Just like I love playing favorites with places that I visit, I also love to keep scores for the best and most interesting shooting locations. I recommend you to look through these if you are a photographer in search of a new place to visit and shoot the scenery! And by the scenery, I mean beaches, mountains, the locals, cute cafes, epic events and such!
Whenever we traveled somewhere with my mom, we would always stay in a tent, or just our van (yes, a whole transformed van thing with 3 kids and a dog). As we visited these places, we would grade each one of them. Based on the location, how close to the beach we are, how clean/quiet it is, etc…
So here we have, in my opinion 5 most interesting and vibrant places to photograph (and have fun)!
BALI, INDONESIA
Haha, yes, I might be sounding like a broken record right now. I know that I’ve talked about Bali on and on throughout the last few years, but for a good reason!
Read about my Bali life:
Here is how I got many sleepless nights because of roosters in Bali
How I started a new chapter of my life, the first time I came to Bali
That is how my Bali office actually looks like
And Ubud living… Ah the peaceful, zen-full Ubud
The energy of this island is incredible. Very powerful, which is why the waves there are incredible as well. As for shooting, you can find yourself in many interesting scenarios, while exploring the island of Bali.
This one time my friends and I made a mission of trying to find out an abandoned hotel at the northern tip of the island. Nobody talked about the location, and only a few travel bloggers have written about it! We thought it was perfect! But unfortunately, the locals can be very protective with over Instagrammed locations, which is why all I am going to say is: I am very grateful we made it out alive!
About five minutes after seeing that incredible place, we heard voices and screams, the running footsteps. Someone was after us. We quickly panicked and hoped over the fence, put our helmets on and jumped on scooters. We tried to cover our faces and put sweaters on, so nobody would recognize us, later while exploring that village. It was freaky. You don’t want to get into any legal issues with the Indonesian government, that’s for sure. So be careful, and respectful!
Other than that day, I never had any problems with taking my photos. You’d want to be respectful at temples and wear a sarong over your pants. Pay attention to where you are allowed to take photos and where you aren’t!
Take my free course on tropical photography
Waterfalls, beaches, secret caves in Uluwatu… you name it!
Bali is full of surprises. My advice? Do not visit popular places that every single Bali Travel Instagram account posts about! Those places get thousands of visitors per day, and you won’t be enjoying taking that photo, trust me. Talk to the locals. Or rent a scooter and just drive around. Stop at the coconut stand or a bracelet lady on the beach.
Make it a mission of documenting the plastic filled beaches, share it over your social media and spread the word! Bali has been fighting the over-polluted ocean that is surrounding it for way too long. If you do visit this beautiful island, please be mindful about your use of plastics. Bring a bottle, say no to the straws and bags! Thank you.
Santa Cruz, Portugal
Ah, the visuals of Portugal are absolutely incredible! I love the moody afternoon colors on the beach, the colorful houses of that village and all the fruit around! Lemon trees, orange trees, surfers and skateboarders everywhere!
I have wrote about my trips to Portugal in this post.
And about natural light photography, when I was in Portugal.
I really loved Portugal. Not just like a fun place to shoot, but also the people are sweet and kind, food is cheap and overall I just love surfing and being in the water, can you blame me?
Klitmoller, Denmark
I had just visited Denmark about a month ago, with my friend Moritz. And trust me, if you like cold moody tones in your photos, and silhouette surfing shots, then this is a place for you! Prices can be, well, pricy. It’s the top of Europe and the northern you go, more expensive it can get.
“Cold Hawaii” is a unique spot. Very cold, I might add. I am sure it is more crowded in the summer, but when we went there in March, there wasn’t a single soul out there!
Read about my trip to Denmark here
BANFF, ALBERTA
Yes, another cliche. But it is a beautiful one I promise! I first visited Banff last summer, when my mom came to visit me in Canada. We had so much fun. Apart from the park ranges flying to us with a helicopter, telling us to put down the fire. And sleeping in a car. And fighting the mosquitos, and crowds of tourists…
Despite the amount of people, that visited the national park that summer, it is beautiful. There are so many photo opportunities, you just have to dig a little deeper. There is the classic like Lake Luise and Banff downtown with a mountain in the background. But visiting Moraine lake and doing the 3 lakes loop with the car was really cool! You just have to be creative.
PNW – PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Where I live. The last place is a place that took my heart. I am not inviting you here, so don’t get any crazy ideas. We get too many tourists every year anyway. But I would love to brag about it a bit! I am talking moody. I am talking about the rain forest. Mystical, secret. Dark, but interesting. Pretty rainy.
Read more about Squamish here.
No wonder why this became of the most visited Canadian destinations. Easy to see why photographers from all around the world love it so much. It is not just the scenario they are interested in. But the people. Incredible athletes, young entrepreneurs, ski bums in Whistler and hipsters in Vancouver. Our area has something special, nobody can deny that. Energy, where your flow just flows. You feel comfortable to be whoever you are and embrace creativity the place brings out in you. And that is a very powerful state for a photographer to be in.
I wrote an article for the local magazine, featuring some of the shots from Bali.
It is a place of promise, new opportunities.
And nature, surrounding us is just stunning. Waterfalls, glaciers that melt into a river over the summer and eventually pour into our lakes. I feel lucky, that’s all.
I created a preset pack, for the PNW tones. If you are interested in achieving that look, check it out here. It can be as simple as editing your picture with only one click! Very helpful for those who are just starting out the photographer’s journey.
And that’s all.
I had fun looking back to my favorite places I visited and I enjoy writing about them! I hope you will too while reading this article. What are your favorite locations to shoot? I am yet to make plans for where I will go when the rainy season hits Squamish, my home town. I would love to hear your recommendations.
Who knows? Maybe I will go somewhere different than Bali, this fall. Follow my daily adventures on my Instagram, and subscribe to this blog, to
More about Alenka
My name is Alenka and I’m a Squamish based photographer. I love shooting nature, sports, sports in nature… underwater shots, adventures in the mountains and days on snow! I’m stoked. Very simply put, I am a stoked girl, ready to get up at 2 in the morning and hike for a sunrise, ready to go to the airport and take a random flight… I’m stoked on living and I love what I do for work.
Photography, web design and digital marketing have been things I’m proud to call my job! Very flexible, lots of traveling and even more adventures than when I was a kid. Here, on my website I share tips on photography, spreading awareness about the zero-waste lifestyle and sustainabilty and crazy stories from my travels. Welcome.
Editing photos
Photography (free mini course)
This post contains affiliate links – click here to learn more!
2 Comments
Marcel Alders
You can really be proud of yourself for what you are doing and showing us.
Alenka Mali
Thanks Marcel