Over the past few months I've been taking photos of my favourite hotel/elevator lobbies in and around Vancouver. I've come across a ton of very beautiful and unique lobbies, and I decided to share them all in a blog post. All the photos were taken with an iPhone 6S and edited with a combination of VSCOcam, Snapseed, Lightroom, and Photoshop. Just a disclaimer, I wasn't commissioned to take any of these photos and I mainly took them for the fun of it. I haven't stayed at any of these hotels so I can't comment on their actual quality. This blog post is based purely off their aesthetics alone. Here are my favourite hotel lobbies in and around Vancouver (in no particular order).

Rosewood Hotel Georgia

The recently renovated Hotel Georgia lobby is absolutely beautiful - I love the dark and classy look. For 90 years old she doesn't look too bad!

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

Loved the look of this little lounge area in the main lobby of the Fairmont Vancouver. According to the Fairmont Vancouver the lobby "...was inspired by the romance of travel, celebrating the hotel's history as a luxury hotel along the Canadian Pacific railway." I think they definitely accomplished this. The suitcase table in the centre is a nice touch.

I love everything about the elevator lobby at the Hotel Vancouver from the beautiful wallpaper to the chandelier. The unique design of the chandelier cast these beautiful circular shadows on the ceiling.

Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver

La Grande Residence - The Sutton Place Hotels

I came across the Sutton Place Hotel after a Google search, and the European look of it peaked my interest and I knew I had to check it out. In person this lobby is even more beautiful, and it really does feel like you've been transported somewhere in Europe. I'm a huge fan of the epic chandelier and the overall choice of decor is really well done.

Four Seasons Vancouver

Love the decor in the main lobby of the Four Seasons Vancouver, it has a very interesting theme and all the colors really compliment one another. My favourite thing would have to be the unique design of the tables.

Fairmont Pacific Rim

The Fairmont Pacific Rim is an absolutely beautiful hotel inside and out. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a good shot of the main lobby as of yet, but the eleveator lobby is beautiful! It has a very sci-fi/futuristic look to it and feels as if you're in a spaceship. One thing that I like about this photo is how the wall at the end caught my reflection.

Pan Pacific Vancouver

I'm personally not a huge fan of the main lobby at the Pan Pacific and I've never been able to get a good photo of it. However, the elevator lobby is beautiful and has a very nice look to it. Love the red and yellow tones, and the lighting here is really well done as well.

The Hotel at River Rock

This is is one photo that I didn't plan on taking and unexpectedly came across this lobby while wandering around River Rock (I may or may not have been a bit drunk at the time haha). The decor and styling at the River Rock Hotel lobby is on point, and the designers and decorators did an incredible job with this space. I absolutely love the unique look of the chandeliers and I think the statue of the gazelle? is a nice touch.

Trump International Hotel

I had to include the Trump Tower. Say what you will about President Trump and his policies, but this is certainly a very beautiful hotel. I'm a huge fan of the marble tiles and especially love the red centerpiece which contrasts perfectly with the black.

Here's another shot of the main lounge area, the ambient lighting in this lounge was very well done and it was lit very nicely. One thing that surprised me about the Trump Tower was how the main lobby wasn't on the West Georgia side but instead the opposite side, I found this to be an interesting choice.

Living Shangri-La

Last but not least, we have the Shangri-La. At 660 feet, it's the tallest building in Vancouver. The beautiful lobby definitely doesn't disappoint, and I love the chic look of it. I'm a huge fan of the painting and the chandaliers are a very nice touch.

Here's another photo of the lobby from the opposite side which does a better job of showcasing the chandeliers.

Conclusion

And those are my favourite hotel lobbies in and around Vancouver. Each of these hotel lobbies have a very unique look to them and are different in their own way. I know I missed a few and will be updating this blog post with any new photos. Taking these photos over the past couple months really taught me how to take advantage of the camera in my iPhone, and while there's no comparison to a DSLR, taking these shots is a ton of fun. And you know what they say, the best camera is the one that you have with you.

Once again I wasn't hired by any of these hotels, never stayed at them, and only commenting on their aesthetic appeal. Let me know what you think of the photos and if I missed any hotel, let me know!

A few weeks ago I was approached by Guneet Bedi of Beauty Blend Artistry (a professional Hair Stylist and Makeup Artist) to take a few portraits after a makeup and hair session with a model. At first I was bit hesitant as I have absolutely zero experience taking photos of people and normally take photos of Architecture and Cityscapes which is completely different! I decided to give it a shot, and I think for my first ever portrait session the photos turned out quite nice! I was quite nervous during the shoot as I have no clue about how to pose people but luckily the model Azam Aylaa Nokhandan was an absolute pro and knew exactly how to pose!

The photoshoot started off inside, and for the lighting I decided to bounce a single speedlight off the ceiling which produced some nice and even lighting.

After staying indoors for a while, we decided to head outside to try and get a different look. Luckily it was very sunny that day and we were able to make do with natural light using just a reflector. Because we had spent so much time indoors, we didn't have too much time outside which was a shame as the outdoor photos turned out even better than the indoor shots!

After the photoshoot it was time to edit the photos which is always my favorite part and I was really looking forward to editing the photos. As previously mentioned, I normally take photos of Architecture and Cityscapes, so I wasn't too sure how to properly edit and retouch portraits. I have never been a fan of that Gaussian blur skin retouch which normally ends up looking very fake and because of this I learned how to edit using frequency separation. Frequency separation is an absolutely incredible way of editing that allows you to edit the skin texture and and color separately which makes skin retouching a very simple process and the end result is great!

Having professionally done hair and makeup and also working with a talented and beautiful model certainly made this whole process easier as well, and overall I am very happy with how the final photos turned out (especially for my first portrait photoshoot)! I can't say if I like taking portraits more than Architecture and Cityscapes, but it was a lot of fun and I hopefully look forward to taking more portraits in the future!

Let me know what you think of the photos!

The Best Hotel Lobbies in Vancouver