Locations: Top 7 Photography Locations in Los Angeles

If you’re planning to explore Los Angeles, California with your camera, you may feel overwhelmed by the many photogenic spots. The city is not only packed with some of the best entertainment industry sights and iconic neighbourhoods, but it also has next-to-perfect weather all year. Using GoCity’s All-Inclusive Pass, we explored LA for just one day and experienced the rich culture, exciting tourist attractions and a beautiful sunset.

We mainly focused on photographing the beautiful architecture and West Coast environment, but we couldn’t resist grabbing some portraiture at places like Venice Beach. Great tourist photography is all about staying authentic to the place you’re visiting. Read up on how to take great photography in Los Angeles.

1. Hollywood

First stop: Hollywood. We hopped on Big Bus Tour’s action-packed loop from Hollywood to Beverly Hills and back around, hitting spots like the Chinese Theater, Paramount Studios and the popular Beverly Gardens Park. We captured beautiful building designs, iconic street names and the essence of LA during the ride. Considering the sunny West Coast vibe, it was especially key to incorporate plant life and sky in our shots as well as lines throughout the architecture.

We were drawn to the light colour palettes at play and often shot toward the sun, enabling the backlight to enhance our images without letting it overpower them.

2. Beverly Hills

Go City offers a collaboration with guided and non-guided bike tours, and we were keen on exploring Beverly Hills with Celebrity Bike Tours. The Beverly Hills Hotel is among the most popular spectacles for its pink and green exterior, lush landscaping and popularity with celebrities. Capturing the hotel along its grand entrance was a fun challenge. 

We used techniques like framing in the foreground and perspective—elongating the appearance of the road and looking up toward the palm trees—to bring it together.

Along the bike tour, you can also ride along heavily palm tree-lined streets for some amazing photos. We captured some great shots of the palm trees in residential areas.

3. Venice Beach

One of the best places for candid photography and beautiful sunset lighting is Venice Beach. The long boardwalk area immediately transports you through a tour of so many subcultures in the area—beach communities, skaters, rollerblading groups, youth after school and West Coast bar and pub culture. 

Keep your autofocus and shutter speed quick here—things happen so fast that you may miss them or get some unfortunate blur. The most fun part about photographing Venice Beach is the personalities. Second is stunning shadow and sun flare that warm up any shot taken in this area.

Go City connects users with bike tours along the coast and bar-hopping opportunities with an easy booking process that will make any newcomer feel welcome. People may even come up to you for a portrait!

4. Santa Monica

A staple among tourists and locals alike, Santa Monica is more often used for swimming and features boardwalk carnival fun all year. Get up close and personal with the waves, seaside restaurant options and classic LA landscape shots while exploring here.

5. LACMA

While on the Big Bus Tour, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art immediately grabbed our attention with its pillar structure out front. This is a great spot to view curated fine art and take photos outside too. The pillar installation acts as a wonderful location for portraits and interesting architectural photography in the heart of Hollywood. Pro tip: look up! Getting the converging lines makes for really fun compositions.

6. Griffith Observatory 

A must-stop is the magical Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park. The building, housing informative tours about space and telescopes to see the cosmos, is a stunning sight itself. Towering over much of Hollywood and visible from beyond, photographers will be delighted to capture the building, the view, and the astrophotography capable in the area. 

7. Hollywood Sign

Just around the way is access to the Hollywood Sign. You can see it closer by dropping into one of the neighbourhoods surrounding the sign, or going to a park for a calm afternoon with it in perfect view. It's a popular tourist attraction and also a great place to practice using telephoto lenses to capture before the sun goes down. In your collection of Los Angeles photography, it’s a must-have shot.

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This article is part of the MPB Guide to Travel Photography, our comprehensive look at the travel photography genre with advice, recommended camera equipment and interviews with some of the most exciting travel photographers today.