Systems and methods to improve the visualization of vasculature in OCT angiography data are presented. In one embodiment, vessels having a particular orientation relative to one or more reference surfaces are highlighted. In another embodiment, the path of individual vessels can be analyzed to determine how many or what layers the vessels traverse. In another embodiment, regions which are typically not vascularized are analyzed for the presence of vessels. Techniques to minimize the impact of shadow artifacts are also presented and can be applied to any of the visualization approaches for further enhancement.