So after a two-year hiatus,  I felt like it was about time for a visit, so I peeled myself off the couch and my eyes from the computer screen, and headed back to the buzz. It was Saturday and Robson was in full swing: jam packed with slow-moving tourists, giggly teenage girls taking Facebook pictures of themselves and muscled meat heads honking at skimpily dressed 20-somethings from their gas-guzzling SUVs.

The first place that caught my eye was The Candy Aisle. This brightly coloured sugar palace is childishly fun. I explored the shelves and shelves of gummy animal-shaped treats and those red ones shaped like lips and big feet. Yum. It really takes you back to your childhood, then reminds you of that trip to the dentist when they took that little screaming drill to your back molars… Ick. It was worth it? Right? Maybe not, but at least now you are a grown up now and can set alarms on your iPhone to remind you to brush your teeth.

Bang-On

Next, I trekked over to the massive disaster that is Granville Street. What a mess! It’s a minefield of rubble, wires, cement and construction debris. Next time I’ll wear boots and not flip flops. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Bang-On, an eclectic, retro, custom T-shirt shop packed to the rafters with funky tees, accessories and the friendliest store employees around. You can spend hours perusing Bang-On’s collection of rockin’ retro prints and picking the perfect tee to complement the print. There are also fabulous sunglasses, belts, caps and a very nerdy collection of vintage electronics. I may have swooned when I spotted a Commodore 64 in the middle of the store.

El Kartel

A few blocks down from Bang-On I found another cool clothing store, El Kartel. This hot spot isw definitely funky, perhaps a bit too funky for me and my wallet, but their 50 per cent-off sale rack had a few pieces I could manage, though maybe not the small, gold, sequined halter top I tried to squeeze myself into. Luckily, there was a DJ spinning hip hop beats, so no one heard my profanities when the zipper jammed and  I got stuck in said small, gold, sequined halter top.

Cupcakes

After wrestling with possessed halter tops, I was feeling bit peckish. My hunger radar lead me directly to the new Cupcakes shop on Robson and Thurlow. If you haven’t tried these delicious $3 bites of heaven yet, you haven’t lived! Diet Smiet, these are worth a few extra bulges in your bikini bottoms. Just suck it in, no one will know

I was almost done savouring my last bite of  the pink and sprinkled “Sweet 16″ cupcake, when I ran into a mob of Japanese exchange students taking pictures of their new monkey balloon hats. In front of me was a very happy Balloon Man (Robson and Bute), blowing up a dozen heart-shaped balloons and counting the stack of $20s in his hands. I’m not sure if he’s there every day, but if you see a large, slightly smug, balloon Elmo, poking his head above the crowd, you’ll you’ve struck gold.

Balloon Man

Candy, cupcakes, funky tees, DJs and balloon animals? Maybe Robson isn’t so bad… I’ll definitely come back for a gander and some sugary snacks this summer!

Everyone who visits Vancouver wants to take spectacular travel photos to share with friends and family, but more often than not they are disappointed with the shots they take. They return home with unoriginal snapshots of the same tourist attractions and famous landmarks, all taken from the side of the road or out of the window of a tour bus. They lament over the fact they weren’t able to capture the vibrancy of the city and conclude, “I should have just bought a post card.”

I say, “Don’t buy that postcard!” Well, buy one to post Granny a holiday memento, but I guarantee that you can take a more interesting and memorable travel photo than any postcard! I’ve scoped out five spectacular locations in Vancouver for the best photographic opportunities – and included links to them on Google Maps so you can find them lickity split!

1. Best Spot for People Shots: Kitsilano Beach

Cool Dude on a bike taken on Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver, B.C.

Kitsilano Beach is Vancouver’s South Beach. In the summertime, where , you’ll see a parade of scantily clad beach bunnies sunning themselves while their slicked-up jock boyfriends spike volleyballs between strong sips of micro-brewed beer. Competing for the girls’ attention are Indie rock boy wannabes strumming sweet nothings on their beater guitars while their Maple Leaf hotdogs pop and sizzle on make-shift BBQs.

From time to time, you may spot visiting celebrities, like Jessica Alba, wearing excessively large sunglasses and walking their tiny dogs. This is the best spot for grabbing interesting and fun people shots. It’s also very entertaining to watch, as you might imagine.

2. Best Spot for Sunset Shots: Jericho Beach

Sunset overlooking Jericho Beach Yacht Club, Vancouver, B.C.

If you are looking for a quieter spot try Jericho Beach, a spectacular, soft, sandy beach with views of downtown and the North Shore mountains. Head down to Jericho to grab that perfect sunset shot of the Vancouver skyline or the sun streaming over the snowcapped Coast Mountains with silhouetted sailboats in the distance. You may even see a blue heron, playful seal or otter out in the harbour, so remember to bring your zoom lens!

Also, make sure to check out the park. There is a beautiful pond with tall grass where you can find a bevy of avian friends, frogs and turtles.

The breathtaking view of Jericho Beach Yacht Club in the above photo was taken from Pioneer Park, a five-minute walk from the beach.

3. Best Spot for Canada Goose Shots: Granville Island

Two goslings bask in magic-hour light on Granville Island, Vancouver, B.C.

A photographic visit to Vancouver would not be complete without a Canadian goose shot. And Vancouver’s Granville Island is one of the best places to get up close and personal with our proud and sometimes a little hissy Canadian birds. Behind the Kids Market is a beautiful pond, where the geese are quite tame and will allow you to get quite close to them to take pictures. Just be forewarned, if one lunges a beak in your direction, book it, because those geese will bite! In May and early June, you may be lucky enough to spot some baby goslings on the island.

4. Best Spot for Flower and Foliage Shots: Queen Elizabeth Park

Abstract of leaf with raindrops, Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, B.C.

No matter what time of year you visit, Queen Elizabeth Park’s public gardens are spectacular for capturing flower and foliage pictures. I am not an experienced botanist, so I can’t list all the different sub-species of Pteridophyta you may find in the park. However, I can tell you that you will find beautiful colours, textures and a diverse range of plant life to photograph, especially if you are interested in macro photography.

5. Best Spot for Marine Life Shots: Vancouver Aquarium

Tank o’ Jelly Fish, Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver, B.C.

Amid the towering trees of Stanley Park, you will find a true photographic gem, the Vancouver Aquarium. Even young shutterbugs will find plenty of great fish, dolphins, seals and beluga whales to photograph here. Spend hours getting creative with shots of jelly fish or head outside to capture shots of playful otters and sea lions. It’s a bit tricky shooting through glass, so remember to not use your flash and try to minimize glare using a circular polarizing filter.

Whether you are visiting Vancouver for the first time or have lived in the city all your life, I encourage you to get out your camera and start exploring these stunning locations. You never know what spectacular shot you will take in the process!

Being chosen as one of these elite few can mean a huge increase in your photo’s views and the number of comments and favourites you receive. Land on the front page of Explore, Flickr’s home page, and magical things happen, all of which having to do with increasing your ego, none of which actually leads to earning money as a photographer. But who cares, when you are royalty on Flickr for a day.

I’ll admit to feeling proud like a peacock when my mum first spotted my photo on the Explore home page. Within minutes, the comments and praise flooded in from the Flickratic. I began to pump out more quality shots and I continued getting Explored. I felt like my photography was finally reaching people. It was a great feeling, like a really perfect high-five or winning cookies. It also pushed me to try new techniques and really perfect my images before putting them up on Flickr.

A lot of people have asked me if there is any secret to getting Explored. The most obvious thing is take a great photo. But, beyond a great shot, there seems to be a definite pattern in which photos get Explored. After all, photography is art and the personal taste of the Flickr admins does impact the photos that are chosen. Using my keen intellect and the power of the internet, I have compiled a list of power tips on how to get your photos Explored and because I’ve been a lazy, good-for-nuthin’ blogger as of late, I’m going to share these with you.

Here are my top secret tips for getting your photos Explored on Flickr:

1. Mo’ Bokeh

Bokeh of street lights created with a LensBaby and the star shaped Creative Aperture disk.

By far the most popular type of bokeh photos on Flickr is that derived from taking out of focus pictures of small clusters lights, like on a Christmas tree. If you haven’t heard, the phrase Bokeh, “a photographic term referring to the appearance of point of light sources in an out-of-focus area of an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field”, then you probably haven’t been on Flickr for very long – because people are nuts about bokeh. Those little out-of-focus orbs of goodness can give a photo a magical, almost surreal quality. And the hip Flickratti are pumping it out faster than you can say, “Ashton killed twitter”. I mean… ahem. What?

How to get this shot:

Crossing your eyes is the easiest way to find cool bokeh. Snicker as you may, but seriously try it the next time you are out at night on a street with street lamps, stop lights, restaurant twinkle lights. Practice this technique in moderation and definitely not in combination with making a funny face because that would seem unprofessional and may weird people out.

Once you’ve found a cool bokeh source like a row of street lights, set your camera’s aperture wide open (>f/3.0) or >f/3.0, >f/5.6 if it’s a telephoto focal length (ie. 200mm at f/5.6) and set your lens to manual. Now pull it almost completely out-of-focus until you see nice fuzzy bits. That the good stuff. Now snap!

Shaped bokeh i.e., stars, hearts, is also really hot right now and companies like LensBaby are making it really easy to do with inexpensive Creative Aperture Kits. If you can’t afford a LensBaby ($100-$270), you can even make your own bokeh shaper lens hood with some black paperboard.

2. Lens Flare

Lens Flare of sunlight streaming through Brisbane Eye Ferris Wheel.

I love lens flare, Michael Bay loves lens flare & so does Flickr. Go ahead. Break all the rules and point your camera at the sun. Within reason of course. Like don’t burn your eyes out or anything. Aim to head out during magic hour (1 hour before sunset) when the sun is low and golden and play with different angles of flares. Also, make sure you’ve got a UV filter so you aren’t damaging your camera’s lens.

3. Hot Chicks

Hot Chick & Musician, Kylee Epp. See behind the scenes shots here.

Like most people, Flickr love pictures of hot chicks. Pretty much any photograph looks better with a hot chick in it. Think about it. A nice still life shot of a bowl of fruit? Boring! A nice still life shot of a bowl of fruit with a hot chick holding a banana? Shizzam! A breathtaking image of a white sand beach? Meh. A breathtaking chick in bikini on a white sand beach? Explored!

It probably won’t surprise you that one of the most commonly explored content is pictures of hot chicks.

More often than not, they are beautiful young photographer/models AKA “modelographers” who have taken their exploration of narcissism to the next level with daily self-portraits called Flickr 365. They are blessed with looks, talent, and a passion for photography, and they are the new power elite on Flickr.

I have to give these young modelographers credit, because they produce near professional quality fashion-esque images of themselves nearly everyday and they are not afraid to try new and creative methods to light, take, and process their images, including film, toy cameras (lomo), strobe. Their photos are edgy, trendy, painful, naked, and oh so indie. They will often get a friend to do makeup or approach young designers whose clothes they or their other young hot chick friends can model. I am constantly amazed and bemused by the sheer number of beautiful images they create and the community wide adoration and respect they receive on Flickr.

How to get this shot:

If you happen to be a young hot chick with a camera, perfect your photography skills by snapping photos of your self and your friends, because the world has never been more open to the idea of a 16-year-old female fashion photographer.

If not, then take a lesson from these young photographers, go out and find someone to model for you, someone hot that looks like they could be in a fashion magazine and all of a sudden your photos go from 2 views to 2, 000 views. Need some tips on finding models I have a post on that

4. Cute animals

Lovely Koala taken at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in QLD, Australia.

If you can’t get a hot chick, a cute animal is your next best bet. Everyone loves a cute animal, especially when it’s displaying seemly human characteristics. Ooh, that’s one angry squirrel! Aww look at those fuzzy ducklings. Ooh, a rare hummingbird!

How to get this shot:

Find cute animals. Pets are a good place to start. Zoos are great. Check your backyard, or the park. Go out and find cuteness. I suggest you take shots of animals at eye-level. Take different angles, use different lenses, get creative with these shots. Take a shot of your pooch’s nose close up with a wide angle. That always looks funny. Flickr loves animals in action, animals with personality, and whimsical cat/dog photos.

5. Soft Flower & Plant life Macros

Leaf found in Queen Elizabeth Park on a damp Vancouver afternoon.

Flickr loves soft flower & other plant life macros like leaves and stuff. It’s as simple as that.

How to get this shot:

Find some blossom, blooms, pedals, leaves or flowery things. I am quite the botanist, can’t you tell? Choose an interesting angle, probably one where you are lying in mud. Bring a water sprayer and lightly mist the flowers do they are all dewy. Open your aperture up to f/3.5 and lower so you get some nice background bokeh and you are money.

6. Photos with interesting and tragically bohemian titles

I call this, “Oh love you have bewildered me with your absence”.

You won’t just get explored simply for a title. But, it definitely takes the artistic merit of your shot up an notch and will increase your chances of getting noticed. Even if you are not exploding with photo titling talent, anything is better than IMG_9807. Here are some tragically bohemian titles to get you started:

• Simple
• *broken flight*
• insomnia
• humble
• where’s my freedom?
• love is a trap
• my peace is gone, my heart is heavy

Ahh, I poke fun, but you get the idea. The point is, there are types of photos that are more likely to be Explored than others, but there is no easy way in. You have to take great shots. And to take a great shot, you have to be out in the world taking shots. Take risks. If you always go on a photo walk to the beach at sunset, go in the opposite direction and take some urban landscapes. If you always snap pictures of your cat Mookie, turn the camera on yourself and do some self-portraits. Keep your work fresh and keep posting your best shots on Flickr and one of these days maybe it will be your shot on the front page of Explore!

Got any tips and tricks or great photos you’ve taken that you’d like to share? Add them in the comments!