit cheesesteak.  It was freezing cold, easily in the low 20′s, plus the windchill that probably dropped it another 10-15 degrees.  All I remember was my first cheese fry tasting incredible and the second one had hardened to a gelatinous brick.

Now, about 180 degrees from where I took this picture is Pat’s, King of Steaks.  Both places claim to have the best cheesesteak.  We decided to have some fun with it, and got one from each place.  Not surprisingly, it was a split decision.  Dana was all about Geno’s and I was all about Pat’s.  Pat’s seemed to be a little greasier and the bread a little fresher.  Not that Geno’s was bad, in any sense, just different.

I’ve made the trip to New Orleans 6 times now in the past, almost, 13 years.  It’s still one of my favorite places to visit and, really, the go-to destination for Dana and I when we want to get away. It’s hard to explain, but there is just something about that city.  The people, the food, the architecture, the history just grabs me every time we land there.

In all my visits, I’ve never seen a second line.  On this past trip, in October, we saw at four.  This one was right after a wedding held out in Jackson Square, in front of the St. Louis Cathedral.  How can you go wrong with getting married, and then having the Treme Brass Band getting the party started as you roll thru the French Quarter?