Theme Building
This futuristic landmark at LAX is one of the purest examples of Googie architecture in existence, with its soaring parabolic arches and disc-shaped pod creating a silhouette that looks straight out of a 1960s science fiction film. You can photograph it from the exterior walkways and drop-off areas around the central terminal complex, where a wider lens in the 16-35mm range helps you capture the full sweep of the arches without cutting off the legs. The structure reads best against a clean sky, so blue-sky midday light gives you strong contrast and sharp shadows that emphasize the curves, while blue hour adds a dramatic glow as the building's exterior lighting kicks in. Arriving passengers create useful human scale in your foreground, reinforcing just how large the structure actually is. Getting close and shooting upward through the arches produces strong geometric compositions worth experimenting with. (Los Angeles, California, United States)
