Calgary’s diverse art community is growing and thriving. It’s always so exciting to see a city invest in the arts and Calgary has done an amazing job recently, with some brilliant new artwork downtown (like the Wunderland Sculpture), the Peace Bridge and the new Calgary Library. Whether you are in love with them or not, there is something to appreciate in a city that is looking towards the future and growing an arts community to be proud of.
To celebrate this, we’re going to be building out a series of photography tours that you can take through the city to explore different parts of the city, and stretch your photography skills. Don’t forget that if you’re ever struggling with getting the photos you really want, you can always join our fantastic photography courses in Calgary and let us help you take your photography to the next level.
Our first tour is one that capitalizes on the beauty of the golden hour and the intrigue of night. With these five locations (many of which are stops on our Photography Classes!) you will be able to capture some truly spectacular images of Calgary and surrounds. Let us know what you think and don’t forget to share some of your photos!!
Your Golden Hour & Night Photography Tour in Calgary:
Location 1: Scottsman’s Hill
Start your fantastic photography tour at Scottsman’s Hill in the early evening, just as the sun is beginning to set. This is the beginning of the golden hour and remember that for the golden hour, you don’t really have a whole hour, it’s more like 15 minutes of the perfect light, so make sure that get there in time and wait it out.
The best access for Scottsman’s Hill is on Salisbury Avenue. From here you will get an amazing view of the city over the Stampede Grounds. Parking is on-street, so be sure to pay attention to the signs and always be respectful of the families in the neighbourhood.
Golden hour here is often the perfect setup for some beautiful sun stars. (Not sure how to take one of these? Our Digital II – Action & Composition Photography Course will help you out there).
Location 2: Nose Hill Park
Once you’ve finished at Scottsman’s Hill, head over to Nose Hill to capture the gorgeous evening light over the city. This is often best done with a zoom lens as it gives you a great chance to compress the details of the city and the mountains in the background. Time for a shameless plug here for our Digital I – Beginner Photography Course that will give you the chance to discover how each of your lenses works and how it compresses or distorts images to give you some really fun tools to play with!
The best entrance for city views in Nose Hill is the 14th Street Parking Lot – drive up to the top of the road, park, and then follow the path to the top of the hill. Don’t forget to also pay attention for other really fun photographic opportunities – like silhouettes, amazing flowers and colours, fireworks (at the right time of year!), and more!
Photo by LPC Alumni Pam 
Photo by LPC Alumni Brian
Location 3: Downtown – Wunderland
Now that you’ve had your fun looking AT downtown, it’s time to hop back in the car and HEAD downtown. Start off at the Wunderland Sculpture outside of the Bow Building. This location is fantastic for Night Photography and happens to be one of the stops on our Night Photography Course!
Here you can try for light trails and maybe even have some fun with light painting! There are so many great fun things to try so spend some time here and explore.
Photo by LPC Alumni Lysle 
Photo by LPC Alumni Robin
Location 4: Downtown – Peace Bridge
Next up on our stops downtown is the Peace Bridge. This bridge is certainly unique and provides some spectacular Night Photography fun!! Another stop on our photography classes, the Peace bridge has a very interesting shape and taken at different perspectives and with different lenses can produce some very fun results. It is just as much fun to visit in the day time too!
Location 5: Forgetmenot Pond, Kananaskis
Now we’re really mixing things up!! For our final stop on our first tour of Calgary, we can’t help but mention one of our favourite Astrophotography locations (and in fact, this is where we run our Astrophotography Course in the summer!) – Forgetmenot Pond in Kananaskis.
This incredible location is about an hour and a half drive from Calgary, and the road out is very well populated by wildlife. Please drive carefully and note that there is no cell phone reception at the pond. Come prepared with bear spray, a very good flashlight and warm clothing (at any time of the year). Also double check when the road is open for access as it does close during the winter months.
Once you get there though – have fun!! This is an incredible location for Astrophotography – well away from the light pollution of Calgary and surrounded by spectacular mountains and lakes. Bring your tripod and wide angle lens and have some fun under the stars.
Thanks for reading the first of our photography tours in Calgary! Don’t forget to check out our amazing Photography Courses as well – there is always more to learn and we can help you take your photography to the next level!
We’re always looking for inspiration for our next photography tour so if you have a favourite photography stop in or around Calgary please let us know!!
Stay tuned for more and until next time – have fun!