Best Photo Spots in Gramado and Canela: 9 public places, all free

Almost every "photo spots in Gramado" list is a list of tourist sights with the word "photos" in the title. This one is different for a simple reason: we photograph in these two towns every day, and what separates a good photo from an ordinary one, in these places, is almost never the place — it's the hour you went.

So every spot here comes with the information the other lists leave out: when to go, and where to point.

In Gramado

1. The Gramado Gateway

The two gateways marking the entrance to town, the older one from 1973.¹ It's the "I've arrived" photo — and the most contested one in town.

When to go: early, between 8 and 9 a.m. After that, the queue to pose in the middle of the arch is real, and there's no good photo with ten people waiting their turn.
Where to point: from below, a little back, so the whole arch fits and the person doesn't become an ant. Worth shooting vertically.
Careful: it's an avenue with traffic. The photo isn't worth a scare.

2. Rua Coberta

A block covered by a glass roof, in the heart of town, with flowers, lights and flags.²

When to go: the glass roof is a giant diffuser — the light there is good all day, including at midday, when the rest of town has the worst light possible. It's the plan B for the bad hour.
Where to point: the street is a corridor, and a corridor is a vanishing line. Stand at one end, put the person in the middle and let the sides converge — it's the framing that makes the place look like what it is.
At night the lit-up decorations become the background, and the roof holds the glow: it's another place after 7 p.m.

3. Praça das Etnias

Next to Rua Coberta and across from the São Pedro Mother Church, it honours the peoples who built the town — with replicas of typical houses, monuments, fountains and gardens.³

When to go: morning. It's a thoroughfare square and it fills up in the afternoon.
Where to point: the house replicas give a background with human scale, which is rare — most of Gramado's backdrops are either too big or too small. Get close and use one whole little house behind the person.

4. Lago Negro

A public park around the lake, whose waters look dark because of the shade of the surrounding trees.⁴

When to go: early. Two reasons — the water is mirror-still before the wind picks up, and the pedal boats haven't yet crossed the surface.
Where to point: from a low position, almost at water level, so the reflection enters the frame. And watch the exposure: the surrounding trees are dark, and phone cameras tend to brighten everything and blow out the sky. Tap the face on the screen before you shoot.

5. Vale do Quilombo lookout

On the road between Gramado and Canela, at about 850 metres of altitude, with an open view over the valley.⁵

When to go: early morning in winter — that's when the fog gets trapped at the bottom of the valley while the top is already in the sun. It's the most dramatic landscape of the two towns, and it doesn't last long.
Where to point: into the light, with the person's back or profile at the edge of the frame. Backlight in the early morning draws the outline of hair and coat.

In Canela

6. The Stone Cathedral

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, in basalt stone and English Gothic style, is the town's symbol — and entry is free. Climbing the tower and visiting the Bell Museum are paid.⁶

When to go: late afternoon, then come back at night for the light show.
Where to point: it's very tall and narrow. Shoot vertically, from a distance, with the person small at the base — the disproportion is the subject. Trying to fit it all horizontally, from close up, bends the tower and still doesn't fit.

7. Praça João Corrêa

Canela's central square, across from the cathedral, with free cultural programming throughout the year.⁷

When to go: any hour with low sun. The trees create patches of sun and shade on the ground — look for open shade (tree shade with clear sky around), which is the easiest portrait light there is outdoors.

8. Estação Campos de Canella

The old station, today a visitable space, with its railway architecture preserved.⁸

When to go: morning or late afternoon.
Where to point: the station is the most period-looking outdoor backdrop the two towns have. Wood, roof, rails. If you're going to take a photo with an old-time mood in a public space, it's here.

9. The artisans' colourful little houses

The Canela Artisans' Association, with its rows of colourful little houses.⁹

When to go: a cloudy day, and this isn't a consolation prize. Saturated colour under strong sun blows out and becomes a blot; on a grey day the colour looks exactly as it is. Save this spot for the bad day of the trip.

The paid ones that are worth the photo

So as not to pretend only free things exist: Caracol Park (the waterfall), Parque da Ferradura and the cable cars charge admission, and Sky Glass, at the highest point of the Vale da Ferradura, is a glass-floored lookout over the valley.¹⁰

These are the postcards the free list doesn't cover. If the budget is tight, the nine above already fill an album.

Three things that improve any photo in these places

1. Get closer than seems necessary. The most common mistake is the person becoming a dot in front of a pretty backdrop. If the landscape is the subject, leave the person small on purpose and at the edge; if the person is the subject, get close.
2. Put the sun behind, not in front. Sun in front makes people squint and flattens the face. Behind, it wraps — and a modern phone handles the rest with a tap on the face on the screen.
3. Wear a solid colour. Gramado and Canela already have busy backgrounds: flowers, roofs, lights, flags. A print on top of a busy background disappears.

And one photo you can't take on the street

All nine spots above share the same limitation: you appear in the photo wearing your travel clothes, among other people wearing theirs.

The old-fashioned portrait is the opposite of that — period costume, a built set, controlled light and posing direction. It's the photo you can't improvise at a tourist spot, however good the light.