5 Best Photo Opportunities in Vancouver

If you weren't breathing in the fresh sea air or the cool mountain air of Vancouver, you would think you were on a movie set. This is a city with everything: the beach, the sea, jagged mountain peaks, skyscrapers, beautiful suspension bridges and visiting cruise ships. With this kind of natural beauty, the only way to take a bad photograph is to forget to take the lens cap off. Here are some of the best photo opportunities Vancouver has to offer:

1. Romantic Spot: Helicopter Ride

Do you have 30 minutes to spare? And would you like to spend them soaring above scenic Vancouver in a helicopter? If so, then scrub up and grab your camera because this is the most romantic place to photograph the city. Take the tour early in your stay, as not only will you see the sites from the most dramatic perspective possible, it will help you get your bearings for the rest of the trip. Note that the more people who come along for the ride, the cheaper it will be. A ride can cost anywhere from $250 to $500. Expensive, yes, but think of the Vancouver travel photography on your wall!

Ejet Aviation, Inc
Ste 187, 505-8840n 210th St
Langley, BC, Canada V1M 2Y2 Canada
778-294-4354
http://www.ejet.ca/index.php?section_id=adventu&subitem_id=van_helitour
Rates vary

2. Quirky Spot: Vancouver Bridges

The subject of your quirky spot photograph is located outside of Vancouver, but is worth finding a bridge to capture it from afar. Snow-capped Mount Baker stands at 11,000 feet, and although it actually sits in Washington State, it is dominant enough to loom over downtown Vancouver on sunny days. Keep your wits about you for this shot, as it requires the crossing of one of Vancouver's expansive bridges and snapping as you hit the midway point. We recommend that you rent a bicycle for the journey, but you have to know what you're doing – both with the bike and the camera. Not crashing is paramount, but once you get the image, you'll be happy you risked life and limb to get there. Find a bridge, a bike and a sunny day for one of Vancouver's best photo ops. You will thank us later.

3. Fun Family Spot: Beaches

For a relatively big city, Vancouver has some accessible, fun and family-friendly beaches. For this photo, you will need to set your camera on a high speed because there will be plenty of action around you. Kayakers, windsurfers, volleyball players, joggers – everything you would expect on Southern California's Venice Beach, you will find here. Jericho Beach and Spanish Bank are among the best known for landscape photography. Wreck Beach is also well regarded, but welcomes nudity. Beware!

4. Scenic Spot: View from North Vancouver

The truth is, just about everywhere in Vancouver is scenic. One good way to capture the entire cityscape is to take the SeaBus across the Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver and simply turn around and face downtown. The trip takes 12 minutes and is especially impressive at night. Shoot both ways: to North Vancouver and then on the way back to the city. If you are lucky enough to be in town over a holiday, like Canada Day on July 1, you can also shoot the massive fireworks display from North Vancouver.

SeaBus
Waterfront terminal in downtown Vancouver and Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver http://tripplanning.translink.bc.ca/hiwire?.a=iScheduleLookupSearch&LineName=998&LineAbbr=998
Hours vary; departs every 15 minutes in the daytime, every 30 minutes in the evening
Prices vary

5. Classic Spot: Stanley Park

Stanley Park is to Vancouver what Central Park is to New York. It is the heart and soul and lungs of the city, and it has been since 1887. It is here that you can photograph people walking and biking along the seawall. You can shoot landmarks such as Prospect Point, totem poles, Hollow Tree and Beaver Lake, and capture the beauty of nature as it was hundreds of years ago. You can still find absolute silence here if you take the right trail and leave at the right time (early morning, not on weekends).
So tackle these photo opportunities Vancouver has to offer. Then hang the wonderful prints on your walls at home and remember your great photography adventure!