Hyperion Avenue Staircase

These stairs belong to the lovely home at 1063 Hyperion Avenue in Los Angeles, CA. They are just around the corner from LA's seen-and-be-seen hotspot, Sunset Junction. Grab an Intelligentsia flat white, pop into The Cheese Store of Silverlake to sample one of their 300 cheeses, and then begin your walk East on Sunset Blvd past La Colombe. You'll make a right at Hyperion Avenue. Stop at first house on the right hand side and look up. You made it!

You may be wondering why I didn't select spring months considering those bright pink bougainvilleas are in bloom. Well, dear reader, Los Angeles' most infamous foliage is almost ALWAYS in bloom! It certainly has a life cycle in which these bushes are brighter and full of more bloom, but it varies from plant to plant and is often unpredictable. While they absolutely add to the vibrancy of the photo, let's not forget that the real star here is the stairwell.

The stairwell is best viewed with early morning to mid-day sun. This home's positioned on a hill sloping northeast, so sunset light is blocked, however, if you notice that there are some clouds in the northern sky, a rare sight for blue skied Los Angeles — sunset could absolutely work since LA clouds love to change lovely colors of cotton candy pink.

The only thing you NEED to bring is a sense of childlike wonder. No one says you're required to document anything here. As long as you're willing to enjoy a local's artistic expression of themselves on the steps leading to their home you are good to go.

These stairs are private property. If you do want to capture a portrait I'd recommend standing on the street shooting towards the stairs as your backdrop as opposed to posing sitting or standing directly on them. It's entirely possible the homeowners wouldn't mind, but it's better to be respectful and seek out some of the public painted stairwells Silverlake has to offer if you absolutely must get a photo of someone actively using the stairs.

These stairs are absolutely not straight. There's no need to perfectly line and level everything since this home was built in 1920 on a hill in Earthquake Country, California. Just line up that beautiful fence and forget about the rest.

I liked seeing a bit of the home peeking out from the entryway, but if you position yourself much lower to the ground it's possible you could clean up that background with nothing but blue sky.

Sunset Junction is just around the corner, and the area east of there is up-and-coming! Take a stroll along Sunset Boulevard after you're done shooting and support some of the small and local businesses.