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!

A few days before Christmas I was tromping around downtown Vancouver, searching for some last-minute gifts. It was snowing heavily and the city was ablaze with an assortment of festive lights. I bought some presents and then took out my camera and started snapping. Everything looked new to me, partly because of the crazy weather, but also because I had not been downtown at night in awhile. That snowy evening I became a tourist in my own city, which was an odd but invigorating sensation. The photos I took revealed a different Vancouver than the one I was accustomed to seeing. For example, the image on the left is of the Sheraton Wall Centre, part of a complex of three skyscrapers in the city centre. On its side there is a reflection of One Wall Centre, another tower with black glazing that Vancouver’s City Planning Department initially opposed because of a concern that it would dominate the downtown skyline. After considerable squabbling, the city planners agreed to a compromise, allowing dark glazing to be installed on the lower half of the tower, with a lighter shade used on the upper half. But when I took this photo there was no lightness to the scene at all. It looked menacing and mysterious and very much like it belonged in Gotham City. The only thing missing was Batman.

As you can plainly see, it was 7:55 when I snapped this shot of the art-deco clock that sits atop the Vancouver Block at 736 Granville Street. As I was aiming my camera, a guy walking past said to his friend, “You know more tourists take photos of that clock than anything else in the city.” I don’t know if that’s true, but it prompted me to try to find some information about this neon landmark. Evidently, the clock dates back to 1911 and was designed by J.E. Parr and Thomas Fee, who were the most prolific Vancouver architects of the pre-World War I boom. The duo also built the Manhattan Apartments on Thurlow at Robson (1907), and the first reinforced concrete structure in Vancouver, the Europe Hotel (1908). Their patron was W. Lamont Tait, a lumber wholesaler, for whom Parr & Fee did one of the first mansions in Shaughnessy Heights, “Glen Brae” (1911), which is now the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

Another of the CPR’s legendary railway hotels, the present-day Hotel Vancouver, which was built in 1939, is actually the third Hotel Vancouver. The second version, constructed in 1916, was designed in a grand Italianate revival style, and was considered one of the great hotels of the British Empire. It had several ballrooms and lounges, as well as an adjacent opera house and all the bathrooms were fitted with marble sinks and gold-plate faucetry. Until the opening of the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre in the 1970s, the offices and broadcast studios of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Vancouver bureau were on the hotel’s mezzanine floor, overlooking the corner of Hornby and Georgia. A large art-deco sound stage used for radio theatre and musical broadcasts was located on the ground floor. The preposterous 1975 thriller Russian Roulette, starring George Segal, which features a plot to assassinate Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin, staged its climactic gunfight on the hotel’s famous green rooftop, which looked like a castle battlement on the night I took this shot.

There are several huge construction projects taking place in Vancouver right now. One of the more prominent is a $400 million redevelopment of the old Hotel Georgia. The 1927 heritage hotel is being completely renovated and will re-emerge as a Valencia Group property, a U.S. hotelier known for its exclusive boutique properties. The new hotel will actually have fewer rooms than the Georgia, down from 313 to 170. There is also a 48-storey tower being constructed next door that will feature 155 condominiums called “The Private Residences,” which sounds anonymous and pretentious at the same time. An image of the design is draped over the site. I took a shot of it with this futuristic-looking light in the foreground that was shining a beam on the north wall of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Although this is definitely a city shot, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would place it in Vancouver.

The image being projected onto the facade of the Vancouver Art Gallery by the powerful beam of light in the previous picture was part of an installation entitled “The House of the Ghosts” by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Marianne Nicolson. The show has ended now, but while it was still running the projected image of a Big House was continuously shining on the facade, although it was only visible after sunset. That reflected the traditional Kwakwaka’wakw belief that the world of ghosts, although continuously present, is only accessible to humans at night. Though extremely modern in its medium, the techniques and subject matter used in “The House of the Ghosts” are based in the traditions of Pacific Northwest First Nations’ art. Nicolson’s creation includes stylized killer whales, wolves, owls and a ghost puppet, all believed to heal the sick and revive the dead. Also included is the Sisiutl, a double-headed serpent with a human face at its centre, which appears as the crossbeam of the Gallery’s facade, reinforcing a sense of balance.

Plodding south on Burrard Street through driving snow, I came across St. Paul’s Hospital’s “Lights of Hope” display. The goal of the annual show is to raise funds for equipment, research and patient care, and it’s been quite successful. More than nine million dollars have been donated since St. Paul’s started lighting up the sky in 1998. This December, the exuberant display inspired a man who was walking past to start singing Christmas carols. That in turn caused another man, who was clearly overflowing with the holiday spirit, to punch the singer in the head three times. I witnessed no head punching when I was there, but the lights of St. Paul spoke to me as well. In this shot they look more like a painting than a photo and, like most everything else that night, completely surreal.

Photo Credits:

#1,2,3,4,5,6: Kerry Banks

In my case, the sense of discovery has been enhanced by the fact that we recently acquired a new puppy. Her name is Lulu and she is 12 weeks old and full of vim. She’s a Sheltie, like our other dog, two-year old Jack. We initially had some concerns that the pair would not get along, but Jack has managed to control his jealousy and seems grateful for a new playmate. Lulu’s first winter has exploded with a bang and it’s a hoot watching her and Jack frolic in the drifts. I have been snapping a lot of photos of the dogs and I think that their chaotic antics have opened my eyes to some experimentation with my lens. I’ve started seeing new possibilities. A few days ago, my teenage daughter and I took the two canines down to the local forest. It was Lulu’s first venture into the woods and her first time off leash. The dogs eventually wore us out, but not before we did some bonding and filled our eyes with some spectacular natural wonders.

I was born in Toronto, so this snowfall is not a complete shock. When I was a kid I can remember the snow reaching as high as the top of our front porch. We used to build snow forts on the front lawn, which quickly turned to solid ice. One year I got stuck in the entranceway of my igloo and my mother had to rush next door to get our neighbour to haul me out. I can still remember the feel of the ice penetrating through my clothing as I lay there wedged in tight. It was not a pleasant experience.

Even though I hear some Vancouverites griping about the cold, I know that they if they think this is cold, then they must have a limited experience of Canadian winter. In Toronto, you often had to contend not only with subzero temperatures, but also a biting wind full of ice granules that would rip your face to pieces. The freeze came in late November, signalling it was time to prepare the backyard hockey rink, which my father stoically prepared each year by running the hose over the lawn for nights on end. He was dedicated to the task. I can remember looking at him out there through my bedroom window, stamping his boots with water dripping from his reddened nose. When we skated on the rink we always stayed out too long and invariably froze our feet. I would come inside and stand on the kitchen vent and wait for the circulation to begin again. It came back slowly and when it did it felt like someone was jabbing needles into your skin. 

I also lived for a time in Edmonton where you had to plug your car engine into a heater at night so that it didn’t freeze solid, and where the sun went down every day before 4:00 p.m. During my one winter in Alberta I had the misfortune of working in a factory outside of town that had no heating. The place resembled an airplane hangar with open doors at each end of the building. As a concession to the shivering workers, management hung a few space heaters from the ceiling, which were next to useless as a source of warmth unless you happened to be standing directly under one. Myself and a buddy were constructing roof tresses for prefabricated houses and our work station was located next to one of the open doors. We reported to work each morning wearing hooded parkas and longjohns. We wore gloves too, but we had to take them off to perform our job, which involved stapling segments of wood together with a nail gun. You can imagine how it felt to pick up that frigid piece of metal first thing in the morning.

 So, no, I am not finding it cold here. 

As I gaze out my office window today I see that it is still snowing. The flakes are the size of sugar plums. I am sure that walking home will prove to be an adventure. Let it snow.

Photo Credits:

#1,2,3,4: Kerry Banks