Greetings from Silicon Beach, California! This part of the Greater Los Angeles area has been named as such due to both new and well-established technology companies conducting business there.

Southern California is known for its beaches, surfing & skateboarding culture, and incredible weather all year long. This video covers the following beautiful cities:

• Santa Monica
• Playa del Rey – Spanish for King’s Beach
• Venice Beach – AKA: “The Craziest Beach in the World’
• Marina del Rey – The biggest man-made harbor in the world with a capacity of more than 6,000 boats

There is so much history in this area of Los Angeles that you wouldn’t believe it! Both Santa Monica and Venice Beach have been used as the set for many TV shows and feature films including “Cobra” (1986), “Pacific Blue” (1996-2000), “Point of No Return” (1993), and “The Net (1995)” just to name a few.

Most of the photo sequences seen in this video were created when I was shooting my feature documentary “The Faces of Los Angeles.” I had so much footage that I asked myself, “Why don’t I make a TimeLAX installment with just this part of Los Angeles?”. After all, Randy and I are building the largest independent Los Angeles time-lapse video archive ever created. The only thing I needed was a good number of sunsets to choose from.

I also had the opportunity to capture part of the Wanderlust “Mindful Triathlon” that took place this year at the Santa Monica Pier.

After spending many days visiting the beach cities over the years I can say Venice is colorful, loud, entertaining, and always filled with happy tourists. You can also, however, encounter angry locals who don’t want to be photographed, especially homeless individuals who are part of big metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles. I was verbally attacked many times when people saw me with the camera even if I was not directly aiming at them. While some people just made funny faces when they looked at the lens, others were not so passive. A psychic lady swore and yelled non-stop for twenty minutes, complaining about photographers, the economy, and city rules, all the while promoting her fellow boardwalk vendors. The art vendors scene is very territorial in Venice and the number of artists selling their paintings, jewelry, and sculptures with signs saying “No free photographs” has increased throughout the years. That is not exactly a friendly “welcome & thank you for visiting” message.

If you are a photographer planning to visit Venice Beach from another country or state, my advice is to come loaded with all the gear you can carry and shoot as many photos as you can. Why? Because every single day in Venice has something new to offer.

The Venice canals have very interesting home structures, from classic to modern designs. I’m sure it’s an architecture enthusiast’s paradise.

Venice Beach also has colorful murals everywhere. One of the most notorious is a dedication to UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, which to me represents the diversity of LA. (Look up Ronda’s ethnic background and you’ll see what I mean). Other celebrities who used to frequent Venice like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Morrison, and Teena Marie, have murals dedicated to them as well.

Santa Monica is a different place, especially at night. The Pier is an entertainment spot for music lovers and children. Across the street from the pier entrance is Tongva Park with metal structures that create a very nice effect with the shadows when the sun is going down as seen in the video. Some of the scenes have so many people that every time you watch this video you will find new details.

That’s all. Silicon Beach in 4 minutes: Sunny skies, stunning sunsets, street art, colorful architecture, and lots of tourists captured with the time-lapse photography technique.

Ralph.