blue hour

An Evening at Kits Beach in Vancouver

Wide panorama from Vancouver’s Kits Beach including Stanley Park, Crown and Grouse Mountains (left) and Mount Seymour (right), and the West End downtown towers.

panorama of vancouver english bay and kitsilano buildings and city

Vancouver Coast & Mountains: View of English Bay and City of Vancouver (Purchase)

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   Last week I posted a photograph of the M.V. Fortune and Crown Mountain that I pointed out was just one portion of a much larger panorama shot from Kits Beach. Above you’ll find my finished panorama a view of the anchored M.V. Fortune, Crown/Grouse Mountains and Stanley Park, and the West End of Vancouver and its apartment and condo towers. The two taller buildings on the right of downtown Vancouver are the new Trump Tower and Living Shangri-La. I made this photograph standing just outside the boundary of Kits Beach Park along the seawall path on the west side of the Kitsilano Yacht Club. I think this photo really exemplifies the name “Vancouver Coast & Mountains” which is the tourism region Vancouver is located in.

panorama of vancouver english bay and kitsilano buildings and city

Panorama of Vancouver’s West End and Kitsilano (Purchase)

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   I made a number of panoramas from the Kits Beach area. The one above is similar to the first, but shot from the eastern side of the Kitsilano Yacht Club. I tried to focus on Mount Seymour and the downtown area and included the Kits Beach Boathouse Restaurant in this one. This panorama was made about 15 minutes after the first one so you see many more of the lights on in the city buildings which I prefer over the look of the first panorama.

vancouver condo towers and mount seymour blue hour from kits beach

Vancouver’s West End and and Mount Seymour (Purchase)

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   On this evening I was out to photograph the city with snowy mountains in the background, so I made some single exposures that focused on just these subjects. This photograph shows Mount Seymour and the towers in the West End. The tallest of the buildings in this photo is the Empire Landmark Hotel. In the foreground we have the lights of vehicle traffic on Beach Avenue and the sandy shore of Sunset Beach.

kits beach and the boathouse restaurant at sunset

Kitsilano Beach and the Boathouse Restaurant in the evening (Purchase)

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   This is the Boathouse Restaurant on Kits Beach photographed after sunset. I like the reflections on English Bay in this scene and the rare opportunity to photograph without a crowd on the beach.

For more Cityscapes of Vancouver take a look at my Cities and Buildings Gallery in my Image Library.

Harrison Hot Springs and the Mount Cheam Range

Late evening light on the Mount Cheam Range and the beachfront condominiums at Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada.

harrison hot springs beachfront condos with mount cheam in the background

Mount Cheam Range and the beachfront condominiums at Harrison Hot Springs (Purchase)

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This past week I drove out to Harrison Hot Springs area to photograph sunset light on Mount Cheam. I had a number of locations in mind, and did some hiking, but it turned out my favourite photo from the day was this one. Photographed from Harrison Lagoon, these are some beachfront condominiums with the Cheam Range behind. The peaks visible in this photo are (from left to right) Stewart, Baby Munday, Knight, Lady and Cheam Peaks. Mount Archibald is the peak on the far right, but is not part of the Cheam Range. I have photographed Mount Cheam many different times of the year, but I think winter is my favourite. Cheam just takes on a different personality in the winter when there is a lot of snow.

You can view more photographs from this area in my Fraser Valley Gallery.

Kalamalka Lake Evening Panorama

Panorama of Kalamalka, Vernon, and Coldstream in the evening from Vernon, British Columbia, Canada.

panorama of kalamalka lake, vernon, and coldstream in the evening from vernon british columbia canada

Kalamalka Lake Evening Panorama (Purchase)

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   After shooting some great sunset light near Vernon, British Columbia about a month ago I headed to this vantage point just off Hwy 97. The Monashee Mountains can be seen far in the distance behind the District of Coldstream. The houses and lights to the left are in Vernon, and the water in the foreground is of course, Kalamalka Lake.

For more photographs of this area visit my Thompson Okanagan Gallery.

Mount Cheam Panorama

Panorama of Mount Cheam in the evening from Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada.

panorama of mount cheam during blue your from agassiz british columbia canada

Panorama of Mount Cheam in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia (Purchase)

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This is a panorama of Mount Cheam, a familiar sight to anyone living or often traveling through the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. I made this photo by the banks of the Fraser River in Agassiz just after sunset in January. The time right after sunset is often referred to as “Blue hour” and you can see why. I often like to photograph buildings in downtown Vancouver at this time as you can still see the outlines of the buildings against the sky (unlike when the sky is darker). I find this is also a great time to photograph mountains – so it is worth hanging around after any potential sunset light or alpenglow has faded. Always wait until the light is completely gone!

Lights on the 5 Sails of Canada Place

Canada Place in Vancouver is now a trade and convention center, as well as a cruise ship port, but during Expo ’86 it was the Canadian Pavilion.

lights on the sails of canada place in vancouver, british columbia

Lights of Canada Place in Vancouver (Purchase)

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   I’ve always enjoyed the shape of the Canada Place building in downtown Vancouver. I remember it being one of the few distinctly shaped buildings in the 80’s (in addition to Harbour Center, Science World and BC Place). While Vancouver’s skyline has many new additions – Canada Place is still one of my favourites. Recently they replaced the covering on the 5 sails and projected images on them during the Olympics. Photographing them from Stanley Park I recently made this image of one of the various projected images currently on the sails. These change every few minutes or so – and sometimes this can cause some unwanted effects in a 30 second exposure! I was careful to make this image within just one variation in the lights. I like the various colour versions but this one is probably my favourite – the lights are relatively subtle.

   This is just one image from many I’ve recently added to my Vancouver Coast & Mountains Gallery.

Downtown Vancouver During Blue Hour

Downtown Vancouver at dusk from Stanley Park – including Canada Place (left) and the new Trade and Convention Center.

downtown vancouver at dusk panorama from stanley park

Downtown Vancouver Panorama photographed during Blue Hour (Purchase)

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   I have photographed downtown Vancouver from Stanley Park a few times in the past – with fair but not spectacular results. When my first DSLR was new I would try to photograph the skyline well after sunset. At that time of day there isn’t much contrast between the dark buildings and the sky, so these photographs did not turn out very well. I learned that if you photograph during “Blue Hour” there will be much better contrast between the dark buildings and the sky – with much better results! Blue Hour is the period of time between total darkness in the sky and sunrise or sunset. Just like the “Golden Hour” this may not actually last an hour. In Vancouver at this time of year I think the blue hour lasted about 20 minutes facing southeast though there was still good blue light facing west for about another 10 minutes after that.

   This Panorama, taken during the blue hour after sunset, shows a dark sky but you can still see the profile of all the buildings. Much better than a photo taken when the sky is really dark!

   FYI – if you ever photograph downtown from Stanley Park near the Nine O’Clock Gun is the location I made this photograph. I was still there at 9 o’clock… with a few others who had gathered to hear its blast. Well, this isn’t a cap gun, the shockwave was dramatic even though I was standing 50 feet away. There were some tourists and teenagers who were standing right next to the wire cage that houses the gun, and one passerby tried to get them to plug their ears or step away from the thing as it was almost 9. This sage advice was ignored and when the gun went off there was a lot of screaming and even some tears due to the noise. If you are out there photographing near 9 o’clock and the red flashing lights go off – plug your ears!