Vancouver – Architectural and Street Photography
Vancouver, British Columbia is a great city for both architectural and street photography. To be clear, for the purposes of this post, I’m referring to the part of the city described as “downtown”. This is because, unfortunately that is only area I was able to spend much time in during a recent visit. Judging from the little I saw of the other parts of Vancouver, I think there may be lots of photo ops there too.
I believe the is a common reason for architectural and street photography opportunities in the downtown area of Vancouver. Quite simply, the reason is people, lots of people. The downtown area is popular with lots of attractions. It is not overly large which makes it a very walkable area. Housing opportunities in the area seems to be limited to high-rise buildings. This, coupled with the business towers means lots of architectural photography possibilities. It also means a high-density population. As a result of all these factors you see a lot of people (and not just tourists) out walking to shops, restaurants, and work. This last part was a pleasant surprise for me. Houston certainly isn’t known for it’s crowded sidewalks.
The Architectural Photo Opportunities
I recently posted about Vancouver House which is a singularly spectacular building. But that’s not the only interesting architecture. I saw a number of great places that sadly, I didn’t get a chance to shoot. Hopefully, there will be another time. But here are a few I was able to shoot.
The Erickson, is an especially interesting residential building on the False Creek waterfront. The building’s undulating curves give it a sense of movement as if it was dancing. Now that’s not normally what you want in a building but in this case it has a pleasing effect. Most importantly, I doubt if that sense of movement carries over to when you actually in the building.
This cityscape is just small sampling of the potential architectural subjects available in Vancouver. There were so many interesting buildings to photograph. So many opportunities, so little time.
Science World is a landmark on the False Creek waterfront. Wish I could have been able to do a long exposure night shot to capture the reflection on the water.
The False Creek waterfront is a example of good urban planning. It incorporates parks and walking and cycling path with the residential area. As a result, this particular image is both and architectural shot and a street photography shot.
Street Photography
I earlier mentioned that I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people out walking in Vancouver. Given that, you might expect that I’d have lots of street shots. Sad to say, but I don’t. This was a vacation trip with my non-photographer wife, not a photography excursion. So I limited my photography accordingly.
The Steam Clock in Gastown is a popular attraction. I loved how everyone gathered around to watch it.
No trip to Vancouver is complete without a visit to Granville Island just south of downtown. Formerly a waterfront industrial area, it’s now a public market with food shops, restaurants, and artist boutiques. However, its former life hasn’t disappeared completely. The Granville Island Boat Yard is still there and well worth a visit.
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How do you manage your time when you have more opportunities than time to photograph them all? Please leave a comment in the comment box below.
