Griffith Observatory
The perfect blend of urban style and natural beauty for unforgettable love stories.
A Photographer's Location Guide
Griffith Observatory gives you three completely different photographs from one parking lot. Turn south and you have the LA basin. Turn northwest and the Hollywood Sign sits on the ridge. Turn around and the building itself — Art Deco domes, white concrete, warm side light after four o’clock.
It’s also one of the harder places in Los Angeles to photograph well. The parking is genuinely difficult, the crowds arrive by mid-morning and stay past dark, and the Observatory has specific rules about posed photography that most couples find out about on the day. Here’s what to know before you plan one.
About Griffith Observatory
It opened in 1935, funded by Griffith J. Griffith, who left the land and the money to the city on the condition that admission stay free. It still is — the building and grounds cost nothing to enter, and only the planetarium is ticketed.
It sits on the south slope of Mount Hollywood at 2800 East Observatory Road, about fifteen minutes from Downtown — and it’s closed Mondays. A Monday golden hour means an empty exterior and locked doors, which is exactly what you want if you’d rather not share the terrace with four hundred people.
What makes it worth the challenge is the range. Most locations give you one good frame. Griffith gives you a skyline, a landmark and a piece of architecture without moving more than a few hundred feet — which means a short session here produces photographs that look like they came from three unique locations.
Best Time to Shoot
There are really only two windows worth booking, and they produce completely different photographs.
The hour before sunset rakes warm light across the domes and turns the white concrete honey-colored. The twenty minutes after the sun drops is when the city lights come up while the sky is still blue — the shot everyone pictures, and the one that needs you to still be standing there when most people have left.
Early morning is the other option, and it’s underrated. Clean light, open parking, and the terraces almost to yourselves. Winter brings the clearest air — that’s when the ocean is visible behind downtown — while summer haze can flatten the view entirely.
Where to Stand
Three completely different backdrops sit within a few hundred feet of each other:
- The south terrace – the LA basin, downtown towers, and on clear winter days the Pacific behind them.
- The east terrace – where the Hollywood Sign is. A longer lens compresses it against the hillside and it reads far larger than it does to the eye. Most couples don’t realize this angle exists.
- The front lawn – the building itself, with room to move. The most forgiving spot on the property and where most of the session happens.
- The Astronomers Monument – the obelisk out front. Good for something graphic and symmetrical.
- Charlie Turner Trailhead – just east of the main lot. Steps away from the crowds and it stops looking like a tourist landmark.
- Berlin Forest – a small grove up the road with a city view and almost nobody in it.
- Off limits for posed photos: the roof, the telescope dome, the Gottlieb Transit Corridor, the Sunset Terrace, and inside the building. See the rules below.
The Rules
Posed engagement and wedding photos are not allowed in several parts of the Observatory. Per their published guidelines, “staged” photographs may not take place inside the building, on the roof, in the telescope dome, in the Gottlieb Transit Corridor, or on the Sunset Terrace outside the café.
What you can do is more generous than it sounds. Personal photography is allowed inside and outside the building — and the Observatory explicitly counts a professional photographer working for an engaged couple as personal use. So a session on the front lawn and the main terrace needs no permit at all. The line is whether it reads as a production: blocking steps, walkways or roads will end it quickly.
Tripods exterior only and discreetly. No extra lighting, reflectors or unattached equipment. No drones anywhere in Griffith Park. No animals inside the building except service animals. Commercial photography always requires a City film permit and advance coordination with Observatory staff, under rules set by the Observatory, LA Recreation and Parks, and FilmLA.
🟢 Allowed
Front lawn
Main terrace
Tripod outside
Professional photographer for personal use
❌ Not Allowed
Inside the building
Roof
Telescope dome
Gottlieb Transit Corridor
Sunset Terrace
Drones
Extra lighting
Parking and the Walk
This is the part that decides how your session actually goes. Parking on Observatory Road is limited and fills early. On a busy afternoon you park below and walk up — and it is uphill, in the open, usually in the sun.
We’ve done that walk with a wagon — two camera bodies, lenses, a misting fan and a floral setup — because the lot was closed. It was fine. But it’s worth knowing that’s the version you might be signing up for, and planning what you bring accordingly.
If you want it easy: Weekday, early morning. Clean light, open parking, terraces to yourselves. If you want the city lights: accept the crowds — there’s no quiet version of sunset at Griffith. Either way, simple setups win here. A small bouquet and a champagne toast work; anything that requires assembly will most likely to go wrong.
Real Stories
Frequently Asked Questions
Not for personal photography. The Observatory counts a professional photographer working for a couple as personal use, so no permit is required for an engagement or proposal session on the grounds. Commercial photography — branded content, advertising, video work — does require a City film permit arranged in advance.
No. Staged engagement and wedding photographs aren’t permitted inside the building, on the roof, in the telescope dome, in the Gottlieb Transit Corridor, or on the Sunset Terrace outside the café. The front lawn and main terrace are fine.
The hour before sunset for warm light on the building, and the twenty minutes after for city lights against a blue sky. Weekday mornings are the quietest by a wide margin.
Yes. The building and grounds are free to enter; only the planetarium is ticketed. It’s closed Mondays.
Yes, to the northwest. A longer lens from the east terrace compresses it against the hillside and makes it read much larger than it appears in person.
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