San Francisco in blue and gold
I'm a big fan of the city of San Francisco, and always enjoy my visits to the City by the Bay. I also love the Ferry Building there, and that's the main subject of today's post. I caught a wonderful blue hour there one morning on my last visit, as well as some other cool shots from a sunset or two. Take a look at this collection of 12 pics and enjoy!
This city looks so great in blue and gold!
I spent a week in San Francisco back in June and collected quite a few pics on that trip. Since then I traveled to Nashville and OKC and then launched into this wonderful summer holiday that I am still enjoying (and still on). In other words, my camera has been busy.
But my keyboard has also been busy, as I have been working hard to edit a lot of photos and get them published. If you want to keep up with the full library of my published works, you can do so on my portfolio site or follow me on Flickr. All my work ends up in those two places (and you get an early peek at things on Flickr because I put my iPhone images there while I travel - or at least the ones I really like).
One part of the San Fran trip that I was dying to edit is all the shots I am sharing here today. They were all taken of, in front of, behind or beside the Ferry Building. Let's just say that area is a target-rich environment.
I find San Francisco to be just an absolutely gorgeous city. Every time I am there I love it even more. I can understand why so many people love it too. It's way more my style than say some place like NYC. Nothing wrong with NYC of course - it's amazing - but I could never imagine living there, whereas I could see myself in SFO.
As I have written here before, the Ferry Building is one of my favorite things to shoot in San Fran, and I have shot it inside and out several times over the years. Many of today's shots are also of the Ferry Building, since it's really to close to where I normally stay and being on the water too, it's just a natural draw for me.
One morning I got up early (my body is used to Central Time, so I always wake up early there) and decided to go grab a few shots before work. My hotel this time was literally across the street from the Ferry Building, so that's the first place I headed, and I am glad that I did! I just loved the lights reflected on the street and of course I always love blue hour.
It's always great to get out and shoot San Francisco, but in the cool early morning air when the streets are mostly empty - that's just really special. As you can see, I also captured a few pics from another day, right around golden hour and sunset. I thought I would just throw them into this post, since they sort of fit the theme. Call it a bonus! :-) The last two pics at the bottom are from my hotel. Not from my room though, unfortunately. I had to work to find that view but it was well worth it!
Thanks for stopping by today!
A bit of this and that from San Francisco
I love San Francisco - it's really a beautiful city. I spent a week there recently, and was lucky enough to get out a few times with the camera (and the prime lens) and fire away. Here are 26 photos that give you a good idea of what I was looking at - and shooting at, of course. Enjoy the tour!
There is just so much to shoot in San Francisco!
As I highlighted in a recent post, I spent a week in San Francisco recently, and despite a very busy work schedule, I was still able to get out and fire away to a pretty significant degree. That always makes the week better, doesn't it? :-)
Of course, it required me to sacrifice a little sleep here and there (my meetings ran into the evening, so it was easiest for me to shoot at sunrise, which is WAY early this time of year), but that's why I always stop at Starbucks while I am out and fuel up (a venti Awake tea, thank you very much!). Honestly though, I would rather shoot sunrise anyways. I always say that, and it's true. You can walk around the busiest cities at sunrise and nearly have them to yourself. It's amazing. And oddly, I don't see as many photographers out that time of day.
As everyone knows, San Francisco is a beautiful city. I really love it there. There is a lot to see and do (and photograph), and it's just gorgeous. It's one of my favorite American cities, that's for sure. There is a lot of diversity, despite what I read in the news about Google and other companies "taking over" old neighborhoods and driving out the locals.
To be clear, I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as I am sure it does. I'm just saying I still notice a lot of diversity, which is good and in my opinion it makes a place more interesting. For example, I spent some time one day in the Mission District, which I had never been to before. It has some excellent graffiti, which I just love, so I wanted to go see it. Well that area is much different than down along the Embarcadero, for example (which is normally where my hotel choices are - because that's where my work happens). Vastly different, in fact. (And yes, I will do a future post of the excellent graffiti I shot that day.)
Since I go to San Fran several times per year, I end up with a lot of photos from there as well (oh darn). And while I am addicted to the new, so to speak, there is a lot of enjoyment I get from revisiting a place time and again - especially one so interesting. Because of my constrained work schedule, I only brought my tiny little prime lens, so that I could travel fast and light.
I wanted to force myself to look at things somewhat differently than if I had a collection of lenses to choose from. While I wouldn't do that if I was going to a new place, it is a great creative exercise. It forces you to work the scene with your feet before firing away, instead of just zooming in on something. It may not sound like it's a big difference, but it feels like it is.
And in addition to shooting with only the prime, I also decided to just shoot whatever caught my eye, anything I observed that I found at least somewhat interesting. So I have some street scenes I captured as well as some bits of this and that. I did shoot at the Ferry Building quite a bit, but I just can't help myself since I love that place so much. Oh yeah, and I grabbed some shots of the Bay Bridge as well. It's a beauty!
Well, I hope you enjoy this little tour of San Francisco, and come back for more soon! I have a lot of graffiti to share as well as some stunning blue hour photos I caught one evening after a rain. I will get all those processed and shared as soon as I can!
San Francisco scenes
San Francisco is a lovely city, and a great one for photography. Today's post is a little tour of a few spots that I have photographed there on my travels. A little bit of this and that, if you will. Take a look and enjoy the tour!
I love San Francisco - such a beautiful city!
The bay bridge at sunrise
I travel to San Francisco several times per year, and usually get out and shoot a bit while there. It's a very beautiful and diverse city, and I find a LOT to point the camera towards. And while it is fairly compact as far as cities go, there are a lot of distinct neighborhoods, and I am sure I will never get to them all - though believe me, I will certainly try!
In fact, I haven't even gotten to all the spots in Austin I want to shoot, and I live here.
So when I am in SFO, I do my best to cram in a lot of shooting. I often just pick an area, do a little research before I get there, and try and plan out a route to wander and shoot. That usually works, though I never feel like I actually "finish". That's pretty much how I feel about every photo outing though. :-)
Alcatraz Island during a deep and wonderful blue hour
City Lights Bookstore in North Beach, famous for being a hangout of the Beat Poets.
I have shot there probably 5-6 times (I don't have time on every trip, sadly) and have thousands of photos in my library from those various trips, which means you will see a lot more San Francisco photos here as I get time to process and share them. If you are interested in some highlights, I have a list here on the blog of what I consider the best places to shoot there.
You can also find all my SFO pics in this Flickr album, if you are interested.
So today's post is a collection of shots that I have had processed and ready to go for a while now, and am finally getting around to sharing them. These were taken on a couple of different trips out there, and from a couple of different spots around town.
Thanks for stopping by today, and hope it's a great one for ya!
Exploratorium, along the Embarcadero, after a brief rain
Pier 7, looking out at the bay
Pier 23 cafe
another view of Pier 23 cafe
the stinking rose in north beach, where everything contains garlic - even the ice cream!
Old photos, new results
Do you ever go back and re-process photos that you have previously shared? I do that sometimes, and find that it's a great creative exercise. But recently, I HAD to go back and re-create an old photo for a client, and it took me forever to make it look like how it looked when I first processed it, about 5 years ago. And so I learned a lot in the process - and I am sharing those learnings and my observations in today's post. Have a look!
Some thoughts on going back to the well
(alternate title: There's gold in them there archives!)
I love to take new photos of new places - that’s part of what drives me as a photographer. I long for the new, I guess. And over the last few years, I have built up a decent-sized library of images through all my travels (about 130,000 pics now, and counting), most of which are still in need of post-processing and publishing. I’m getting to it, albeit more slowly than I would like.
But hey, this isn’t a full-time job for me, so I make time when I can. I will say that I am cranking them out pretty quickly this year, which was one of my goals in 2015 - so I have that going for me. :-) In fact, so far in 2015 I have published well over 200 photos (including iPhone shots), which you can find in my Flickr photostream - that’s where I keep everything. I like how Flickr let’s you organize things. (You can read some of my musings on Flickr here.)
With a large backlog of things I want to share (not just photos, but a couple of product reviews, and a laundry list of other topics to write about), you may find it odd that there are times when I dip back into my previously published photos, and do some re-editing.
I don’t really have time to do this, but sometimes I do it anyways. It's a great exercise.
But sometimes, it's a necessity. This recently came about because a customer contacted me about an image I shared several years ago. It was an HDR of a sunset in La Jolla, CA and - according to my current thinking - it was more of an over-the-top HDR. Ok, it was a very over-the-top HDR. It’s not even remotely close to what I would do with the photo today. But they liked it, and they wanted it, and I was happy to oblige.
You see, my style has changed quite a bit since the “early days” of 4-5 years ago, and (in my opinion at least) my application of HDR is much more subtle - most of the time. Now and then I hammer those pixels, but mostly not so much.
But here’s the thing - the photo was done in such a way that I HAD to re-process it in order to make it larger for them to print (I made a LOT of mistakes early on in this creative pursuit of mine). But the problem was this: I had no idea what I had done to get the photo looking the way it did. I knew generally what software I used, mostly because it was all I had at the time, but as far as the steps I used to create it, specifically? No idea. No. Idea. Whatsoever.
So what did I do?
I did the only thing I possibly could do - I started to re-process the photo that I first created about 5 years ago. It was a lot of trial and error, though mostly error. And guess what? It took me forever to get it looking even remotely close to what the client was expecting. (No surprise.) I finally got it there, but the whole exercise was a great learning process. A bit painful I might add, but still a great learning process.
Here are some things that I encountered, observed, and learned by going back to the well, and why I recommend it as a fabulous creative exercise:
Your stylizing choices really do change over time - and perhaps drastically.
Assuming your processing is somewhat consistent from image to image (I am often a creature of habit), don’t hesitate to chronicle this somewhere, as a point of reference at least, should you ever need it. I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast, so a journal of this stuff could come in really handy someday - like last week! :-o
Your workflow has probably changed quite a bit too, and likely for the better.
But just like the last point, if you chronicle this somewhere you can refer back to it. Can you remember which filters you applied, and in what order, when processing your pics in years past? Can you remember which software products you used? I know what I do today, but that’s different from last year, much less several years ago. You could even keyword this stuff into the image in the library, I guess. And I am not suggesting you do this for every image - because that’s a little too OCD - but maybe some just general notes about your “style”.
Use this exercise as a yardstick to measure your development.
Your skills have likely matured - a LOT. Most of the images in today’s post were processed years back, but just sat there on my hard drive because I didn’t like the results at the time. They were flat, boring - even ugly in some cases. Perhaps I just didn't have the right skills in post-processing to bring the image to life, and I certainly lacked the confidence to "put them out there".
Now that I have come back to look at them with fresh eyes - and better skills in post-processing - I have been able to create photos that I deem worthy of sharing. These are also all single exposures. Part of the reason I never did anything with them in the past was that I was just TOO addicted to HDR and these, being single frames, just got passed over in favor of “better” shots to share.
Software gets better over time...
That’s another thing about today’s photos. I don’t think I could have gotten the results you see here 5 years ago. Maybe I could have with a lot of work, but with all the advances in software, it sure makes things quicker and easier on us...and at least in this case, it saves these from being banished to obscurity forever. And I rather like these photos I am sharing today. I’m glad that I dug them out.
...but it also gets different.
I used Topaz Adjust on the original image 5 years ago, and thus used it on the re-edit, in an attempt to "get it right". That product has gone through a LOT of changes in the last 5 years (and I’ve used it all this time, though not on every image), so even remembering the way you did things back then might not lead you to the same end result these days.
This is an endless source of entertainment...
I realize some photographers consider what they published in the past “off limits” because it’s a snapshot (no pun intended) of where they were at the time - artistically speaking - but I am not that way at all. I have occasionally gone back to previously published photos and done a re-edit, just for the hell of it. It’s damn fun, especially going into it with the mindset that it’s damn fun! You can easily pass a few hours doing this.
...so know where to draw the line.
When you have a large library of photos, you have to decide what’s worth a re-edit, and what’s better left alone - otherwise, you could spend all your time just messing around with the old stuff and never get the newer work published. Nothing wrong with it of course, but I suspect a lot of photographers are like me, and want to create new work from recently captured images. There’s an addiction to the new, so to speak.
You may create some amazing work - and you didn't even know it was there.
Although I would do this whole photography thing for free (and in some ways, you could argue that I do!), I do want to earn some money from my efforts if possible, in order to fund new purchases and travel. So why not dip back into some old favorites and give them a new look? Or like I did with these photos - dig out ones that you never did fully process, and never shared, because you thought they weren’t “good enough”. You may find some real keepers buried deep in the archives.
It’s your art, and it’s your right to do so. Why not then share those pics wherever you host your shots for viewing? I add mine to my Flickr photostream as well as put them into my portfolio site on SmugMug. No one will ever discover them if they just sit in my library, collecting virtual dust. What good is that? You’re not doing anyone a favor, least of all yourself. So share that stuff!
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And now thanks to this little accident of mine, I have this whole post worth of images to share, because once I fixed that one old photo for my client, I started looking at all the others I took of that sunset...and it was a beautiful sunset. Real beautiful, in fact. So then I got busy processing, and processing and processing...and all of these photos above are the results.
And guess what? I added all these to my portfolio site, and they are going on Flickr too...because that’s where they may get discovered by people that might just be looking for a California sunset picture. So don't hesitate to dive back in to some old files - you really may find a diamond or two in the rough!
And if you read this far, then you may be asking "where is that HDR you are referring to, Jim?". Well, here it is - this is my re-creation which mimics the stylizing I did on it 5 years ago...not at all what I would do today, but 5 years ago, well...things were a little different for Jim here. :-) I was VERY in to pushing those pixels around.
And yes, curiosity killed the cat, so you can bet that after finishing this for my client, I went back to it and decided to reprocess as an HDR in the style that I prefer today...so below is that version of the pic. It's still a somewhat aggressive use of HDR - depending on your definition of aggressive, of course - but it's way closer to what I would do with the photo today, and more closely resembles my current tastes.
And lastly - yes, in case you are curious, that first photo at the top of today's post is a single exposure from the bracket set used to create this HDR. That's another reason I am doing less and less HDR - I find I often get a result I am pleased with when using just a single exposure. Not always, but often.
Thanks for stopping by - I’ve got to go process some old photos now - and some new ones too!
A visual tour of Grace Cathedral
Grace Cathedral in San Francisco is just incredible. Today's photo essay is a collection of 10 photos and 1 painting that summarize my visit there...and a little story about luck, perseverance, and why you should always tell the truth. Be sure to add this place to your list if you are planning a trip to San Fran!
This is one landmark in San Francisco that you don't want to miss! (oh, and perseverance is good)
If you visit here often enough, you have probably heard me say how much I love shooting the grand churches in Europe. I find them beautiful and fascinating - not to mention photogenic. I swear I must have been an architect in a former life, because I am just drawn to this stuff.
Your standard center-front shot of Grace Cathedral - doesn't this belong in Europe?
Anyways, whenever I visit a town for the first time, I always Google their churches, since they are often rather grand. But here in the US, I don't always strike it rich like I do there. We just don't do churches the way they used to do them in Europe.
So that's what makes Grace Cathedral in San Francisco so special - it really is reminiscent of a grand European church. It sits atop Nob Hill and it's hard to get in view of it without uttering at least one "Wow". It's beautiful.
So on one of my many trips to that lovely city by the bay, I made it a point to get up early and head over there for sunrise. I had checked their opening hours, and since it was a weekday morning I felt fairly confident that I could be the first one in when they opened, and I could shoot undisturbed for a bit. That was my plan.
So I shot the exterior for a while during sunrise, and continued to check the doors for signs of opening - but they never came. I started to think I had read it wrong online, and considered giving up and heading back to my hotel to start my work day. But I just HAD to keep trying. I had WALKED up to Nob Hill from down below - that's some serious hard work!
So I walked all the way around it, and finally came to a little entrance through their garage area that led into an underground passage. At this point, I was beyond curious. More like desperate. So I went in.
The labyrinth outside the front of the church
I found an elevator that said it went to the chapel, but it wasn't working (I assumed), since I hit the button several times and it never came. The light didn't even light up. So I wandered a little more and found a staircase that went up, and I climbed it - but alas, the door at the top was locked, so back down I went.
I finally figured it was all over, so I started to leave. As I passed the elevator, it opened and a maintenance man came out. I mentioned that I was trying to get in and take some photos, but he said it was closed. I figured it was worth a shot to ask again, in my nicest voice, because what did I have to lose?
The interior labyrinth, before you get to the main center aisle
So I did. I just told the truth. I told him I had been here a long time ago, and remembered how beautiful it was, and I was hoping to take a few pictures. That I loved the cathedral, and the architecture, and I found it inspirational. And that I would be quiet, and respectful, and leave when he told me I needed to leave.
It worked.
What a grand interior! There was an art installation in place, which is what all the ribbons are.
He took me upstairs in the elevator - the church was apparently still closed - and let me shoot to my hearts' content. So here are the pictures, Mr Maintenance Man - and thank you so much. It was an honor to meet you and photograph this magical place.
And perhaps telling the truth really is always the right choice - and doubly so when at church!
Viewing the front of the church, including the altar
A close-up of the section behind the altar
You just have to get that straight-up-the-center shot
A slightly different version of the center aisle shot
This may be my favorite - just loved this POV!
I couldn't resist turning that last pic into a painting in Topaz Impression - read my review of it under "Software Reviews" on the top drop-down menu.
Going prime-al in San Francisco
Today I share some thoughts on a new lens - a prime lens, no less. It's way out of character for me, but it's an awesome little tool to add to the arsenal. Oh and did I mention it's a Leica? Well, it is, sort of. And it takes great photos. I just show up and it does all the work. Well, not exactly. I do a little more than show up. But hey, showing up is half the fun! Click on in and check out 22 photos that I have for you today!
I recently bought a prime lens - and I'm having a blast with it!
primal (adjective) - basic, elemental, essential, fundamental
I've never been one to use a prime lens in the past. I always figured that it was just something else I would have to lug around, and that I wouldn't use it very much. Plus, I always figured that I could get to the same focal length on a zoom lens, so why bother?
But with my Olympus mirrorless camera, I have been experimenting more and more. I've been experimenting with lenses, f/stop settings, and even my processing style. Basic stuff, but I was a serious creature of habit with my old Nikon gear. I shot everything at f/13 on a tripod, as a 7 exposure HDR. Then I used the same software and the same settings to process my shots.
But I am changing, and change is good.
I wanted something that would be small and light, and that I could use as an all-around lens for those times when I may not have time to shoot on a trip, but wanted to bring the camera "just in case". I wanted it to fit easily into my bag without adding to my weight very much, and something that would go pretty "wide open" (low f/stop number) so I could shoot in low light without bringing my tripod. If I plan to travel light, I want to go handheld.
And I wanted something that would allow me to get back to the basics of photography - a focus (no pun intended) on composition and shot selection without the encumbrances of modern photography. The ability to use it in various situations, for various types of shots. Something that was flexible, and good across a wide possible spectrum of shots. However, I wanted it to be "simple" and straightforward.
So I decided that a prime lens would tick all those boxes for me better than anything else, with the added benefit of really having to focus on composition, since it's a fixed focal length. That was one of my 15 Tips for Better Photos in 2015 that I wrote about recently.
When I decided to try a prime lens, I knew I wanted something that would stretch me as a photographer but also offer me something I can't get from my normal go-to lens, the Olympus PRO 12-40mm f/2.8. And while I LOVE that lens, it is fun to switch things up and experiment.
Initially I thought I would get the Olympus 17mm f/1.8, which gets great reviews online and since it goes down to f/1.8 that seemed to be a good fit. But when I went into Precision Camera here in Austin to buy it, the guy working there started talking to me about the Panasonic Leica Summilux 15mm f/1.7. It was on sale for the same price as the Olympus, and I liked that it was 15mm instead of 17mm, and f/1.7 instead of f/1.8.
And let's face it - I was attracted by that word "Leica" on it.
While I believe that gear isn't everything, it's obvious that Leica has an incredible reputation for quality. This lens is designed by Leica but manufactured by Panasonic. So it's a bit of a hybrid in that sense (ie, not a "pure" Leica). It's small and light, it's a f/1.7, and since it's a fixed focal length at 15mm (about 30mm on a full-frame, so very close to a traditional 35mm camera), it definitely causes me to "work the shot" instead of just zooming in and out. Hey, that's exercise! See, photography is fun AND good for you. :-)
So on a recent trip to San Francisco, I had the perfect opportunity to put this lens to the test. I walked around during sunset and blue hour and shot like crazy. The lens performed perfectly, and just for the heck of it I left it at f/1.7 the entire time, just to see how the shots came out. And, I left the tripod at home. This was a handheld adventure.
I think the shots came out great.
So here's a HUGE collection of shots from 2 days in San Francisco, right before Christmas. All shot with my Olympus mirrorless camera, all with the Panasonic Leica Summilux 15mm f/1.7 lens, and all shot at f/1.7 in various light situations (inside and outside) - and all handheld. The outdoor shots are from the area around Fisherman's Wharf, and the interior and closeup shots are from The Ferry Building.
I hope you enjoy the shots as much as I enjoyed walking around and taking them. I believe I now have a lens that will work great for me on those quick trips when I am not sure if I will have time to get out and shoot. Now, I can pack up this camera and lens combo, and travel light and shoot fast (if I have time).
Look for more photos as I get more opportunities to get out and shoot with this little magic piece of glass. And if I get around to it, perhaps I will write up a review of the lens too! (maybe)
(click any photo to embiggen)
Cupid's Span
Cupid's Span is an interesting (and large!) sculpture along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, CA - well worth a visit to this part of a fabulous city!
There's just so much to photograph in San Francisco!
I really enjoy visiting San Fran, and (no surprise here!) I find it to be a great town for photography. Whether you like bridges, museums, architecture, graffiti or something else, there is something for everyone in this town - there's even a large bow and arrow sculpture. Go figure. They have it all! :-)
And yes, I have a list of my favorite spots to shoot in SFO!
This thing sits toward the end of the Embarcadero, right next to the Bay Bridge (part of which you can see) and the Ferry Building. It's pretty massive in person.
On my last trip out there earlier this year, I took along my trusty Olympus mirrorless camera (since I was just getting started with it then) and grabbed some shots. It performed quite well and I of course was loving the whole traveling light thing for a change!
Anyways, if you find yourself in this part of town, be sure and stop by for a couple of photos - just one more unique thing in a town that's full of them!
Blue hour at Fisherman's Wharf
I love San Francisco and find it to be a very beautiful town. In the blue hour light after a good, solid rain...well, it's beyond beautiful - it's downright amazing!
San Francisco is always gorgeous in my eye...
I find San Francisco to be a very beautiful city. I doubt that is a revelation to anyone. Most folks know it's a special place. I consider myself lucky that I am able to travel there a few times per year, and doubly so that I find some free time to wander with the camera.
On one of my visits earlier this year (back in April), I was holed up in my hotel after a long day of work. It had been raining all day, and things did not look good for photography. I was pretty bummed.
But, the rain was lighter than earlier in the day, and so I ventured out with a camera backpack, an umbrella, and a heart full of hope.
It worked out pretty good.
I wandered along the Embarcadero for a long while, and the rain let up. One great thing about rain is that it clears out all the people. The other great thing is that it leaves everything all shiny, with puddles here and there that give you an opportunity to capture some reflections. Oh yeah, there's another great thing about rain - dramatic skies!
Yes, storms are our friends. It's true. They bring interesting skies, and that's a good thing.
At some point I ventured to Fisherman's Wharf, and by then the blue hour was looking pretty darn incredible. I shot a lot, and loved every second of it.
Blue hour at the Santa Monica Pier
You ever see pics of a place, and hope that someday you can get there and shoot it? Yeah, me too - all the time in fact. In this case, it actually happened. I finally made it to the Santa Monica Pier!
Finally made it here - been on my mental list for ages!
I don't know about you, but there are some shots from certain places that I have seen countless photos of over the years, and always make a mental note to get that shot, should my travels ever take me to whichever place it is.
I make a lot of lists - some real, some mental. This was on a mental list, so my orderly self doesn't get to cross it off anything, darnit. I will just have to console myself with the fact that at least I finally got there.
And it was beautiful.
I had a quick business trip to LA pop up, and once I knew it was happening, I started thinking about what I wanted to shoot, since this was my first real trip to LA. I have been around Orange County many times, but never really up into LA. Of course, images of Santa Monica Pier were the first thing that came to mind, and I made a plan.
Part of the plan was to meet up with my good friend Pete Talke, who runs a great travel photo blog at Places 2 Explore. Pete used to live in Austin and we shot together a lot. He moved out to Orange County a couple of years ago, so it's been a while since we met up. It was great to see him and shoot with him, like in the old days. Check out his blog for some fabulous photos from his travels around the world!
So we met up, wandered up and down the pier during the late afternoon, picking our spots and planning our shots. It not a really big place, so that didn't take too long. We just had to wait for the light to get just right. My hopes for a dramatic Pacific sunset weren't realized (as you can tell) but at least I had a great spot to shoot and a great photographer and friend to shoot it with!
Sunset at Pier 39
I love San Francisco, and I love sunset.
It's so hard to predict what is going to happen at sunset on any given day. I always look at the sky and the clouds (if there are any), and my mind starts wandering, or racing, depending on what I see. If there are good clouds out, I get all excited thinking that I am going to have a fabulous sunset. Then many times, it just fizzles and nothing exciting happens.
On the other hand, there have been plenty of times when it looks like a complete crap sunset, and something amazing happens and it gets all awesome on you! Those are the best ones, since they come as a surprise. Everyone like a surprise. Well, a good surprise, anyways.
And that is exactly what happened on my recent trip to San Francisco.
It had rained a lot that day, and after work I got out to shoot, starting at the Ferry Building. From there, I just wandered down the Embarcadero, taking all sorts of photos along the way. I ended up at Ghirardeli Square during blue hour, which was great.
But a little while before that happened, I was walking past Pier 39 and the Fisherman's Wharf area. The sunset was coming together and the flat, gray skies from earlier were just bursting with color. It was great!
So I did what I always do - I aimed my camera at everything and fired away incessantly. It was crazy but so much fun. I was in a hurry since light can be so fleeting, and it seemed like there was something interesting to aim the camera at everywhere I looked. This was San Francisco, after all, which is a gorgeous city.
Hope you enjoy these shots. I still have many more to get to from that trip - it was very productive!
Blue hour at Ghirardelli
Who wants some chocolate?
Ok, now that I have your attention, I have to admit that I don't have any chocolate to share with you today. Sorry about that! But, I do have some wonderful photos from Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, so hopefully you enjoy that just as much. Well, maybe not as much as some of that tasty goodness, but close.
Anyways, I was in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and had some spare time one evening to get out and shoot. It's a town that's wonderful just to wander in, but I had a few things in mind that I wanted to shoot. The problem was, the weather didn't look like it was going to cooperate. It had been raining most of the day.
I got out at about 6pm, and walked over to the Ferry Building, which is one of my favorite places in San Fran. It was the ideal place to start, because of the rain, but after a short while the tripod police had other ideas and I was done inside. Luckily, the rain had stopped.
I crossed my fingers and started walking down the Embarcadero.
I spent the next two hours shooting all the way down the Embarcadero, pointing my camera at this and that and in lots of nooks and crannies, until I reached Ghirardelli Square. It was fabulous. Time well spent. Plus I got some exercise. :-)
By the time I got to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf, sunset was waning and the blue hour was coming on strong. Sometimes you can tell it's just going to be one of those nights. This one definitely was. The light was fabulous.
I was in full-on photo-robot mode. Scan the scene, decide on a shot, set it up, fire the brackets, and move on. All done in quick succession. All done with a big smile on my face.
So by the time I got to Ghirardelli Square, it was deep into blue hour and darkness was falling. I had to hurry. I fired away and grabbed all the shots you see here today, and then I was done. Spent. Exhausted. And it started to rain again.
I opened my umbrella and strolled casually back over to Boudin Bakery, ate a sourdough bread bowl full of clam chowder, and called it a night.
20 Minutes in the Ferry Building
When in San Francisco, be sure and see the Ferry Building!
The Ferry Building is one of my favorite spots in San Francisco, a town which is full of awesome spots. But I do just love this thing. It's a beautiful building, and being a fan of architecture, I just love all the lines. It's a great subject for us photo-addicted types.
The funny thing is that even though I shoot there on many of my San Francisco trips, I never really tire of it. It's just one of those places that has captured me in some way. It's sort of like The Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland. I could shoot it every day and never really get bored.
So on my most recent trip to San Francisco, which was a couple of weeks ago, I got out to shoot at about 6pm one day. The trouble was that it was raining, and raining hard. So I figured if I could brave the 10 minute walk from my hotel, I would be fine, since I was going to be inside the thing.
So I walked down Market Street and made my way inside. By the way, the choice of 6pm was on purpose. I tend to try and shoot places like this when there are likely to be fewer tourists around. I have shot the Ferry Building at 7am before and found it mostly empty, and I was satisfied with the thin crowds at 6pm on this day as well.
However, I was not satisfied with the Security Guards. Like I said, I have shot here several times over the years, and never been hassled at all. That is, on the ground floor I have never been hassled. I have also ventured upstairs before and was immediately told by Security that I could only shoot handheld there.
But down on the ground floor, I have never once had an issue, until this visit. Literally as soon as I set up the tripod and started framing my first shot, I was approached by 2 security guards, coming at me from both directions. I knew how this was going to end.
They informed me that it was "dangerous" to have a tripod there, but it was ok to shoot without one. I asked if they were concerned about someone tripping over the tripod leg, and they said yes. I made a show of looking around for people, but only saw them, me, and a couple of folks further away. Seemed pretty low risk.
I played nice though, and told them I was from out of town, and would really enjoy shooting this place because it is so beautiful. I guess my charms worked, because they actually said I could take a few photos, as long as I was quick and was careful with the tripod.
So of course I fired that first one, moved on, fired again, moved on and fired again...until I got towards the other end of the grand hallway. At that point, they both circled back towards me and I knew it was time to leave. I told them I was packing up (while my last shot fired, LOL) and heading out.
Luckily, it only took that 20 or so minutes to get all the shots I wanted, and when I walked outside the rain had stopped. I spent the next two hours walking down the Embarcadero, all the way to Ghirardelli, firing away happily the whole time. And, I got lucky with some great skies and an amazing sunset and blue hour. I'll share those when they are ready!
Thank you for stopping by today!
Sunrise at the Ferry terminal
Catching the first ferry of the day in San Francisco!
San Francisco is a wonderfully beautiful town, whether you bring a camera along to document it or not (though I obviously recommend you do). When I am there I try to shoot as much as possible, which is hard because I am always there on business. But somehow, I find a way. :-)
Actually, "the way" is that I normally get up early and wander the streets before I get busy with work. That's ok with me. Though I like my sleep as much as the next person, I like photography better, so I make sacrifices. Isn't that why caffeine was invented anyways??
On the morning of this photo, I was wandering around the Ferry Building area (which in addition to being close to my normal hotel, is also my favorite building in SFO) and shooting away. It's a great area because in addition to the Ferry Building, just a few steps away is a great spot to shoot the Bay Bridge from. It's all good. In fact, that's the Bay Bridge off to the right there.
So I fired away inside the Ferry Building way before anyone else showed up, and then as sunrise was coming together I popped out back for some of that nice morning light that I alway seem to find out West. I saw this Ferry terminal and decided it would look cool to snap it with the great color and light...and then a guy walked up to buy a ticket. I decided to take the shot anyways, and am glad that I did. I feel like having him there gives it a little different feel. What do you think?
Exploring Chinatown with my iPhone
Do you ever take a trip and use ONLY your iPhone?
I have done that at times, but not because I don't want to lug my full-frame NIkon around. I've done it when I think there is absolutely no time for me to shoot on a trip, so I leave my big ole boy at home. It sucks, but it happens.
Last week is a perfect example of this. I work for a company based in San Francisco, and we had our annual kickoff last week, which is another way of saying that my days and night were all full. But being who I am (and needing a little break one day!!) I slipped out for a little walk late one afternoon, and since we were in Union Square, I decided to head over to Chinatown for a little while.
If you haven't been, Chinatown is very interesting and a great place to walk around. I have shot there once before, early one morning a year or so ago, and found it to be quite beautiful and interesting. I hope to get back with my Nikon on a future trip. So I wandered around the back streets and alleys, which I highly recommend doing, and also along the main drag, and took quite a few iPhone shots.
These are all single exposure iPhone pics (as opposed to shooting with ProHDR, which takes two exposures and combines them), and all are adjusted with Snapseed. Snapseed is by far my favorite iPhoneography app, and you can see my quick review of it here. I plan to write more about that later. :-)
So, enjoy the pics and let me know if you have any questions!
Baker Beach
I went here for a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge...and saw lots of fog.
Haha, that happens in San Fran. What can I do about it? Just shoot away, fog or no fog, right?
My plan when I arrived here was to stick around and get some nice light around sunset, but with the fog dropping in so heavily, it never happened. So instead I hung out, climbed some rocks, took some photos, and watched some of the tourists walking around...and enjoyed the heck out of it.
It's really a beautiful spot, whether it's foggy or not. Someday I hope to get back there with the camera and try again, though I must admit the location isn't very convenient for my travels to San Fran, as I am usually stationed on the far other side of town, near the Bay Bridge (that other bridge in SFO). And of course, that's why I usually end up with a lot of photos of the Bay Bridge. I shoot what I can get to, in other words.
So, I will cross my fingers that someday I can get back here to Baker Beach and shoot sunset on the Golden Gate Bridge, because this is definitely a great place to be to see it!