Five years ago, I moved to Denver from the desert to explore the mountains and foothills. However, I quickly fell in love with the city, its people, and the many festivals and events going on each year. Because of this, I’ve slowly transitioned from a landscape photographer to a street photographer in order to show the beauty of Denver. Let’s go over the best Denver photo spots for your next trip to the city.
Denver has some great weather with mostly mild temperatures and blue skies. It averages around 300 days of sunshine a year and only 15 inches of annual precipitation. This is why Denver has many outdoor festivals and markets throughout the year. It’s known for the 16th Street Mall, which attracts many tourists and locals. If you’re a street photographer like me, it’s a go-to spot to catch people mingling. However, there’s many other neighborhoods and Denver photo spots worth exploring just outside of downtown.
Confluence and Commons Park
This urban park is only a few blocks from downtown Denver.. It features the South Platte River where you’ll find kayakers and people hanging out around the water. There’s also a second park called Commons Park that’s connected to it by a bike trail and walking path. This park has more lawn area with a giant hill overlooking the skyline of Denver — just follow the bike trail under the bridge of 20th Street. During the winter, you’ll find families sledding on the hill at Commons Park. In the summertime, I’ll photograph the people floating on the river at Confluence Park and then walk over to Commons Park to capture people playing volleyball or sitting in the grass with their dogs.
Santa Fe Arts District
If you drive ten minutes south of Downtown you’ll find an area filled with art galleries, murals, and restaurants. This arts district has gallery walks every first Friday of the month when the weather is decent. Any time of year is a good time to shoot the decor and architecture along with the street art. The walks are filled with food trucks, galleries within galleries, live music, and street performers. The district runs a few blocks from 6th to 9th Avenue. The best time for shooting the colorful walls of the buildings are around 5-6pm in the summer and 2-3pm during the winter for the best light.
City Park
City Park has a beautiful lake to walk around. Although, if you go up the hill behind the Science Museum, you’ll discover a couple of giant dinosaurs next to the parking lot. When the sun is low, you’ll get these long shadows that reflect the dinosaurs onto a wall. It’s a fun place to shoot silhouettes to get some abstract photos.
The other spot worth mentioning is the view of the city at the top of the hill that’s right next to the giant dinosaurs. On a clear day, with an 85mm and above, you can capture the skyline with the mountains from behind. It’s also a great place to photograph fireworks on the 4th of July.
Washington Park
This is my favorite scenic area in Denver. It’s a gorgeous park that’s filled with trees and a lake. It’s the most colorful spot in the city to photograph fall colors. You not only see beautiful yellows, but a lot of crimson reds from the maple trees. It reminds me of the colors in the Midwest where I grew up. Take a walk away from the lakes and into the neighborhood. This is the best place for leaf peeping. The streets are lined with trees and cute houses. During the spring around the middle of May, the cherry blossoms are blooming. You’ll find them along the fishing hole next to the lake. Another noteworthy place for street photography is a few blocks west. Pearl Street has lots of restaurants and festivals in the summertime.
RINO Neighborhood
Take a walk down Larimer — east of Downtown — and you’ll discover the newest art district. It features alleys lined with graffiti and murals along with trendy restaurants, breweries, and a market that’s filled with eateries. My favorite building to photograph is on Larimer and 27th Street. It features a mural of orange eyes painted over a solid blue background. Go in the late afternoon to really see this artwork glow. Walk a little further east down Larimer and you’ll see a huge mural that’s painted over side panels that protrude out. This mural appears to have two different versions of it. Go down one side of the street and you’ll see a different perspective versus the opposite side of the street.
All of these photos were taken with the Leica Q digital camera, which has a fixed 28mm lens. It’s a great everyday carry and the newer version allows you to crop to different focal lengths at a higher resolution.
These are Denver photo spots will expand your creativity and shooting experience when exploring the city. Bring some good walking shoes and plenty of sunscreen if it’s sunny — even in the winter (higher altitude). Denver is a sports city, but it’s also one that supports the arts and the great outdoors. It has something for everyone!
