Madison + Charlie: Sunrise Engagement Photos at the Historic Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory is one of my favorite Los Angeles destinations for clean, classic, historical, and iconic engagement photos. It is arguably one of the most well noticed historical landmarks of Los Angeles. Located in Griffith Park close to the Hollywood Hill displaying the well known and noticed white lettered “Hollywood Sign”, Griffith Observatory is an observatory that has been open for nearly a century, since 1935! Due to its date of construction, the observatory has many art deco influences to its architecture and decor elements. To the cinema lover, it is most recently noticeable from its on screen inclusion of La La Land.

I have shot at Griffith Observatory for other engagement shoots a few other times. Every time, the sunrise paints the sky a little differently! Two other incredible Griffith Observatory engagement photos shoots captured Katie and Kyle before their summer 2023 wedding in Nashville, TN, as well as Kelli and Lorenzo before their fall 2022 wedding at Duke’s Malibu. For this special engagement shoot, I was capturing Madison and Charlie before their winter wedding at the O’Donnell House in Palm Springs of 2023!

Madison on Charlie got the witness one of the more pink sunrises I have ever seen while waking up at Griffith Observatory. Similarly to the sentiment behind Sarin and Tavit’s Vogue inspired engagement shoot, Madison and Charlie are not necessarily local to Los Angeles and thought it would be extra special to capture their engagement photos at a location that was significant to this time period of their life. Knowing they may not always be in Southern California, but that this is where they got engaged and are starting their married life together, the two of them wanted to capture their enagement photos at Griffith’s since it truly is a statement Los Angeles Historical Monument.