Photos from Griffith Observatory

Table of Contents

I use 500px to do research on where I want to go take pictures and what kind of shots to do. One in particular compelled me to go to Griffith Park to get a shot of the Griffith Observatory as well as LA’s skyline.

Griffith Observatory Before Sunrise #

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Griffith Observatory (After Sunrise) #

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I went on a different day and night to get a night shot of the Observatory as well as LA’s skyline (see below). This is my favorite shot, as I consider LA to be more of a city lights kind of city. Any daylight photos would be better served on the beaches of LA.

Griffith Observatory at Night #

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On Getting Lost #

I got lost twice trying to get to this location.

The first time my GPS took me near a pinned location of where I thought the shot I wanted was taken, but I just didn’t see the view at all. So I went to the Observatory for some simple sunrise shots.

The second time, after more research, I took a bike trail, which is an actual road closed off to cars. I went at 6am and thought it would be easy to find. It wasn’t. I ended up overshooting and hiked nearly four times the distance. Anyway, it turned out that it’s not really the spot I wanted. You can see how far in green below.

The third time was the charm. I went even earlier, at 5:40am. Took the Mt. Hollywood Trail path and found the spot very easily. Unfortunately they were filming Glee at the Griffith Observatory that day and there was a lot of trailers and lights setup in the parking lot. So there was definitely more lights and cars there than I wanted. Only about fifteen parking spots were available to the general public, while the rest of the lot was reserved.

Below is the map of the area and the paths I took:

Pink, is the original, planned path I wanted to go on.
Green, is the actual path I went on today. Looks more like I went almost 4 times the distance!
Blue, is the last path I went on that actually took me to the spot I wanted.

Here is another shot of Griffith Observatory with all the trailers and sets from the Glee crew:

Some observations I’ve made about going to Griffith Park:

It can be a bit scary hiking in the morning when there’s no sunlight. I did end up purchasing a Energizer Pro 7 LED Headlamp
No matter how early you get to Griffith Park, someone will be there hiking even earlier.
Many Koreans and elderly folks are there walking in groups or even as couples.
There are tons of hiking/biking trails in Griffith Park. I definitely want to go back there with friends.
At night, there aren’t as many hikers as in the morning.

To see other pictures I’ve take in 2014 in the Los Angeles area, click here.

Update September 10, 2020 - Changed 500pxart.com links to 500px.com