As part of the 20th anniversary of my 2006 world journey, this series explores the photographs I captured along the way — the moments, the places, and the stories behind the images now available on my website or by request.
After shaking off the worst of the jetlag in Beverly Hills, we spent the rest of our first day in Los Angeles doing exactly what you do when you’re young, excited, and suddenly on the other side of the world: we drove.
In 2006, the hire‑car of choice — or at least the one that seemed to be everywhere — was the Chrysler PT Cruiser. So that’s what we ended up with. It felt quirky, a little retro, and somehow perfectly suited to cruising the wide LA boulevards and winding hillside roads.
With no real plan beyond “let’s see what we can see,” we headed up into the Hollywood Hills, where the city begins to reveal itself from above. The light, the haze, the endless sprawl — everything felt cinematic. Eventually we reached the Jerome C. Daniel Overlook, one of the most spectacular viewpoints in Los Angeles. From there, the entire basin opened up: the down-town skyline, the Hollywood Bowl, the freeways threading through the city, and that unmistakable California glow.
I photographed the overlook — the blue binocular viewer, the plaques telling the story of the city, and that sweeping panorama stretching all the way to the horizon. It was the perfect introduction to Los Angeles travel photography: a blend of history, landscape, and that iconic LA atmosphere.
Later that afternoon, still exploring the hills, we turned a corner and stumbled upon a scene that felt almost too perfectly “Hollywood” to be real. A modern hillside home, tall cypress trees lining the driveway, and two classic cars parked out front — all framed by the Hollywood Sign rising in the background. It was the kind of moment that sums up Los Angeles in a single frame: glamour, nostalgia, everyday life, and one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks.
I pulled over immediately. The composition was irresistible — the vintage cars, the geometry of the house, the bright California sky, and that iconic white lettering on the hill. It felt like a slice of classic Hollywood, the kind of scene that could only exist here. This is what I love about urban exploration photography: the extraordinary hiding in plain sight.
These two images — the overlook and the hillside home — became quiet but meaningful markers of our first day in LA. They captured the excitement of arriving somewhere new, the thrill of exploring without a plan, and the sense that the city was revealing itself one moment at a time. They now sit within my broader collection of Los Angeles photography and California travel images, each one a small chapter in the story of that unforgettable eight‑week journey.
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