Ocean Ave & Colorado Ave Intersection Look Down

This look down view is of the Ocean Avenue & Colorado Avenue intersection. It's located directly in front of the road that leads down to the pier with a giant sign that says Santa Monica on it. If you're looking at the pier, there is a small park area located on the right side of the intersection that has benches and landscaping. This is a safe spot to fly your drone from and you'll still have a line of sight with the crosswalk. It's easiest to park in the nearby public garage, accessible directly off of Colorado Ave. The first 90 minutes are free, so you should have plenty of time to get out of there without having to pay. Be careful on going over 90 minutes because the fee adds up very quickly.

You can capture great views of the intersection's crosswalk all months of the year, although the colder winter months in LA often mean heavy overcast in the morning, which will be best for minimal shadows on the intersection.

Santa Monica is a very busy tourist destination, so there are a lot of people in the area as the day gets going. Less crowds will be present in the early morning, so your best bet for having the crosswalk empty is to catch it then. There will still be morning traffic from vehicles who use these streets, but it's more busy midday with the combination of pedestrians and traffic. The morning time also provides a greater chance of an overcast sky, which will reduce shadow issues on your aerial shot. The surrounding area has buildings, street lights, lamps, signs, telephone wires, etc. that can cast unwanted shadows onto the street. To capture a clean pattern of the black and white stripes, I recommend shooting when the sun is not harsh. You may have luck during midday when shadows fall with less direction.

Follow local drone regulations and permit requirements if flying a drone.

This is a very busy public street intersection and traffic is often going in all directions with both pedestrians, scooters, bicyclists and vehicles. Be careful.

You will have a short window before the lights turn green that provides the perfect chance to capture a clean shot.

Try to perfect your composition before having the subject get into the shot. If you both see the frame, it will be easier to understand where to place the subject within it. It can be confusing to grasp where you are at in the pattern when you are riding.

Communicate with your subject in the crosswalk. Walkie talkies could be handy here, but we relied on just doing several passes with conversations in between in order to troubleshoot and/or improve the shot.

Position the drone so that it is not too low to the ground (too close and you won't see the pattern), but not too high where you're seeing the surrounding areas that are not going to be part of the final crop.

The subject will pop more from the composition if you're on a white stripe versus a black stripe. Using a color, like the red bike, that pops from the black and white is a smart move! It really helps the eyes understand what they're seeing.

As always, I think the quicker you can get the shot and land your drone, the better!

Explore the beach, eat at one of the many delicious restaurants in the nearby area or shop at the Santa Monica Promenade stores.

Walk along the pier for amazing ocean views and, if you're feeling adventurous, ride on the rollercoaster or ferris wheel. You don't want to miss out on the view from underneath the Santa Monica pier, too!