WHAT THE CAMERA SAW / THE WEEK AND MORE

The cornucopia that is this city must be seen to be believed. Fortunately, there’s always something out there to see.

TO EVERY SEASON . . .

Before we learned about rules and boundaries and borders, the world was our playground. Nothing stopped us from making a castle out of a fallen tree, a serene lake out of a puddle, an Indy 500 car out of a neighbor’s discarded cardboard box. Francisco Garcia takes time out for soccer before visiting his grandfather’s grave at Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood.

TURNED ON ITS HEAD

Quintessential Southern California appears sporadically. If you hunt for it, you’ll never find it, just the cliched scenes that belong on postcards. It shows itself only when it wants to. A woman seems to be burying her head in the sand, but she’s merely practicing a yoga pose. A lone palm tree in Death Valley National Monument stands steadfast under a cloud-dappled sky, encroached upon only by the looming shadow of another palm. A runway fashion show L.A.-style means more than just slinking down the catwalk avec attitude--it means having a bit of fun on the way.

A LEG TO STAND ON

It’s got legs--that’s what they say in Hollywood when a project shows longevity. At the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, a contestant in the Miss Citraz competition steps out in death-defying platforms. Dennis Clark and Lisa Boses give a friend a leg up at Off the Wall antiques store on Melrose. At Yoga Works Mommy and Me class in Santa Monica, Beth Haris, left, with son Jackson, and Michelle Barash, with daughter Drew, give their legs a stretch. And first-graders form a diminutive chorus line while at the dedication of the new Vine Street Elementary library.