This is one of the bars we passed along the Embarcadero on a Saturday night. I was on a photowalk in San Francisco with Trey Ratcliff and about three hundred other friends. Little did I know that some in our party were not making it past the bars along the route. And here I was busy taking pictures, silly me, I need to get my priorities straight. Well, I did see a bunch of cool spot and made a mental note that I would surely stop in these watering holes next time I come here, they really look fun.
Seaside Parking Lot
I stayed at Lands End way past sunset taking pictures in the dark. This is a long exposure of someone sitting at the edge of the lot looking over the pacific ocean. You can see the lights of the buoys used to guide the ships into the San Francisco Bay. The person was probably deep in though because he stayed still for the full thirty seconds I had the shutter open. Even though the sun was down, there is still that line of illumination along the horizon. This is why I like low light photography so much, you just never know what you’ll end up with.
Mile Rock Beach
Another shot from a little hidden beach in San Francisco. The only way to get here is to hike down a steep trail. The beach is surrounded by cliffs which gives you a sense of remoteness uncharacteristic of a large city. But then San Francisco is no ordinary city. Because of its geography it could be the most beautiful city in the USA. The only other that I can compare it to is Vancouver about a thousand miles to the North. But it seems the beauty of a city is related to the surrounding geography. If you frame buildings, streets and bridges with great landscapes it becomes more appealing than if you just have a city on a flat plane. Nothing against the Midwest mind you. I better stop before I can’t get my metaphorical foot our of my mouth.
Sunday at the Beach
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This was taken at the Lands End beach in San Francisco. When a big wave came in it landed in a flat section behind the rock. Then as the water receded it created this pattern of ripples in the sunlight. A simple thing but I thought it was pretty awesome.
This image is a composite of three images all taken from the same location. The first image was a long exposure of the water receding and forming this pattern. To do that I had to use a small aperture and a neutral density filter. Then, I added the waves on the left from another image that was a short exposure since a long exposure makes the sea appear calm. Finally a third image was taken of a gentleman walking along the beach.
To create this image I stitched all three back together to convey a sense of what I saw on that lovely Sunday afternoon at the beach.
Blood Moon Over the Gate
While in San Francisco I just had to “do the bridges”. By that I mean, drive over and take pictures, …just like everybody else. I went through the motions but I didn’t have my heart into it. I mean, it’s only been done one-million-and-four-hundred-and-sixty-two-thousand-and-seven-hundred-and-ninety-two times (excluding Andriod devices). Not like it’s popular or anything. Even when I showed up at 5AM on a MONDAY MORNING there were three other photographers there. I mean, don’t these people have anything better to do than get up early on a MONDAY morning and take yet another picture of the bridge? Good grief, some people.
Anyway, I stuck around looking for a unique angle that hadn’t been done before, how hard could that be? Those other pesky photographers finally left and I was about also when I looked back and noticed that the Blood moon had popped up over the bridge. How lucky is that? I quickly took my shot and I think I may be the only person in the world to have a shot of the Blood Moon over the Golden Gate.
I’m currently in negotiations with Hogwarts to have this hung in the grand hall, but I wanted you all to be the first to see it.
Sea Cliff Beach
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This is a very hidden beach off the Lands End Trail in San Francisco. By hidden I mean it’s not easy to get to, so not many people come here. Having said that, it appeared to me there was a small dedicated group of people that come here for sunset and to get away from civilization for a bit. It’s amazing to think that surrounding this is the bustling vibrant city, yet here, exposed to the ocean and surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs you can feel quite remote. I don’t even know how I ended up here, just luck I guess.
California Street Doorman
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One day while in San Francisco I walked around the central part of the city. An afternoon walk can seem like quite a trek when you factor in the steep hills of the city. This scene was taken at the top of a hill on California Street as I was resting from an intense trek up. People who walk in this city must be pretty fit. I was dressed in long pants and long sleeves expecting cooler weather but it was quite warm. San Francisco can be unpredictable that way. This is a section of town where some of the architecture reflects victorian influences of the well heeled residents that live here. I, on the other hand, had to rely on my not so well heeled boots to walk back down to my hotel.
Check out my latest article about street photography here.
Sunday at the Beach
While visiting San Francisco I found myself with some free time on a Sunday. I ended up here at the beach at Point Lobos on the western end of the city. With perfect weather it turned out to be a picture perfect day (pun intended). The waves are bigger and water cooler than back home on the gulf coast of Florida, nonetheless each has its own unique beauty. In fact, there was a pod of humpback whales that passed by. Everyone stood up and pointed to the spouts and flukes as they lumbered along. Later I walked along a trail and enjoyed a sunset at another remote beach not far from here. It’s no wonder many consider San Francisco the most beautiful city in the USA.
Under the San Francisco Bay Bridge
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This weekend I’m in San Francisco for a photowalk with Trey Ratcliff and a bunch of friends from The Arcanum. Several hundred showed up, some as far away as Scotland and Australia which made my commute from Florida seem trivial. We walked along the Embarcadero and as we got closer to the Bay Bridge quite a few of us lingered here as we became fixated on the bridge. As you may already know I love to shoot bridges and this ranks up there among my favorite. In any case, the photowalk was a huge success and a great time was had by all including yours truly.
Golden Gate
Last night we had an overnight layover in San Francisco on our way back from New Zealand. So being fairly jet lagged we did the only sensible thing, rent a car and go driving up the coast. That was a lot of fun but towards the end we got pretty tired and hungry and so headed for Fishermen’s Wharf. I figured I’d take the last exit before the bridge but as luck would have it the exit was closed and we crossed into Marine County. So in effect this wasn’t planned, it just kind of worked out that way.