[Lucky 24]

Hello everyone,

I will be in L.A. on Tuesday for about 10 days and I really want to do a fantastic job portraying your great city on this forum. What would say are the best spots to take photos of the skyline and also what do you think are the most interesting places for an urban enthusiastic to go visit?

Thanks for your help.

[Westsidelife]

Views:

Mulholland Drive
Runyon Canyon
Palos Verdes
Elysian Park
Baldwin Hills
Kenneth Hahn State Park
Griffith Observatory
Getty Center

Urban perspective:

Historic Core
Koreatown/Mid-City
Hollywood
West Hollywood
Santa Monica
Old Town Pasadena

You might want to ask an LA forumer to help you navigate/tour the city.

[tujunga]

Hello everyone,

I will be in L.A. on Tuesday for about 10 days and I really want to do a fantastic job portraying your great city on this forum. What would say are the best spots to take photos of the skyline and also what do you think are the most interesting places for an urban enthusiastic to go visit?

Thanks for your help.

This is the worst time of the year in LA to take long distance shots due to the haze, fog, and "other stuff" that hangs in the atmosphere. Hopefully a Santa Ana wind condition will develop and clear up the air during your stay. Try taking some shots during just before sunset so that the sun reflecting off of the building will break through the haze. Good luck, can't wait to see those pix. :)

[jessie_sanchez]

This is the worst time of the year in LA to take long distance shots due to the haze, fog, and "other stuff" that hangs in the atmosphere. Hopefully a Santa Ana wind condition will develop and clear up the air during your stay. Try taking some shots during just before sunset so that the sun reflecting off of the building will break through the haze. Good luck, can't wait to see those pix. :)


Yeah May and June tends to be the peak of our "June Gloom" season. It makes the skies look real nasty and polluted. Hopefully it'll let up during your visit.

[Lucky 24]

Thanks for all your help guys...i'm used to shooting in Smog (Toronto is no stranger to it) and in certain ways, that smog can help enhance colours in certain pics. But we'll see how it goes.

[dktshb]

You might be hard pressed to get some skyline shots this time of year with the marine layer in full force but you might get some cool fog shots. Definitely check out the following:

Downtown's historic core;
Exposition Park;
Echo Park;
Dodger Stadium (skyline shot);
K-Town;
MacArthur Park (watch out for LAPD);
Hollywood;
1. "The Blvd"
2. Melrose Blvd
3. Runyon Canyon park in Hollywood is a must;
West Hollywood (Santa Monica Blvd and the Sunset strip);
Pasadena;
Venice Beach;
Santa Monica; and
Long Beach;
Beverly Hills;
Westwood (UCLA);and
Topanga State Park.

[ChrisLA]

Many of these place may be hard to find on your own, it really does benefit to have someone take you around. Many of these areas mention are also easy to reach via the metro trains, and rapid buses. In many ways its easy to go on your own, but being that LA is also very large some are intimidated and write it off and then drive these places.

Just to add I would say in places like Pasadena, you want to specifically visit Old Town Pasadena. Colorado Blvd pretty much most of its corridor is interesting. I would start out anywhere from Raymond Avenue on the west or perhaps even a few block up to Norton Simon Museum, on down past Lake Avenue about another mile or so to where there is a Target Store. Also many of the streets off Colorado have some interesting stuff all up and down this corridor. I would also go down Lake Avenue hearding south from Colorado Blvd.

Now in Long Beach, you should visit the downtown avenue and the waterfront. Pine Avenue is the main entertainment street, and if you want to get some nice skyline shots I would suggest going over to the Lighthouse, or over the Magnolia Avenue Bridge and head towards the Queen Mary. There is a park that offer some beautiful views of the Long Beach skyline and the Queensway Bay. It can be a bit tricky getting over there, but if you make it down to Long Beach you could PM me and I'll be happy to show you. I live within blocks of Pine Avenue and the waterfront.

Also 2nd Street in the Belmont Shores area of Long Beach is also a nice hang out area. Downtown Long Beach is sort of a cross between boheimian and yuppies, and Belmont Shores is more beach culture, yuppies, and college students.

Anyway I hope this helps.

[DaveofCali]

Hello everyone,

I will be in L.A. on Tuesday for about 10 days and I really want to do a fantastic job portraying your great city on this forum. What would say are the best spots to take photos of the skyline and also what do you think are the most interesting places for an urban enthusiastic to go visit?

Thanks for your help.

I can show you some places if you want, all I need is money for gas.


Here are some hotspots I know to take skyline shots:


Of Downtown's skyline:

Closeup:

4th & Beaudry
6th & Hill

From a short distance:
Colton & Bixel
L.A. City Hall top


Farther:
37th street & 110 freeway (freeway bus stop on the freeway median, take the stairs up)
Boyle & Whittier (may have to jump a fence)


~5 miles or more from downtown (if visibility permits):
Mulholland Drive, short distance west from the 101
Hollywood & Highland
Griffith Park Observatory
Kenneth Hahn State Park (take the road all the way up the hill)


Of the West Los Angeles skyline (incl Century City):

Culver City Park (take the road up)
Getty Center
LMU Drive & Lincoln blvd (if visibility permits, also, you'd have to park on Bluff Trail Road, which also may have the same views)