Urban Light
Urban Light is one of Los Angeles's most iconic photo subjects, a forest of 202 vintage cast-iron street lamps arranged in a symmetrical grid at the entrance to LACMA. The repeating columns create strong leading lines and vanishing points no matter which direction you shoot from, so experiment with low angles to exaggerate the height and depth of the installation. The lamps glow at dusk and into the evening, making blue hour the standout time to visit, when the warm tungsten light of the lamps balances beautifully against the cooling sky. A wide-angle lens lets you pull in the full scale, while a longer focal length compresses the rows into a dense, graphic pattern. Weekday mornings are quieter if you want clean shots without crowds, but the lamps are not lit during daylight, so evening visits reward you with the full effect. Street parking and the museum lot are both nearby. (Los Angeles, California, United States)
