Top 8 Places in L.A. for Street Photography

I live in the city of Whittier, which is about a 20-25 minute drive to Los Angeles, depending on traffic. I set my alarm for 7:30a.m. and get ready as fast as I can to head out to LA. As I’m getting ready, I usually think to myself, “Where do I feel like going today?”.

There are so many places in Southern California to take wonderful pictures in, like the downtown areas of Long Beach, Fullerton, and Santa Ana. Normally I like to go to Los Angeles, as well as its surrounding areas, because of all of the tall buildings and the diverse amounts of people that walk along the city’s sidewalks.

Below is just a little guide around Los Angeles to point you to some of the best spots to do some street photography:

#1 – Historic/Jewelery District

Technically the Historic and Jewelry Districts are separate areas, but since they are literally down the street from one another, I consider them one and the same district. Stretching from Broadway St. up to Hill St., you’ll find some fantastic scenes, with countless amounts of people walking on the sidewalks. The area has a nice little “European-like” plaza on 7th street with, and also is a stop for the metro on 5th and Hill St., across the street from Pershing Square. The district will always be busy with people wether it be rain or shine.

#2 – Fashion District

Fashion District is a fascinating place, and is one of the more popular areas to do street photography. Stretching from Los Angeles and Main St., photographers can find crowds of people shopping and looking to find the best prices for clothing and fabrics. The insanely touristy area of “Santee Alley” is a good place to stop by too as it is packed there all the time. You can come to Fashion District any day of the week. It’s really busy on the weekdays, and extremely busy on the weekend.

#3 – Toy District

The Toy District is the brother of the Fashion District. Sharing the same street, but way further down from each other, the Toy District is an area that is probably my favorite place to get photographs in Los Angeles. If you go down Broadway and turn on 2nd street, head down to Los Angeles St. and you’ll see nice wall paintings, and tons of people shopping for pinatas, games, and other great toys. The atmosphere is grungy, and a bit dirty, but makes a great place for photographs. There is even a small-little-strip that makes you feel like you’re in another country in South or Central America, with pink, blue and red walls, it’s almost impossible not to find an amazing shot there. The best times to go are on a Saturday and Sunday, that’s when the area is the most packed.

#4 – Financial District

Financial District is a beautiful area. From Hope St all the way down through Flower St., down to Figueroa St, there are: skyscrapers, fancy hotels, bridges, nice cars, tasty restaurants, people in business suits, what’s not to like about the area? Here you would find the less confrontation with people as they are always in a hurry. Someone is always running late for a meeting, and another one is taking a smoking break. Beautiful scenes can be found everywhere, and the light and shadows are gorgeous in this part of the city. Great places to visit are the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, and the LA Public Library. A metro stop can also be found here on 7th and Hope St. The best days to come here are only on the weekdays. You can come on a Saturday or Sunday if you want to, but you’ll find it mostly empty with very few people.

#5 – Metro Station

The metro is one of the best places to get some shots. Whenever I don’t feel like driving to Los Angeles, I’ll take the metro from Norwalk all the way to Los Angeles. I’ll always get off on the metro stop at 7th St. and start my day off there. You can take the metro from Downtown Los Angeles to Hollywood Blvd if you wanted too. My favorite stop is on 7th Street mainly because that’s where the “Blue Line” (where I’m coming from) meets the “Purple-Red Lines” that take me to the Historic District. So I get 4 trains at this specific metro stop, and there’s an upstairs and downstairs, meaning huge amounts of people coming and going. You’ll find all types of characters waiting for the metro to come. You’ll even find great moments sitting in the metro going from destination to destination.

A one-way metro ticket costs about $1.50, I suggest getting the day-pass for $6 if there is a metro close to your house, and you don’t feel like wasting gas and spending $6-15 for parking.

#6 – Union Station

Continuing from the metro, we can get off at the Union Station, a great place to take photographers of travelers coming in and out. You can explore the tunnels and get great shops of people there, or you can head out to the lobby and capture images of interesting characters sitting, eating, and talking. It’s a very popular place for engagement photos, if you walk right outside Union Station you’ll run into Olvera Street, a nice little Mexican-culture setting which is also great for some street photos.

#7 – Venice/Santa Monica/Redondo/Will Rogers State Beach

Driving to the beach can be a pain-in-the-butt sometimes in Los Angeles. The freeways are usually packed, and the traffic can make you sleepy, but when you arrive at the beach your mood changes. Venice and Santa Monica Beach are two of the most popular beaches for photography. You have the Santa Monica Pier filled with rides, games, and food, as well as a promenade with fancy shops down street. In Venice you have a very urban setting with cool wall paintings, a skatepark and even a sports recreational area where people play basketball and tennis.

Both locations are great for “layered” shots of people, Will Rogers State Beach is down the sand from Santa Monica Beach, while it has no pier, or cool shops, it is the home for the “Holi on the Beach” celebration every March. Redondo Beach is a great place for some photography as well. The fisherman’s wharf at the pier is lovely, and it is best to attend this beach when they host free events like the Annual Festival of the Kite in March.

#8 – Hollywood

If you take the Purple-Red line from Downtown LA, it can take you all the way down to Hollywood Blvd. This is “the tourist location”, expect to see foreigners everywhere holding cameras, and showing off all kinds of souvenirs that they bought. A fellow street photographer of mine once described it as “shooting fish in a barrel”. It’s very easy to get shots of people here as they are so into the attractions that they hardly notice what’s going on. Try not to photograph the performers and costumed characters, but if you do, try and make it interesting.

Are there other places in Los Angeles that you like to photograph at? Please share in the comment section below!

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