This is one of Los Angeles’ world-famous viewpoints: the Park Row bridge over the Arroyo Seco Parkway, otherwise known as the CA-110. It’s one of the coolest views of the LA skyline, and an unbelievably popular long exposure spot, with at least three photographers a night shooting there. I’ve been going there for years, but Magnus Walker’s legendary (to me) confidence in simply stopping places he shouldn’t stop and taking pictures of his cool cars inspired me to finally snap a shot here.
- Car: 2010 Volkswagen GTI “Six Iron”
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Photog: Chris Rosales (IG + Twit @Chrishasacamera)
- Camera: iPhone 11 Pro Max
LA is a fickle city to shoot in, because the cops reserve the right to harass you for a filming permit any time you’re holding a camera. You can plead with them that you’re shooting personal, but whenever a car is involved and especially when a tripod is involved, they refuse to believe it’s anything but commercial and will ticket you on the spot. So the guerilla-style of quick shots, only hanging around for a total of one minute, and leaving, is the safest way to get good snaps in LA.
For another time, I have a story about the time a friend and I almost had my 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec.B and his 2002 WRX towed under suspicion of shooting commercially, and “parking in the median” on another famous photo spot; lower Grand Avenue. But for now, some quick facts about the Arroyo Seco parkway.
This is the very first freeway built in the United States. Not California, not the west coast, but the entire country. I love driving on this section of the freeway, the way the mountains give way to the city skyline, and the gorgeous old Art Deco tunnels that were an unnecessary but welcome flourish to the road that defined the rest of America. The lessons learned from the Arroyo Seco helped transition into the modern interstate superhighway we know now.
As big as we could get it:
