If you live in Seattle or have ever visited, chances are that you have taken some Instagram photos here. Unless you’re a local with an eye for photography, you may not know of some of the best places for those awesome shots. Today, I went looking for my favorite places, and I’m going to share them all with you. These are 9 of the best Seattle Instagram Locations.
Photography Tips for Instagram
Before I jump into the list of locations, I wanted to give some tips that I thought may be helpful for someone who wants to make these Instagram photos the best they can be. I’m a photographer myself (though I do landscape photos), so maybe you can learn something.
The best time of day to take photos
You may have heard about something called “golden hour” and are not quite sure what it is. Golden hour is the last hour of sunlight in the evening, and the first hour of sunlight in the morning. It’s when the shadows are the least harsh, the light is warm and soft, and just makes photos look amazing. Here in Seattle, getting sunlight like that isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. But if the weather permits, you should definitely try to capture it.
How to compose your photos
The composition of your photos makes a huge difference in how they turn out. A few quick tips to compose your photos better include:
- Place the subject (person, building, etc.) either in the direct center, or one third of the way from either side. Make sure whichever side you place the subject on, they are facing toward the middle of the photo.
- If possible, try to add separation between foreground, midground, and background. Bring your subject away from whatever background you have, and maybe add something out of focus to the foreground for depth.
- Try different angles. If you are photographing a person, try to get a low angle from the ground rather than just shooting at the same level the person is on.
Editing your photos
Editing your photos means much more than just putting it on Instagram with a filter. If you want to take the professional route, then Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom are the absolute top of the line. If you can’t afford these programs, they have free versions on iOS and Android that you can use. Adjust your color, make sure the horizon is level, crop unnecessary area, remove distracting objects.
Hopefully these tips can help you take better photos for Instagram. Now that you know how to take the photos, let’s look at where to take the photos.
Best Seattle Instagram Locations
Narrowing this list down to only nine locations wasn’t the easiest task in the world. Seattle is a beautiful city, and you can find Instagrammable spots just about anywhere you look. The city has loads of amazing architecture, beautiful art, gorgeous parks, and more.
1. Seattle Central Library
Bobak Ha’Eri, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The first location on the list is the incredible Seattle Central Library. This library is like none I have ever seen before. The building itself is a work of art, and has many opportunities for taking some sweet shots. I don’t read often, but if I did, this would definitely be where I would do it.
There’s multiple levels to the building, and the entire thing is made of windows, making it a truly magical place during the rain, and one of my favorite Seattle Instagram Locations.
Currently, the library is closed (we know why), and I’ll update this when it opens again. The outside of the building still looks awesome, though.
2. Alki Beach
Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Alki Beach is one of Seattle’s best romantic locations, and a great place for Instagram photos as well. Located in West Seattle, this beach gets an amazing view of the sunset, and actually has sand unlike many other beaches in Washington. At its most northern point, you can get an amazing view of the city skyline, or just turn toward the west to get a beautiful sunset.
There’s plenty of benches here, and I can think of tons of great photos you can get here.
3. Kerry Park
Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Another park with great views is Kerry Park located in Queen Anne. While this is not a large park, it has an awesome view of the city skyline, plus interesting houses nearby and lots of greenery. This would also be a fairly romantic park for a date. And while researching this article, I found out that just up the street is a house from Grey’s Anatomy.
This park is definitely worth a visit if you want to have a picnic, see the skyline, and take some awesome photos.
4. Smith Tower
Christopher S. Maloney (NorthLights), CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons
This century-old tower is an icon in Seattle’s skyline. Smith Tower is commonly referred to as Seattle’s first skyscraper, and when it was built, was the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Today, the tower serves many businesses but also features a speakeasy-style bar and observatory on the 35th floor.
The building is incredibly historic and has 360-degree views of the city for so many amazing photos.
The observatory is currently closed, I will update this article when it reopens.
5. Japanese Gardens
frted, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Seattle Japanese Gardens are an incredible location to take photos because it is almost like they just took a slice from Japan and dropped it in the middle of Seattle. The little bit of architecture mixed with the plant life there makes you really feel like this place is magical. The park is 3.5 acres, so there is plenty of space for you to take photos.
If you want to read a full in-depth guide to the Seattle Japanese Gardens, click here!
6. King Street Station
ZhengZhou, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The incredibly historic King Street Station is a fantastic place to take Instagram photos which most people probably wouldn’t bother with. But the historic look of the building, plus simply the grand scale of it makes it a very cool place. If you get there at the right time, you can catch it with next to no people in the building. Maybe even catch a train and go somewhere fun? King Street Station is one of the Seattle Instagram Locations that nobody thinks of.
7. Chihuly Garden & Glass
Aschulkins, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Located so close to the Space Needle that you could just about touch both of them at the same time, the Chihuly Garden & Glass is a beautiful work of art by Dale Chihuly. There are so many great pieces spread throughout the area of so many pretty colors. The most popular, of course, is the massive hanging red/orange sculpture inside the museum.
I don’t see this location too often in peoples Seattle Instagram posts so maybe this is one you can get that all your friends don’t have.
8. Waterfall Garden Park
Robert Ashworth from Bellingham, WA., USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Did you know that there is a waterfall in the middle of Seattle? Well, it’s not a real waterfall per say, but it is a waterfall nonetheless. The waterfall is a monument to UPS workers, because UPS originally started in Seattle and occupied the space that the waterfall is now in. Many years later, UPS moved their headquarters out of Seattle and the waterfall is now where the original location was.
This is an awesome place to have a lunch, read a book, or take some killer Instagram photos. Make sure you stop by here when you get the chance, it’s definitely an interesting place to find in the middle of a big city.
9. Gum Wall
Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Finally in this list is a Seattle classic, the gum wall. The wall is located in Post Alley just outside of Pike Place Market. While arguably very gross, it is quite photogenic. I did include this at the bottom of the list, though, because so many people take photos here. Nonetheless, the photos still look good, and I’ve found other angles in the alley to get some unique shots. That’s why the gum wall is still one of my favorite Seattle Instagram Locations.
While you’re there, add your contribution to the wall, and check out some of the other items on the Seattle bucket list here.
Conclusion
That’s the list. I hope that some of these ideas were helpful and you can go out and get some amazing Instagram photos. If there are any locations that you think should’ve been included in this list, leave a comment down below to let others know, and maybe we’ll include those responses in a future article.
Hi, I’m Jared. I’m a life-long Washington resident, and love the big city. In my free time, I do YouTube, photography, coding, and more.
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