Is this a phony picture? (Los Angeles, Nice: home, living in, park)

[MIKEETC]

A legitimate photo.

The apparent close proximity of the mountains to Downtown LA is the result of a telephoto lens (as others have mentioned). That appears to be Mt. San Antonio in the background which is about 35-40 miles away from Downtown which I was able to roughly verify using Bing Maps using the 3-D application. The clarity is, in my estimation, a combination of good clear weather and some brightness/contrast adjustments using Photoshop or its equivalent.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The City Club (IIRC about the 50th floor) rents out to functions. Out the NE side's windows the view of the San Gabes was outstanding at a function I attended there. Try to find a view like that up here in the Bay Area, good luck - our tallest peak near the metro is 4200 feet, anything above 6K is 100 miles north and south, the Sierra are 150 miles away to the east.

[cooper4fun]

I think the first pic taken from a height looking down at an angle towards the buildings. the other two appear to be more straight on

[roosevelt]

I lived in Arcadia by Santa Anita Race Track in 1962. One day, after a heavy rain, a friend remarked about the beautiful mountain. I looked and there it was, Mt. Wilson clear as crystal. For an entire year I never even noticed it before because of the smog.

[irman]

The famous answer :
UCLA
---
---
The famous question :
What happens, when the smog in LA disappears ?

OTOH,
We used to live in the Camarillo area, west of the LA basin.
Many days after a rain or storm, we had enormous mountains behind us,
like they were right there, within walking distance ....
Then a few days later, they completely disappear ...

[Hollywood Inquirer]

this is stupid. LA's skyline in the secound picture is from a diffrent angle looking from the Hollywood Hills south not the same angle as the one with the san Gabriel Mts. looking from Baldwin hills to the east. The people on these damn forums as well all hate LA and say negative things all the time and LA's skyline has grown so those 2 and 3 pictures are super old. also LA's air isn't even like that only during fire season when that picture was taken. Normally the air is fine and blue.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

You can see that view. I have seen both the clear and the not so clear. Same effect in Ventura County as irman has said. The Topa Topa range is obscured from time to time, not from smog though, but from moisture in the air. We live in a humid area. Many times when I am flying the intensity of the air colors change as you gain altitude. You can litterally see a line on the windshield as you fly above the haze. Even in LA it isn't always smog, more than likely fog or moisture in the air that makes it hard to see the mountains.

[asielen]

Originally Posted by MetroBTR

You are correct. My bad.

But the fact remains, the picture is legit.

Actually if you look again you can see that the two bottom pictures are taken looking SE and the top one is taken looking NE. (Downtown LA angles) Top one is taken looking at downtown from like the 110/USC area/Figueroa. Bottom two are taken looking at downtown from the direction of Hollywood/MacCrthur park/Beverly Blvd.

Simply rotate around, the Aon building will still be on the right side. Its not just smog.

[AddieJane]

I love that you say these were all taken at the same angle. That is not true at all. Look at the Aon building (BTW, I worked there for 2 years. Hated it.) in the first picture. It looks as if it is right next to the round white building (can't remember the name). Then in the last two photos you can see that they are in fact much further apart. It would take a significant amount of time to drive from the location that the first photo was taken to the location that the second and third photos were taken.

Yes, that photo is real. I love the snowcapped mountains in the winter.

[Winston Smith]

It's Mount Baldy, no? The depth of field makes it appear dramatically close to downtown. Nevertheless, in winter on clear days, the mountain views around L.A. is absolutely spectacular. I remember exceptionally clear days in January, February when you could see Saddleback Mountain in south Orange County from Malibu! Awesome!