Hollywood Hills
- Stendhal.
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I have been living in LA for more than two and a half years now and that too very close one of the best outlook points of this amazing city. But since I moved here, I have come to realize how hard is it to photograph Los Angeles. Most of the time you hardly get interesting skies and the thick smog cover make it harder to get a clear shot, compare that with the lack of rainfall and you have some horrific conditions for cityscape photography.
But with all that in mind my best cityscapes have always been of Los Angeles, be it downtown or the view from the stunning Griffiths park observatory. So couple of months ago when it rained and the sky was cloudy I grabbed my gear and went up to the Hollywood bowl overlook which right in my neighborhood. My goal as to get a nice sunset shot from there with some interesting clouds in the sky, but the wind was pretty strong and as usual the clouds disappeared within seconds and I was presented with beautiful clear skies which makes SoCal so famous. So I decided to change plans and get a blue hour shot but soon the winds bought in a layer of haze which was getting thicker by the minute and instead of blue hour we had a purple hour. This is one of the best results for that outing, hope you all like it and have a great July 4th weekend.
- Publilius Syrus.
One of the most popular outlook points to watch the Los Angeles downtown is the Hollywood Bowl overlook. It provides a stunning view of the LA skyline, with highway 101 leading the viewers' eyes from the bottom of the frame to the background's skyline. Despite living within walking distance away from this iconic spot and driving this route to work every day, I have only photographed the overlook point twice.
Living so close, I always took this spot for granted. Another factor was that this is a tourist hotspot, and the tiny parking lot is always overflowing with tour buses that ferry tourists like clockwork. I had the habit of keeping my camera bag in my car, ready for the rare LA event of a dramatic sky. My original plan was to head for the beach, but I decided to head to the Hollywood bowl overlook instead. Unfortunately, the clouds didn’t stick around till sunset, so I decided to include as little of the sky as possible. This choice in composition meant that more roads are in the lower part of the frame, and I had to wait a while to get the light trails right. I love the lighting I had that day and the transiting of the greenery in the bottom part of the frame to the urban sprawl of Los Angeles.
- Jean de la Bruyere.
It's been a while since I posted any cityscape images. While I was recently cleaning up one of my image folders, I came across this image of the Los Angeles skyline. I took this image during the golden hour from what looks like the Hollywood sign trail. Whenever we move to a new city, I always make plans to shoot some city skyline images, but often those plans take a backseat to nature photography.
We planned on going up the Hollywood sign trail since the day we moved to LA but always kept on postponing the plan. Finally, the right weekend came along, and we decided to move it out of our to-do list. On the day of the hike, the conditions were perfect. We had the right amount of clouds, and the smog stayed away from the skyline. I took this image just as the golden hour commenced. Beautiful golden light drenched LA's urban sprawl. I was able to give prominence to Griffith Park and the LA skyline by going to the longer end of my lens. It was one of those situations when I prefer the 70-200 and a sturdier tripod than my travel tripod, but I was still impressed by the scene.
- Josh Billings.
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On our last hike to see the Hollywood sign up close I noticed that there was actually a really nice view of the San Fernando valley as you get close to the top. Even though there are some plants in the foreground the view of the hills and the valley were pretty sweet and during sunset we had some awesome colors on display. I was running between both the locations when sunset colors started to appear but managed to stitch a pano shot. Hope everyone like it as much as the last one.
The skyline of Los Angeles, cast in warm light from the setting sun.
Photo taken at the Hollywood Bowl Overlook in Los Angeles, CA (USA).
I went out to the Hollywood Bowl Overlook last night for the first time. We had amazingly puffy, thick clouds, which is pretty rare for LA hoping...
It's been a crazy week at work but I did get to go to The Hunger Games premiere.
City of Los Angeles seen from the Mulholland Scenic Overview
I had seen this location several times online and really wanted to check it out and grab a picture of it myself. I honestly didn't really know much...
- Denzel Washington.
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Another version of the Los Angeles picture I posted earlier. This shot was taken at the Hollywood bowl outlook point located on the Mulholland drive, a popular destination for most of LA's sightseeing tours. I literally live about a mile from here and it took me almost 2 years and 6 months to get the conditions good enough to get a shot from this location. Shows you how tough it is to take a picture of the Los Angeles skyline. Hopefully this year there will be a bit more rain and I will be able to get some shots of clearing storms over Los Angeles.
Thanks for visiting, have a nice weekend..
- William Penn.
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My wife introduced me one day to the Hollywood sign hike. It was a summer day and we decided not to take any camera gear with us as it was searing hot and we were both not very fit at that time. And true to our expectations, the hike was very demanding on our soft fluffy bodies. Fast forward six months, we were much fitter thanks to my wife dragging me to the gym every week and took my heavy camera bag and tripod and completed the whole hike without taking any rest breaks.
I had a plan to stitch a pano shot during sunset. As we were waiting for twilight most of the other hikers left and one of the helicopters that was flying across the hills started to hover around us very close and low as if to check us out or something. It was kicking up dust and I was afraid my tripod was gonna tip over. Thankfully after flying over twice over us the helicopter left and we managed to complete our shoot in peace. Definitely was a strange encounter but I am glad I came back with this beautiful shot.
- Dalai Lama.
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Another shot from my hike up to the Hollywood sign. While waiting for the sun to go down completely I noticed the Griffith park observatory on one of the many mountain ridges visible from the our spot and took this shot. I would have preferred a little bit more reach than my 70-200mm but I am satisfied with shot showing LA's urban sprawl and downtown. Hope ya'll like it.
Happy Holiday everyone!
The 101 freeway through Hollywood, with downtown Los Angeles in the distance.
Photo taken at the Hollywood Bowl Overlook in Los Angeles, CA (USA).
Hiked up to the Hollywood sign yesterday! After this hike I really felt like an LA native! Only took 9 years :p
I recently moved from Evanston to Los Angeles, to be specific, Studio City. Very exciting! I will miss Chicago but am excited to explore my new...
View from Mulholland scenic overlook
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- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Sorry for posting another shot from the same location but the light was so beautiful in shot that I feel compelled to post this shot from behind the Hollywood sign. I took this shot just before the sun started going down, just before the light dimmed. The whole valley was bathed in golden light. Hope y'all like this shot as much as I did making it.
- Hosea Ballou.
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I have had a bit of a history with the Hollywood sign. When we moved to California, initially, it was to the bay area, and my first encounter with the sign was during a weekend tris to visit Los Angeles. Up till then, I thought the Hollywood sign would be a prominent landscape element and that it would be visible pretty quickly. It turns out I had no idea how huge LA was, and we had a hard time figuring out where the Hollywood sign was. The only time we saw the Hollywood sign during that trip was when we were returning from the Griffith Park Observatory and saw the sign up on the hill.
Two months later, I had a job offer from LA, and we moved to West Hollywood. Initially, due to us getting used to the traffic and all life was a bit busy and the Hollywood sign project went to the back of my head. We visited Griffith Park a couple of times, and I even got a nice shot of the Hollywood sign from the parking lot. Then I heard from a colleague that you can drive up to the Hollywood sign. That got me intrigued, and I finally spend some time researching the fact. He was right; there is a road right up to the sign, but it is only open to maintenance crews and police vehicles, but you can hike up there. So my wife and I decided to hike to the sign and what a beautiful trail it turned out to be. As the road snakes up through the mountains, you get terrific views of both the LA basin as well as the San Fernando Valley.
I took this shot of Los Angeles downtown and urban sprawl of the city just as the golden light from the evening sun started to emerge. I took this shot from the peak of the mountain that’s home to the Hollywood sign. The shot location was right behind the Hollywood sign. Initially, I didn’t like the composition, but It had grown on me since. I hope you are all having great safe Memorial Day!!
- Muhammad Ali.
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Another shot from Hollywood sign trail. This one was taken after the sun completely went under and when the lights came on in LA. It was pretty chilly and windy that day and gave me a nasty chest infection later but the photos were totally worth it.
Thanks again for visiting and hope you all like it.
Hollywood lit by the setting sun, with downtown Los Angeles in the distance. The 101 freeway can be seen along the left edge of the frame.
Photo...
Check out the lower right corner of this photo!!!! Its my favorite part! :)
This was my first attempt at using Lee Filters for the first time. I got...
Blick vom Mullholland Drive) auf das Lichtermeer von Los Angeles.
View from Mullholland Drive at the sea of lights of Los Angeles.
**Press "L"...
The city of Los Angeles was on pins and needles last night when Boston came to town for game six of the NBA Finals. The Lakers came out on fire and...
More light trails. Yes! Hollywood freeway approaching Universal City, taken from the Barham Blvd overpass.
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Hollywood Hills!
Most notably Sandeep Thomas.