Shooting for this weekend's CNN assignment, I shot the beautiful downtown Riverside Skyline from the top 12th floor of the downtown Marriott Hotel in Riverside, CA - the county seat of Riverside County, a city of about 311,000 people nestled near the foothills about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, CA.

As far as the conditions I faced, we live in a different world now since 9/11, so I first got permission from the desk manager. She directed me to the 12th floor stairwell, and she was right - a perfect place to shoot!

And you talk about a perfect, postcard late winter day here in Southern California, where Spring always comes about 1 month earlier than the rest of our nation. It was about 75F, with crystal clear blue skies, and with all the beautiful greenery from this year's heavy El Nino rains, that finally broke 4 years of severe drought -  Viva Riverside!

1) Looking Southwest towards the historic Mission Inn

2) Wide angle shot of downtown Riverside

3) Looking East towards the San Gabriel Mountains

4) Old School Music Mural on an old storefront

5) A close up of the Mission Inn Bell Tower

6)The California Tower - State Government Offices

7) The Mission Inn Hotel (In the foreground) is the "Cultural Center" of downtown Riverside