Interesting places in San Francisco, California:

The Presidio of San Francisco		Fort Winfield Scott
Golden Gate		Golden Gate Bridge
Barbary Coast Trail - NORTH		North Beach
Golden Gate Park		Alcatraz Island
Fisherman s Wharf		Union Square
Telegraph Hill		Western Addition
Chinatown		Mission Dolores
Nob Hill		Pier 39
Vertigo - Filming Location		The Mission
Outer Richmond		Crissy Field
Yerba Buena Island		Lincoln Park
Pier 39 Marina		Fort Point National Historic Site
Ocean Beach

San Francisco is renowned for its months-long episodes of fog, steep rolling hills, an eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture, its peninsular location (surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay), and its liberal cultural and political identity. Famous hallmarks and landmarks include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the cable cars, the Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, and Chinatown.

San Francisco has much to see. For more detail see the district sections, often linked from this entry.

• Palace of Fine Arts. Located in the Marina District the Palace of Fine Arts is a Beautiful building. It was designed by Bernard Maybeck and was completed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. The architecture is that of Roman and Greek. Beautiful woman sculptured into the building dramatically holding up the pillars. Although the Palace of Fine Arts has fallen slightly ill to lack of repair it is still a major site to behold.
• Lombard Street. The (nearly) twistiest street in America, between Hyde & Leavenworth. The city has a twistier but less scenic hill-climb along Vermont Street, south of McKinley Square on Potrero Hill. You can get a view of Lombard from the Powell & Hyde cable car line.
• 22nd Street. Between Vicksburg and Church and Filbert Street. between Leavenworth and Hyde - At a 31.5% grade, these streets share the honor of steepest streets in San Francisco.
• Alcatraz Island. Decommissioned island prison in the bay. Take a tour and listen to an audio tape in English, Japanese, Chinese or other languages. The most interesting aspect of the tour is that you can go into the prison and see what it is like to be imprisoned. It might be more interesting if you've watched the movie "Escape from Alcatraz" and seen what happened in Alcatraz when it was operating as a prison. Tickets for the Ferry to Alcatraz are available at the Alcatraz Cruises website , but they sell out fast so buy in advance.
• Angel Island. Island in the bay that housed Asian immigration (exclusion) camp, becoming the "Ellis Island of the West". Ferry over and rent a bicycle or walk around this beautiful island that is now a large and wide open park.
• Coit Tower. Built in 1933 on top of Telegraph Hill, a former signaling point for sailing ships, It is dedicated to the San Francisco firefighters (who fought a massive blaze in 1906 after the earthquake that destroyed much of the city center), and it was designed to resemble the nozzle of a fire hose. At 250' high, it is a healthy hike from the Embarcadero (steps at Greenwich and Montgomery) or from . Muni bus #39 goes from Washington Square in North Beach up the hill to the base of the tower.
• Twin Peaks, accessible by car or on foot via Twin Peaks Boulevard . The small parking area at the northern tip of Twin Peaks Boulevard (875' above sea level) is near the physical center of the city, and one of its highest points, providing spectacular views in all directions. Tour buses can get backed up here during the day, but it's a great place to really appreciate the City from above, especially at and after sunset. Temperatures up there can be quite a bit lower than in the rest of the city, so bring a jacket. Muni bus #37, a scenic ride from the or and Market streets, gets you close, so you only have to climb the last 120' up.
• Treasure Island. An artificial island half-way between San Francisco and Oakland connected to Yerba Buena Island which the Bay Bridge passes through. The Island has excellent views of San Francisco & Oakland skylines and quirky structures from the international fairground-turned-navy base-turned neighborhood. Accessible by Muni bus line 108 from the Transbay Terminal downtown.
• Mission District. Containing one of the oldest structures in the City - the Mission Dolores Church - as well as superb City views from Dolores Park, the Mission is an offbeat tourist destination where Hispanic families mingle with Hipster night-owls, artists, lesbians, and just about every one else in this eclectic neighborhood. The walls of many buildings, especially on alleys between Market and Valencia are painted with a fantastic collection of murals of all sorts.
• Presidio of San Francisco. The Presidio was founded in 1776 and was the longest-running military post in the U.S. before closing as a base in 1994. It is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area . Within the Presidio of San Francisco is the Fort Point National Historic Site . From its vantage point overlooking the spectacular Golden Gate, Fort Point protected San Francisco harbor from Confederate & foreign attack during & after the U.S. Civil War. Its beautifully arched casemates display the art of the master brick mason from the Civil War period. At the end of 2005, about 2,500 people lived in the Presidio and it is home to the headquarters of Lucasfilm, a unique situation for a national park. Part of their drinking water comes from Lobos Creek (Rio de los Lobos), the last free-flowing creek in San Francisco. It is best approached from the Marina District along the water through the kites and bay-views of the connected Chrissy Fields Park.
• San Francisco Zoo. If you are traveling with children or have a fondness for penguins, primates, lions or llamas, the large and well maintained Zoo is located at the end of the L streetcar line near Ocean Beach.

Golden Gate Park

Once an area of sand dunes, Golden Gate Park is a roughly 1/2 mile-by-four mile urban oasis, with windmills, bison, museums, and a carousel hidden among its charms. At 1,017 Acres, it is 174 acres larger than New York's Central Park, so unless you rent a bike , you'll want to plan which area you want to visit, especially along the East (Stanyan street) to West (the Ocean) axis. During the summer to October a free shuttle bus circulates. On Sundays and holidays, JFK Drive between Transverse and Kezar is closed to vehicular traffic; this car-free zone is popular with walkers, cyclists, and runners. The number 5 trolleybus runs along its North boundary, and offers the most frequent service across the park and to downtown. The N streetcar two blocks south of its South boundary with similar service. The antique palatial greenhouse of the Conservatory of Flowers is near 2nd Avenue (4 small blocks West of Stanyan). To the South are tennis Courts, a classic Carousel, and playing fields for Frisbee. At 8th Avenue is the Shakespeare Garden with roses and other flowers mentioned in his plays. The modern and ethnic art focused de Young Museum has recently reopened (see "Hide in a Museum"), although its neighboring museums are still under construction. West of the de Young it is the large Japanese Tea Garden at 12th Avenue, and South of that is the Strybing Arboretum, a collection of plants from across the temperate world. Boating (several types for rent) on Stow Lake is available at 18th Avenue. The Marx and Speedway meadows for picnicking and music festivals are near 30th. Ave. Model boating is at 35th Ave., fly-casting at 36th Avenue, and a Petanque (lawn bowling) field is at 38th Ave, just north of the Bison Meadow, where buffaloes roam. Golf and Archery are available at at 47th Avenue. Finally, beyond 48th Avenue are the Dutch windmills that were used for Park irrigation in the past and the beautiful 1930’s Beach Chalet for lunch, drinks, or dinner overlooking Ocean Beach and its brave surfers.

Golden Gate Bridge

Highway 101 N , 921-5858 . Open 24 hours, occasionally closed Sunday morning for events. $5

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the United States, and has been called one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The bridge spans the Golden Gate, a strait between San Francisco and to the north, and is one of the major road routes into and out of the city.

Vehicular traffic in both directions share a single deck; yellow pylons are used to allot lanes to one direction or the other depending on traffic conditions. Observation areas and parking lots are provided on both the north and south sides of the bridge; the best way to enjoy the bridge is to park and walk across, not least because you don't have to pay a toll. Note that winds are high and it can be cold and foggy; dress appropriately. Bikes can also be difficult to navigate in the high winds and narrow pathway.

The masterwork of architect Joseph B. Strauss, whose statue graces the southern observation deck, the bridge took seven years to build, and was completed on May 27, 1937. Not actually golden in color -- a common misconception -- the bridge is painted a deep red-orange. Erroneous legend has it that the bridge is continuously painted, with crews starting at one end and, on getting to the other end, turning around and starting over again. In fact, the bridge is only painted once every few years, with some touchup done continuously.

The San Francisco end of the bridge is accessible by the Muni 28 bus line from Fort Mason in the Marina District near Fisherman’s wharf. The fastest way to reach it from downtown is to take the the 38 or 38L up Geary to “Park Presidio” (after 12th ave) and transfer to a Fort Mason bound 28. Golden Gate Transit busses serve the bridge on request, but busses are very infrequent and unpredictable except at afternoon commute times, when they are crowded.

Alamo Square Park

At Steiner Street and Hayes Street, it has the famous Painted Ladies row of Victorian houses on its east side along Steiner Street, but many other pretty Victorians encircle the lovely park. The Hayes street Muni bus #21 goes along its south side, for the postcard view. If you enjoy walking and don't mind modest grades you can get there by walking west from or north from .

Fisherman's Wharf

is a great place to see amazing street entertainers, eat excellent seafood, watch sea lions, visit the Fisherman's Wharf Wax Museum and go to the Aquarium Marine Museums and exhibits. Working fishing boats still come into the small harbor at Jones and Jefferson, the endpoint of the Muni Historic F-streetcar. There are also small day and party boats available. The fresh breeze from the bay can provide a bracing setting.

Stand on the stern of Balclutha, face west to feel the fresh wind blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. Located in the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park offers the sights, sounds, smells and stories of the Pacific Coast maritime history.

Civic Center

The has impressive Beaux Arts buildings and the celebrated Asian Art Museum, but the main reason for going there are its music and theater venues, including large concert halls and a renowned Symphony and Opera. On an historic note, the Charter for the United Nations was signed in the War Memorial Veteran's Building at the corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. Nearby along Hayes Street (West, past Van Ness Avenue) is a neighborhood known for its sophisticated yet funky shops, bars and restaurants. The large, modern public library bordering Market is great for browsing, free internet connections (card not required) and occasional events in its theater.

Moscone Center

The Yerba Buena Gardens, above the Moscone Center, at Mission and Third streets provide a nice urban oasis. There is a carousel, a museum, and play places for kids, movie houses, various exhibit spaces, and the Museum of Modern Art across the street. A big garage at Mission between Fifth and Fourth streets makes it quite accessible for drivers. The Moscone Center itself houses major exhibits and conventions. Half of all Muni lines come within a few blocks of the area. The conference center itself is home to a number of major (especially IDG) expos that occur each year, including Apple Computer-related expos such as Macworld and Apple's WWDC, and LinuxWorld.

Chinatown

The original Chinatown, centered around Grant Street from Bush to Columbus is part tourist trap, part an exhibit of local life. Good eating places remain, and the side streets especially have stores one wouldn't find in a mall. Stockton Street, the street paralleling Grant to to west is the main street where most locals do their shopping for groceries. Be sure to sample some of the Dim Sum and other specialties offered in the many bustling shops. However, many local Chinese prefer to eat and shop in the located in other neighborhoods such as the Inner neighborhood or on Clement Street between 2nd and 12th Avenues. The Muni #1 (California) and #2 (Clement, does not run at night) buses get people from one Chinatown to the other.

Chinatown is easily accessible from the downtown area via the 30 Stockton or 45 Union-Stockton Muni bus routes. Expect frequent crowding during peak hours. The Cable Cars also run fairly close to Chinatown as well.

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park defines the extreme Northwestern corner of San Francisco. It provides majestic views of the Marin Headlands, the Golden Gate Bridge from the Ocean side, and the Pacific Ocean itself. At the extreme western end the well known Cliff House provides both semi-casual and a more formal eating and drinking place. The #18 Muni bus goes from the center of the park via the Cliff House to Golden Gate Park, while the very frequent #38 Geary buses terminate in between. Drivers will want to take the El Camino del Mar Drive through the small Seacliff area on the northwest side to view some fancy mansions between Lincoln Park and the Presidio.

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City Lights, San Francisco at Dusk
Made by PatrickSmithPhotography
Here is an 8,000 pixel-wide version of my 80,000 pixel-wide San Francisco panorama. I just realized that I had never posted it to Flickr, so here you go! No HDR and no Gigapan machine required. I'll explain below and don't forget to fave and share it on the internet if you like it. I always forget that when I look at panos. Have a look at the super-super-big 8,000 pixel wide version!! C'mon, you know you want to! Most gigapixel images are created during daylight hours or well after dark, conditions at which the light is consistent over dozens (or hundreds) of shots. However, I wanted the entire panorama to be done during the rapidly changing light that occurs just after sunset. It was not as easy as I first thought! ----------------------------------------------------------- Settings etc. ----------------------------------------------------------- 112 11-second exposures (they were almost all 11-seconds to keep the city lights constant) All shots were taken between 20 and 27 minutes after sunset on several nights over a 6-week period. The final size is (13,423h x 80,540w, 1×6 ratio) AutoPano stitching software to start, but 50% was hand-stitched Canon 5D mark II with live view set to 10x magnification to help with precise focusing Canon 500L F4 lens with 1.4 extender (after the 800 rental expired!) 3 rows of portrait oriented shots with about 35-40 on each row 25% overlap on each shot Refocus every 3rd shot with extra care on the towers and hillside to the left Refocus on Bridge towers to make sure that every bolt can be seen clearly No grad filters No polarizer. No HDR ISO 200 (to reduce the exposure time a bit but not too much to induce noise) RAW files processed with Capture One by Phase One TIFF files processed with Photoshop Tripod – 1 home depot bucket with a circular 1-inch thick plywood board rotated on top to create panoramas. Jessy calls it The Pano-Pod! I like it! Amazingly, If I had simply used the 500 with no 1.4tc, I might have been able to do it all in one night with about 60 shots. But the extra resolution meant I could print it at 36ft @240DPI instead of about 20 feet. Big difference! ----------------------------------------------------------- Story ----------------------------------------------------------- I wanted to create an image that would look like a single photo taken during that 5-10 minute period about 20 minutes after sunset where the softening natural light is about equal to city lights. A photograph created at this time will not have blown-out highlights but still have the glowing atmosphere of a nocturnal view. Since I needed to shoot over 30 photos per row and at least 3 rows tall, I knew that it would take several favorable days to shoot them all. This is because there are only a few minutes with good light after sunset and each exposure would take around 7-12 seconds to shoot. Also, with the 800mm lens I rented from borrowlenses.com you have to be very precise about focus, and setting the focus using the Live View feature adds even more time to each shot. Shooting I was excited to begin. The next 10 days looked clear and warm, so off I went. This was last November, but it was warm. The first obstacle was how to stabilize this huge lens during 10-second plus exposures when it is perched on the side of a hill exposed to strong ocean wind. The Golden Gate is the easiest place for wind to pass through the California coastal mountain range so there is a lot of it passing through. The sturdiest tripod is no match for these breezes so I had to come up with another solution. I headed over to Home Depot and bought a 1-inch thick rounded and sanded plywood wheel that is about 18 inches in diameter. It is about the size of a very large pizza. Also I bought a plastic bucket, a short 1×4 and some thin wood shims. The idea is to place the plywood onto the bucket and then put the lens on the plywood. Then it is easy to rotate the lens right and left. The bucket is low to the ground and very stable even in high winds with the big lens on it. Also, it is easy to level the entire thing using by moving it in the dirt until your line of sight across the wheel is level with the horizon. I cut the 1×4 to a length of about 6 inches and cut notch in the middle so that the end of the lens would rest in the notch. That stops the lens from rolling around. The thin wood shims are then used to raise and lower the camera side of the lens. With this setup, you can shoot an entire row, insert or remove some shims and then shoot another row. For the first 10 days, visibility over the bridge was perfect but it was hot and the city lights twinkled. Twinkling when viewed through 800mm of lens makes the entire frame flicker back and forth as though you are looking into a swimming pool on a windy day! During daylight it is not too bad because you can have an exposure time of 1/100 or less and things may look a bit wavy but at least they are sharp. At night, an 11-second exposure with the heat shimmering will make the entire image soft in a similar way to what you might see on a long exposure of ocean waves. Even my morning shooting suffered from atmospheric distortion. After 10 days with that magnificent lens I had nothing to show for my efforts! Needless to say I was a bit discouraged. However, I am not one to give up easily, so I borrowed a friend’s 500mm F4 and a 1.4 extender for a total of 700mm of magnification. Fortunately, he was very patient because it took about 4 extra weeks to get the images I needed. Eventually the weather cooled, the atmosphere stabilized and the twinkling was dramatically reduced. Next, my hope was to get some mist in the atmosphere over several days to get through the entire panorama with consistent light. I made a total of about 20 trips to my spot before I had all the images I needed. All of the images used to make the final pano were captured on five of those evenings. There were other problems during shooting besides the atmospheric distortion. First, the focus. The city is far behind the bridge, so when I was shooting the towers in front of the city I had to stop down to about F29 and focus extra carefully and do an extra long exposure. On the left side of the panorama were some foreground hills, so I had to refocus there too as well as every few shots throughout the panorama because the focus ring might get moved just a little. Most images, however, were made at F11. This allowed me to get enough depth of field to keep everything sharp. The DOF at F8 (the optimum setting) is too shallow and would cause something in each frame to be out of focus. I kept the exposure time down to 11-seconds by using an ISO of 200. There was very little noise in the final images. The next problem is that I had to come back on successive days and pick up where I left off. So I had to arrive well before sunset to set up and practice what I was about to do. It is easy to not be perfectly aligned with a row from the day before. If you are not perfect all the way across then you don’t get enough overlap for stitching. The other big problem is that the light was changing quickly and was different from the far left side to the far right side. This is a very wide-angle image so this is to be expected. So if you attempt a gigapixel image at dusk, study the direction of how the light fades and start shooting from the darkest areas and move towards the lightest. By the time you get to the lighter areas, they will be closer in brightness to the darker side. This way, the overall image will be more evenly lit. Processing I brought the images into Capture One, a RAW processing program. It has lots of settings which allow you to gain a little extra dynamic range and still have the image look natural. I collected the best images from all the shoots into one folder and carefully adjusted them for brightness and color. This went fairly smoothly, though there were a few images where I had to dig deeper. The idea is to have all the images be the same brightness. I saved each one as a JPG because I knew the final file would be huge and I don’t have a super powerful computer! Also, I didn’t touch the JPGs until I had created a PSB file after stitching. TIFF files can only be 4gb in size and a 16-bit file would be 5gb. I ended up creating an 8-bit file but I kept it in PSB format, anyway. I did not lose any information as would be the case if I edited the JPGs directly. And JPG files have a 30,000 pixel width limit. Originally I planned on using the highly rated Autopano stitching software. It did a great job until it reached areas where the bridge cables were in front of the bay water. As you can see in the small portion below, one cable or a bridge section looks like the next. The stitching software became confused no matter how I adjusted the settings. I auto-stitched as much as I could and then I stitched the remainder of the image (about 50%) manually in Photoshop. Fortunately there was plenty of overlap and after about 80 hours of work, the image was completely stitched. After stitching, I went over the TIFF image carefully while viewing it at 100% magnification. I cleaned up any bad pixels or stitching errors. There was a bit of noise in some of the darker areas so I used the Photoshop noise reduction and that worked fine. Then I looked at the entire image to make sure that the entire scene looked evenly lit. A few places needed to be brightened or darkened but the adjustments were small because I was careful when creating the first set of files from the RAW files.. The combination of the 500L lens and the 1.4 II teleconverter along with close attention to focus created a final image that was very sharp. Most of the image needed no sharpening, though some areas were sharpened a bit just to get things as close to perfect as possible. The total amount of time I spent doing recon, 20 trips to the location, and post processing was around 160 hours. Was it worth it? Yes!


Golden Gate - Golden Light
Made by Surrealize
Highest position in Explore = 2 on Sept. 14th, 2009. Also featured on Explore home page and Interestingness Page. Thank you! I had the pleasure to travel to San Francisco this summer with my family. It's such a beautiful city and there are so many wonderful picturesque locations to choose from, truly a photographer's paradise. Since I hadn't been there in 10 years, I decided to reshoot several of the famous landmarks, the Golden Gate Bridge being my main interest as I had never seen it without tons of fog. During the few days I was there, the weather was unseasonably warm and again, thick layers of fog blanketed the bridge nearly every day, almost completely blocking out the sunsets. On the last evening before we had to leave, I decided to make the trek out to Fort Point for one of the many postcard views. Just as I got there, as if on queue, the fog began to lift as the sun went down. I ran (literally) up and down the beach to try and find the best location and fired off several sets. The sunset was amazing... Orange to purple to blue... I had never seen anything quite like it and had a hard time getting back behind the camera as I just wanted to sit there and soak it all in. When I got back home, this was my favorite of the bunch as it really captured the full color gradient of the sunset that had been enhanced by the lifting fog. In addition, I really liked how the last few rays of sunlight poked through and highlighted the trees over on the left, with the one solo tree on top of the hill almost perfectly framed by the bridge arch. The sailboat was a total bonus and couldn't have sailed through at a better time. About the shot, this is an HDR composed of 9 different exposures to cover the full dynamic range of color in the magnificent sunset as well as the famous red color of the bridge. The longer exposures in the set did a great job of capturing the motion in the waves as they crashed against the rocky shoreline. Once the 9 shots were stitched together, I just did some standard post processing in Photoshop (curves, contrast, sharpening). Sorry to all my Flickr friends who haven't seen much of me lately. Work has been full of unexpected changes and has taken much of my focus recently. The good news is that I've been out on several shoots over the summer and have at least 20 sets to still sift through and process. I'll post them over the coming weeks. I should be back in full swing and look forward to catching up on my contacts' streams and going through the hundred+ friend requests I've received recently. Please be patient if I don't get to you right away or comment on every image but please know that I enjoy going through everyone's streams and taking time to appreciate all your wonderful work. Hope you all have a fantastic week! Also, almost forgot, a portion of my portfolio has been featured on the FREE iFolio iPhone application. There are quite a few great artists out there and some awe inspiring work so if you have an iPhone, you can download the app and take the beautiful photos with you in your pocket :-)


Herbert
Made by Thomas Hawk
Recently I blogged about a new project that I am starting called $2 portraits. The idea is that I will offer $2 to anyone who asks me for money from now on in exchange for their portrait. Earlier today while I was having lunch with my friend Hemant outside of the Coffee Bean in Embarcadero 4 Herbert approached me asking for $2. Herbert told me that he was dying and would be dead in the next couple of days. He said that he had advanced stage stomach and colon cancer and had to wear a diaper. Herbert told me that he had arranged for a ride with Swords to Plowshares up to the VA Hospice in Yountville tomorrow morning where he said he was going to die. He said that he had $17 but needed $2 to pay for the $19 Green Tortoise hospice up on Broadway where he said he was going to spend the night tonight. He showed me his $17 and then offered to show me his diaper. I told Herbert that I didn't need to see his diaper and told him about my $2 portrait project and he agreed to pose for a portrait for $2. Herbert told me that he recently had gone from about 175 pounds to 105. He looked frail and had a pocket full of prescription drugs and was smoking a cigarette. He said that he was in a lot of pain from the cancer. Herbert told me that he grew up in Florida. That his father was in the Air Force and that when he was young they moved to Germany. He said after Germany when he was 16 he hitchhiked around the U.S. for a while and then joined the Marine Corps. Herbert told me that the Marines sent him to Vietnam where he fought in Da Neng. He said he knew how to handle an M-16 well. Herbert told me that he had suffered health problems due to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam. Herbert told me that after he got out of the Marine Corps that he went to New York and got a bachelor's degree in business and worked in the corporate world. He said he learned German and worked for Siemens for a while in Germany. He said he also worked in the UK. Herbert told me that his wife had died about 10 years ago and that he's been celibate since. He said he didn't mind that. He said he had a son who was 41 years old living in Jamaica. He asked me how old I was and then guessed 39. I told him I was 40 and he was pleased that he'd guessed so closely. Herbert asked me about my family and I told him I had 4 kids and he told me that I must have quite a nut to crack to take care of that family. He told me it was important to take care of them. We talked for a bit more and then I wished him well and told him that I hoped that he would last beyond the couple of days that he said he had left. He wished me well as well and we parted ways. Update: Some people have asked me if it would be ok if they start their own version of this project as well. I think that is great and believe that frequently the best projects become collaborative. If you'd to, feel free to join the group and post your own $2 portraits there.


International Orange #2 - Golden Gate Bridge
Made by PatrickSmithPhotography
I had to contend with baby raccoons walking around my legs to get this shot! They kept trying to climb up onto me and the tripod. Oh the price we must pay... Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available! The color of the Golden Gate Bridge is orange vermilion, deemed International Orange. The color was selected by consulting architect Irving Morrow because it blends well with the natural surroundings yet enhances the bridge's visibility in fog. I think they made the right choice! The Reds and Oranges were so intense that I had to slightly desaturate them to retain detail! See the big version. There is a heron that stood still for the entire 30 seconds! See the 1200x1200 pixel version! --------------------------------------------------------- Settings etc.: --------------------------------------------------------- Canon 5D Mark II Canon 17-40L @ 40 30-second exposure @F7 No filters! (I usually use LEE 100x150mm soft ND grads) No polarizer ISO 100 (a higher ISO to keep it at 30sec @F7) (I didn't want to go more open than F7 so everything would be in focus) 2-second shutter delay. Small Slik tripod with Manfrotto Pistol-grip ball head. RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One TIFF file processed with Photoshop I've been waiting for a while to get a better version of this composition that I made with my original 5d. I wanted more fog flowing through the bridge and more resolution. Usually it is very hard for me to duplicate a previous photo, but the fog here can be quite reliable. I lucked out having the half moon here with the sun setting to the right. I was not planning on it, but I left it overexposed to show how it lit up the scene just a bit. Well, it often seems like the fog is reliable but actually it was looking good until about 1 hour before sunset and then it drifted away from the bridge and things were looking bad. But then about 5 minutes before I made this photo, it moved in to save the day! I was lucky once more! I was here for a few hours before sunset so I waited up on the top of the hill with the tourists and other photographers, where it was much warmer. It was about 86 (30c) on the hill above the 500 ft. thick fog and about 59 (15c) at this spot! I walked around on the hill without my camera listening to everyone talk in amazement in many languages about the fog and the foghorns. It is quite an impressive sight even though I've lived here my entire life. I did take quite a few photos of couples on request. No way to get out of that. And no need to understand what language they were speaking! A few hand gestures and you're in business. It is also interesting to watch the other photographers, but I'll leave that for another day. The map shows exactly where this is. You can drive right up to this spot and do a short scramble down the small cliff. See for a link to my newly designed website. .


Rust and Surf # 2 - San Francisco
Made by PatrickSmithPhotography
No HDR, despite what some people think! It is a single 1/10 sec exposure. See below for how I did it. Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available! Oct. 24, 2008: This was taken back in February 24, 2008, the last day that it rained a significantly measurable amount in San Francisco until Nov. 9th, 2008. --------------------------------------------------------- Settings etc.: --------------------------------------------------------- 1/10-second exposure @F22 with Lee soft ND grad 0.9 with Lee holder Canon 5D Canon 17-40L @ 24 ISO 50 RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One TIFF file processed with Photoshop Small Slik tripod Manfrotto pistol-grip ball head (for quick adjustments) ----------------------- Story ---------------------------------------------- So, how do you hide the bottom 300 feet of the far tower of the Golden Gate Bridge? With a very large wave! How big? Well, you can see that the smaller part of the wave is much bigger than the cars and vans in the parking lot. After I took each shot, I hid in my car just to the left of the tripod. These waves hit with such force that my car was shaken violently each time. Then I could wipe off the grad filter and get ready for the next attempt. It took about 10 tries to get it right. I wanted the iron post to not block the horizon and for the composition to be perfect. But that is difficult to do when you only get a few seconds to jump out of the car, take the shot, and dive back in. Finally I got the shot just as the park rangers ordered me to leave because people have been killed on this very spot! The amazing thing is that this is on the bay-side of the bridge, the Pacific Ocean is on the other side of the bridge to the left. Only during strong westerly winds following a big storm with a high tide do these conditions exist. There were surfers out there and they were ordered back to shore too! I knew I'd get soaked so I had on my swim shorts and water shoes. I was hoping I wouldn't need a snorkel! The mid-winter temperatures were barely tolerable with the air at 61F (16c) water about 54F (12c) About average for February in San Francisco. For some observations on the new Canon 5D Mark II, see here: See my profile for a link to my website where I have limited edition prints and less expensive open edition prints. .


Bridge to Yerba Buena, San Francisco Bay Bridge, California
Made by PatrickSmithPhotography
Time for a nice refreshing swim in San Francisco Bay! Actually there was some crazy person swimming on the right side during this 2-minute exposure. No trace of him in this photo however. No HDR. Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available! See the 1200 pixel version! --------------------------------------------------------- Settings etc.: --------------------------------------------------------- Canon 5D Mark II 2-horizontal shot panorama (about 10,000 pixels wide) Canon 17-40L @19 2-minute exposure @F14 1 LEE soft ND grad 0.9 (100x150mm) (2 filters reflects bright lights) Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring No polarizer. ISO 50 Small Slik tripod with Manfrotto pistol grip ball head RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One TIFF file processed with Photoshop The west span of the San Francisco-Oakland bay bridge is an amazing suspension bridge, built in 1935! The east span (behind the island) is being rebuilt right now. 102 million vehicles crossed over the bridge in 2008 which makes it the second-busiest bridge in the world behind the George Washington bridge in New York, which carried 108 million. This span is 10,304 feet long (3,141 m), nearly as long as the world's longest suspension bridge, the 12,826 feet (3,909 m) Akashi Kaikyo bridge in Japan. And there is another 10,000ft non-suspension section to the right of the frame but it is not counted, so the Japanese bridge is considered longer. It has 5 traffic lanes on the top deck and 5 on the lower deck, so the traffic always packed to the limit, even at night. The George Washington has 7 in each direction, so the traffic is probably better there. Fortunately we have the Bay Area Rapid Transit system with a tunnel on the bottom of the bay crossing underneath the bridge and entering the city almost right underneath where this photo was taken! This is a rare example where a clear sunset with the sun behind the camera is often better than a sky with clouds. I've tried this shot with cloudy skies and I just can't get it to look as good as this. The map shows exactly where this is. Parking can be difficult so the transit system is often the best way to get here. See for a link to my newly designed website. . PS - I made a new version of the Diablo Panorama. It is the previous shot to this in my stream.


S T A T I C
Made by maxxsmart
Golden Gate Bridge - California Originally I had a plan to do some extra long night exposures on film, but yet again... A boat blocked my view. The moon was two days away from being full, and the weather was nice and warm, so I wanted to try something new while the conditions were nice. Trying to stay away from the usual subjects, I remembered a spot out on the Marin coast that I've been meaning to get to. As I made my way through Sausalito I noticed that San Francisco was not visible, but the moon was.... Fog? I can't pass that up.... As I drove up through the tunnel just before the Golden Gate, a giant flash lit the sky! Fog? Moon? Lightning? Nahhhhh..... It can't be. I came through the tunnel, and snaked my way up through the Marin Headlands. I could see the tops of both towers and more lightning! When I reached the high point I jumped out, setup, and watched as the lightning lit the bay and fog. I noticed that most of the lightning was about 40 miles south east of San Francisco, so I zoomed into the South tower, and composed as much sky as I could without making the composition look bad. Having never shot lightning before (because its rare here) I had no clue what would be the best settings to capture this sight. With the bright moon above, I decided to stop down and stay at ISO 50. With these settings I knew I could keep the shutter open for a few minutes, greatly increasing my chances of getting something. Though I had a chance to see about 10 strikes throughout the bay, this is the only image I came away with that featured the bridge, fog, lightning, and the bright glow of the moon. There is no digital trickery here.... What you see is what it was. The long exposure enabled me to capture two strikes, and the moon lit the fog blanket perfectly. I find it interesting that the tower ended up almost centered between the lightning strikes, but I guess it was simply luck. The lights off in the distance are soft due to the fog that covered and uncovered them throughout the 3 minute exposure. ***** I've tried over and over to correct the digital banding with this jpeg, but it seems it is a due to the compression that Flickr applies during uploading. The final print tiff file shows zero signs of banding*****


Reflected Bridge
Made by MumbleyJoe (Tyler)
I haven't shot anything recently that really got me very excited - a bit of a slump I guess. I was all set to go up to Marin for a photowalk on Tuesday, but a huge traffic jam and unexpected rain kept me away. Rain is expected tomorrow so I thought I should try my luck tonight. In my head I've got a list of places and shots I'd like to get at certain times of day, different cycles of the moon... etc. The clouds were looking great on my way home from work and I thought I'd take a chance, go out, and hope to catch a colorful sunset. I spent way too long trying to chose which spot to head to, but ultimately decided to hike down to the coast just east of Baker Beach for some views of the Golden Gate and some long exposures of the waves coming in along the rocks. So this is what I came away with. The clouds never broke along the horizon so the sunset never did add any real color. But the clouds themselves were pretty striking and made a nice backdrop to the bridge. To get this shot it took a few attempts - I really wanted to capitalize on the reflections in the wet sand. But to do that means heading out into the wet sand between waves. But these were long exposures which meant many a shot was compromised by once again having to grab the tripod and run for higher ground. The other problem is that a tripod isn't all the sturdy in wet sand, so in a lot of the shots you can streaks from the tripod settling. So I think I came away with 4-5 usable shots all told. I did a lot of lens swapping tonight, which is maybe a bad idea on a misty sandy beach. But, I didn't notice until downloading my shots that the frames preceding these are all kind of ruined from the water droplets on the lens - fortunately I decided to switch back to my cheapo kit 18-55mm lens which, as well as being nice and sharp, was fortunately also clean. Sorry to babble on - hope you like the shot. EDIT: One last thought, I've been messing with RAW a lot lately and only making things worse. Tonight I only shot JPGs, this was auto WB, with the original kit lens. Nikon D40 | Nikkor 18-55@30mm | f/10 | 18s | ISO200 | Tripod


Last Shot in the Life of a Lens
Made by Thomas Hawk
Last night I headed up to Twin Peaks to do a little shooting. Those of you who've followed my stuff know that this is a favorite place of mine to shoot. I had a dinner for a non-profit thing earlier in the night where I was speaking and had the suit on and the whole thing so I thought I'd head up there and take a few night shots of the City and freshen up a series of self portraits I'd shot there a few years ago. The views on the top of Twin Peaks are spectacular. So I put my 24mm on my 5D and began shooting a series of timer shots. After this shot I went to adjust my camera and take the next shot. Everything was set. But it was dark up there and as I walked around my camera and tripod to return to the scene for the next photograph I accidently knocked one of the legs of my tripod with my own leg. And down she went. Hard. The 24mm f/1.4 broke the fall. And after that it no longer works. It's pretty banged up and won't focus and sounds loose and I guess I finally killed it. The thing was pretty much on it's last leg anyways. I've shot with it almost every day for almost 2 years. I'd broken the manual/auto focus switch off a while back. So it only worked with autofocus, which is a pain. But, I'll miss that broken old lens. The Canon 24mm f/1.4 has been a favorite of mine and it's an old friend that is now gone. So this morning I hopped on to B&H's website and bit the bullet and bought a replacement 24mm f/1.4. It should arrive on Friday. The nice news is that it's about $500 cheaper than what it was a few years ago. Still expensive of course. To try and make myself feel a little bit better over the loss I also splurged and bought the L Series 14mm ultra wide angle prime. Anyways a sad story that ends unsatisfyingly (is that a word?) with promise, but also with me being out a chunk of change. I'm sure I'll grow to love my new 24mm as much as my old. But me and my old 24mm had some great days indeed.


Golden Gate & Full Moon, Panorama
Made by MumbleyJoe (Tyler)
This is an image that I've been trying to put together for nearly 5 months now, and I've only just manage today. Back in June I made a trip up to Battery Spencer to take some shots of the full moon rising over the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge with fellow flickrite . I got the idea to try taking a panoramic shot of the moon rising over the bridge, despite the fact that each of the exposures was 20 seconds long, along with 20 seconds of noise reduction between each. After shooting the 8 shots I used to create this panorama I took one more, which quickly became my most viewed photo here on Flickr. I had had a few problems stitching this together, the biggest of which actually seemed to be that the distortion in the Nikon 18-200mm, while not terrible, was just enough at 24mm to throw off the algorithms that find common points and align images together. Last month I used the DxO software demo to correct the optical distortion problems in these images to help them align. The next challenge came from the fact that as the fog moved and also the moon, many elements of each from changed enough to further confuse the software. Now, finally working with Photoshop CS3 it did a decent job aligning the shots, but offered poor control on all the other aspects of creating panoramas, so this really took a couple extra hours of tweaking to get just right, or at least as right as what you see now. Oddly enough, the points in the fog where you'd guess the seams are actually are real - the seams actually lined up pretty naturally despite being taken at least 40 seconds apart. Hopefully it's been worth the wait. Nikon D40 | Nikon 18-200VR@24mm | f/4.5 | 20s | ISO200 | Tripod


45 Fremont, #1
Made by Thomas Hawk
So today there I was minding my own business shooting 45 Fremont in downtown San Francisco when all of a sudden a Shorenstein Company employee security guard decides to give me the finger in my photographs of the building. Next thing you know I get the typical hassle. Except normally when the guards come out all polite like and all this guy instead comes out middle finger a blazing and telling me that I'm not allowed to photograph the building from the public space. He goes on to tell me how he doesn't like to have his photograph taken, etc. (hint, if you don't like your photograph taken, probably best not to come swaggering out of a public building middle finger a blazin', remember any old asshole can have a blog these days). And insists on telling me how if I want to photograph the building I'm going to need to get approval from building management. blah, blah, blah. Well, this guy got off on the wrong foot with me in the first place so I politely inform him that despite his objections that I'm on public property and as such have every right to photograph whatever I want and if he'd like he can feel free to call the police and the three of us can have a conversation. Of course he asks me why I need to be such an asshole and I remind him that he was the one giving me the bird, etc. etc. All I am is a lowly photography hobbyist but that since he was being so nice and all that he could look forward to his photo being on the internet. He asks me if I *really* want him to call the police. Again, I answer nicely, yes. Click through for the rest of the story... thomashawk.com/2006/04/photographing-architecture-is-not....


Jonathan
Made by Thomas Hawk
Recently I blogged about a new project that I am starting called $2 portraits. The idea is that I will offer $2 to anyone who asks me for money from now on in exchange for their portrait. Today I met Jonathan. Jonathan was a soft spoken but friendly guy. When I asked him if I could take his portrait for $2, he told me that I could take his portrait for free. Jonathan told me that recently he'd been featured on the Channel 11 news and seemed proud of this fact. He said that they came by the other day and interviewed him about what it was like to be out on the streets. Jonathan has been in San Francisco for about a year. He came from Chicago Illinois before San Francisco. He said he likes it here better because it's warmer. He also said that Illinois tended to have a lot more segregation. Not segregation in a legal sense he said but more just that white people and black people didn't live in the same places there like they do here. Jonathan said that he did not have much family left. He said his older brother recently died of diabetes. He said that he had one son who was in college. While we were talking, he pointed out a plain clothes police officer to me who walked by. He said that the police know him and don't mind him being there because he's polite and not aggressive. Update: Some people have asked me if it would be ok if they start their own version of this project as well. I think that is great and believe that frequently the best projects become collaborative. If you'd to, feel free to join the group and post your own $2 portraits there.


Golden Gate Bridge - The Passageway
Made by PatrickSmithPhotography
My first upload to Flickr! Fog drifts through the Golden Gate at sunset. No HDR. Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available! --------------------------------------------------------- Settings etc.: --------------------------------------------------------- Canon 5D (mark I) Canon 17-40L @ 40 2-minute exposure @F16 LEE ND soft grad 0.9 angled 10am-4pm Cokin z-pro filter holder ISO 50 RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One TIFF file processed with Photoshop Keen water shoes Fog never fails to create lots of atmosphere and mood. The Golden Gate is both a passageway for people as well as for lots of ocean fog to cool off the inland areas. A long exposure shows the way the fog flowed through the gate. The last light of the sun and the lights of the bridge in equal amounts illuminated the fog. This even light lasts for only a few minutes, so in the course of one evening, only one or two chances for a long exposure such as this are possible. Since there is no time to take light readings, a good guess for the camera settings based on experience is the best way to go or you will miss the shot. Even though it was getting dark, the sky was still much brighter than the sea, so I used an ND grad filter to even out that contrast. It worked just the same as during the day. It took me three years to capture this moment and I have never seen it happen again. Nobody was down here. There were dozens of tripods set up on the well-worn hillside to the right of the frame, but they were pointing in the wrong direction to see this reflected light on the water and how it moved through the fog and clouds. .


Foghorns at the Golden Gate
Made by PatrickSmithPhotography
This picture is featured in an article on photo-friendly cities in the May, 2009 Popular Photography magazine and on popphoto.com! www.popphoto.com/Features/30-Photo-Friendly-Cities (photo not there as of Feb 2010) Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available! The sun rises between the fog and high clouds. It is rare to see both at the same time! No HDR. --------------------------------------------------------- Settings etc.: --------------------------------------------------------- 2.5-second exposure @F22 with 2 LEE soft ND grad 0.9's Lee filter holder Canon 5D Canon 17-40L @ 21 Gorillapod tripod to deal with the uneven rocks. RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One TIFF file processed with Photoshop The thick fog surrounding the Golden Gate Bridge alternated from being a thick soup to a emerging as a golden veil as it swirled around on this morning. Fog often can produce some excellent atmospheric effects, though it does not always cooperate. Three foghorns echoed against the hills as ships passed by. The fog allowed parts of the bridge to be hidden so others could be emphasized. It is usually necessary to wait quite a long while in order for the most interesting parts to be visible, as if a painter were composing the image. The wait often pays off but even if it doesn’t, this is a great place to be. I pay close attention to the local weather conditions at the Golden Gate before I go here, but it is rare that I see conditions align themselves in a way that can produce a really good photograph.


Red Line
Made by DodogoeSLR
Explore Front Page! Back in high school, I had a physics project about velocity and acceleration. Delta T = 1/2 AT square + VIT, sound familiar? For one of my projects I decided to use my old Honda Accord and map out a 0-60mph blast down the Great Highway that runs along the Pacific Ocean. Kai sat shotgun and timed the run while Ryan was in the backseat taking photos. Till this day we still laugh about how retarded my project was since the acceleration isn’t constant due to changes in torque along the RPM range, the v-tec engine kicking in at 5000 RPM changing the rate of acceleration, the time between gear changes and the subsequent different rate of acceleration in 2nd gear. I had no grasp of photography back then and needless to say, the photos came out awful. We were using my dad’s old Canon 35mm SLR, no tripod in a moving vehicle that’s accelerating at night trying to do a long exposure. I’m sure you can imagine how the photos came out. Years later in college I parked my Honda on the street at night and in the early morning, a pickup truck that lost control in the rain and slammed into my parked car while I was sleeping. Insurance had a nice payout so I picked up a Beamer. If you haven’t figured it out by now, you’re looking at the rev counter on my BMW. This is for the group Macro Mondays. Every Monday a macro photograph is submitted for the week's challenge. This week's theme was Revolution. Taken with a Nikon D300 w/ a 60mm f/2.8 Nikkor Lens


Foggy Sunrise At the Golden Gate Bridge
Made by maxxsmart
Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands - Marin County, California This morning I had planned on uploading something completely different, but when I saw the foggy conditions over the bay, I decided to head out to the same old spots along the Marin Headlands. As I have said before, I will never get sick of this view. It will never get old to me, and it will never be the same view twice. Sure... Some elements stay the same. The bridge will always be where it is. The places to stand and watch the fog roll in or out will stay the same, but the light, and fog will always change. This morning the fog was a bit unusual. When I arrived up at the first turnout along the headlands, the fog was flowing east to west just underneath the center section of the bridge. The fog started to surround the north tower, which normally starts to clear as the air warms with the rising sun. Within minutes, the south tower started to become engulfed in the misty haze. The odd thing for me to see was the fog building inside the bay rather than rolling in from the Pacific. I know this has happened before, I have just never seen it in person. So this is not exactly what I had planned for the day, but its a special view to me, and always will be. Thanks for the views, comments, nice notes, bad notes, criticism, or whatever else you all can come up with.... View my stream on black here Canon 5D MarkII Lens: EF 70-200 f/4 L No filters Exposure: 200 Aperture: f/13.0 Focal Length: 149 mm ISO Speed: 50


Daybreak at the Golden Gate
Made by PatrickSmithPhotography
A November morning dawns... (Natural colors. No colored filters used!) No HDR. Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available! --------------------------------------------------------- Settings etc.: --------------------------------------------------------- 4-Second exposure @F22 with Lee soft ND grads 0.9 + 0.6 Cokin z-pro filter holder (The grads were pulled all the way down to the foreground rocks at 8am/2pm.) Canon 5D Canon 17-40L @ 35, ISO 50 The location is exactly where I placed it on the map. RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One TIFF file processed with Photoshop Another attempt to present the bridge in a new way! Usually you see photos from this angle from the top of the cliff directly behind and above the camera with no foreground included in the shot. So I climbed down the 300 foot crumbly cliff in the dark before sunrise to get to this spot before the sun rose. I just like those foreground rocks. Even the poison oak that I knew was there was not enough to stop me. And I got a good bit of it too! Unfortunately some of the best spots are so heavily fortified with poison oak that I may never reach them. The sun way very bright as it rose over the city, but then it hid behind that thin ribbon of cloud, allowing the light to spread across the landscape and even between the city buildings. 1 minute later and the light show was over. Kirby Cove is in the lower left of the frame. And watch out for the poison oak! The best cliffside views are heavily fortified.


Candy on Sunday
Made by DodogoeSLR
Best Easter Ever! I’ve been really stressed out at work and I needed some fun. Friday Night: Epic level of partying with my friends at Ruby Skye with Above + Beyond. The music was amazing, the club was awesome, the drinks were good and the girls (including my girlfriend of course) were really hot! Saturday Night: Partying with and friends at Blondie’s! I traded my BMW for my aunt’s Honda Odyssey minivan because I needed to move stuff. As I left to go out, I drive one block down my street in the van and I realized it was too embarrassing. I made a u-turn, parked and took my roommate’s Lexus. At the bar some really unattractive skanky girl barely tall enough to reach my shoulder was grinding up on me. I’m thinking I’m here with my girlfriend, she’ll come in and save me. What does she do? Grabs a camera and starts taking photos of me while laughing her ass off. Sunday Night: Finish my tax returns and I’m getting $6,000 back from the government!! I have to pay $12,000 a year in property taxes and I’ve been really stressed about that this year. But with this refund, I’m almost there now! Hellz yah!! I’m a Baptized and Confirmed Roman Catholic but clearly I’ve lost the faith. This is for the group Macro Mondays. Every Monday a macro photograph is submitted for the week's challenge. This week's theme was Easter. Taken with a Nikon D300 w/ a 60mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor Lens Nikon Speedlight SB800


Golden Gate Bridge Sunset - San Francisco, California
Made by Jim Patterson Photography
Portfolio & Services Well, after looking closer at some of my Golden Gate Bridge shots from last night, I found one I actually thought I could work with. There was briefly some color in some very faint clouds for a very short time. Did I mention the color was there briefly? For a short time? And very faint? Most of my images had no sky to speak of. I think I kept shooting, hoping for some miracle, or maybe I was enthralled with the wispy water on my camera's LCD. That does happen. I am easily amused, after all. I did use a blend of the same image, processed twice, in order to pull some color out of the sky. My polarizer helped as well. This was Kendra and my first time to Marshall Beach after getting stumped at Baker's Beach by some very large rock structures. The tide was incredibly low, and this shot is from my third and final vantage point. I was noticing how distorted the bridge looked on my LCD and shot a few shots at the 24mm end of the zoom, but in the end, this shot, at 12mm, won out. I tried my best to correct my lens' horrible distortion, but alas, even Photoshop could not save it completely. I will be diving Wednesday, so I'm crossing my fingers I can come back with some new underwater images to share. Until then... Nikon D300 Nikkor 12-24mm @ 12mm 4sec @ f16, ISO 160 B+W Polarizer for sure, can't remember if I used any ND grads as I was messing around with a lot of combinations all evening


Golden Gate: Marin Headlands, California
Made by Ivan Sohrakoff
View LARGER. This weekend, the weatherman said it might rain, but the satellite images showed the storm ending and just scattered clouds over the bay area. I decided to go with my gut feeling and head to the SF Bay Area to make my second Golden Gate Bridge photograph. For me, this requires a 4am wake-up, and a 1.5-hr drive, so I don't take this decision lightly! Last time I shot the GGB, I ended up on a hill which was just a little too far from the bridge. This time, I wanted to focus on the bridge itself, so I went to Battery Spencer. This is an old military post from 1897. These hills are lined with these old cement and steel military posts. This is probably the most photographed view of the Golden Gate, but I've never done it, so I pulled up, and made a few shots. I was the only one on this hill the whole time I was there! With the longer exposure and wide aperture, the lights on the bridge created a bona-fide golden light. This is the first time I've ever seen this bridge truly golden. I would have liked to close-down the aperture a bit and have some stars from the lights on the bridge, but it would have been an even longer exposure or a higher ISO, neither of which I was willing to do at the moment. Flickr Explore #68 Jan 31, 2010 This is one single image, no HDR treatment. Canon 5D Mark II Canon 17-40L @25mm 47 second exposure @F8 Lee soft ND grad .9 filter ISO 200